After suffering disappointing losses to the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans, the Buffalo Bills were able to bounce back last week with a much-needed win over Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Despite being 8-4 heading into Week 14’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, the Bills don’t have much room for error moving forward, as they’ll need to win as many games as they can during a tough final stretch of the regular season.
With the team needing to be firing on all cylinders on both sides of the football moving forward, Buffalo made a move on Wednesday to address the secondary.
Bills Bring in Veteran Corner Darius Slay
GettyDarius Slay #23 of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After recently being waived by the Steelers, one-time Super Bowl champion cornerback Darius Slay was claimed by the Bills, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Although Slay isn’t the dominant force he once was in the secondary, the six-time Pro Bowler does give the Bills a boost on defense heading into the final five games of the regular season.
In the 10 games he played for the Steelers, the soon-to-be 35-year-old corner recorded three passes defended, a fumble recovery and 28 solo tackles.
It’ll be interesting to see whether he can make an impact in Buffalo, with the team needing a boost defensively as it tries to clinch a playoff spot in the AFC.
Joey Bosa Remains Out of Bills’ Practice
GettyJoey Bosa #97 of the Buffalo Bills.
Even though the team did get a boost defensively with the addition of Slay, the team will likely be without star defensive end Joey Bosa heading into Week 14’s matchup against the Bengals, as he continues to deal with a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 13 against the Steelers.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Bosa, along with wide receiver Josh Palmer and linebacker Terrel Bernard, didn’t practice on Wednesday.
Before going down with the hamstring injury, Bosa came up with a key sack on Aaron Rodgers that forced a fumble and resulted in a touchdown. That said, the Bills will be missing a valuable pass rusher while going up against a rejuvenated and healthy Joe Burrow, who is coming off an impressive performance and win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Even though the Bengals have struggled all season long without Burrow, who went down with a toe injury that required surgery in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati showed some grit in last week’s win against the Ravens, which could mean Buffalo is in for a challenge on Sunday.
Following the matchup with a potentially frisky Bengals squad led by one of the best quarterbacks in the league, the Bills will face the New England Patriots (Week 15), Cleveland Browns (Week 16), Philadelphia Eagles (Week 17) and New York Jets (Week 18).
The Bills will have a few tough matchups in the final stretch, with the games against the division rival Patriots and the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles sticking out among the final five regular-season contests.
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