The Buffalo Bills are a team that is in desperate need of a win heading into Week 13. After losing two of their past three games, the Bills are simply looking to make the playoffs at this stage of the game, as the AFC East likely belongs to the New England Patriots, unless something catastrophic happens to them.
Unfortunately for the Bills, they draw a tough matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13. Making matters worse, Buffalo is pretty beat up, as it is dealing with several important injuries heading into this game. On Friday, head coach Sean McDermott revealed that four key players have been ruled out for this contest, which will make getting back in the win column even more difficult than initially expected.
Buffalo Rules Out Four Injured Players Ahead of Steelers Meeting
While the Bills haven’t been playing well as of late, suffering losses to the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans, the team’s injury situation certainly hasn’t been making things easy for the team. Every team is dealing with injuries at this point in the season, so it can’t be used as a main excuse for losing a game, but the extent of Buffalo’s injury situation is more dire than most other teams.
That was clear as day in the team’s loss to the Texans on Thursday Night Football last week. While the Bills could not get out of their own way, their players were dropping like flies. 10 different guys were forced off the field with an injury at one point or another in this game, and while most of them returned to the action, some did not.
Buffalo’s injury report heading into this game has been loaded, and on Friday, key players on both sides of the ball were ruled out for Week 13. On offense, wide receiver Curtis Samuel won’t play, and quarterback Josh Allen won’t have either Dion Dawkins or Spencer Brown protecting him from the Steelers’ vaunted pass rush. On defense, star linebacker Terrel Bernard will miss this game after suffering an elbow injury against Houston.
“Curtis Samuel, he’ll be out for the game, won’t practice today,” McDermott said on Friday. “TB, in the same boat. Dion Dawkins, Spencer Brown, all four of those guys will not practice today. All four will be out for the game.”
Shorthanded Bills Face Tall Task vs. Steelers in Week 13
GettyJosh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills.
Like the Bills, the Steelers have been struggling as of late, but they have a bit of a better injury outlook for this game. Pittsburgh appears likely to get star quarterback Aaron Rodgers back on the field after he missed the team’s Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears. With the race in the AFC North heating up, the Steelers will be just as desperate to walk away from this game with a win.
As long as Buffalo has Allen under center, though, it will be favored to come out on top in this contest. While Allen also suffered an injury against the Texans, he’s good to go for this game, and assuming he can put together a bounce-back performance on Sunday, he should be able to lead his team to victory. Kickoff for this very important contest is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.
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