Buffalo Bills Week 9 Slay and Bomb

The Buffalo Bills entered Week 9’s game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals off a solid win in Week 8 at home over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-18 on Thursday Night Football.

They came into the game 5-3 looking to enter first place in the AFC East as the Miami Dolphins lost 21-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfort Germany.

Unfortunately, the Bengals have been on their high as well, entering the game at 4-3 looking to crawl out of the basement in the super competitive AFC North. Sadly, the Bills lost 24-18 despite a valiant effort from the defense and a valid comeback attempt in the second half.

Here are the Slay and Bombs for week 9’s contest.

Buffalo Bills Week 9 Slays

Dane Jackson– Having to fill in for an all-pro cornerback like Tre White is no easy task. But asking Jackson to cover an all-pro wide receiver like Jamar Chase in Cincinnati is almost as difficult as the Texans asking, Dare Ogunbowle who is one of the Texan’s running backs, to fill in as an emergency kicker.

Both Jackson and Christian Benford shut Chase down most of the night, holding him to 41 yards the whole game, and only allowing 9 after three quarters. The explosive corner also broke up three of Burrow’s passes as two were thrown Chase’s way.

He also prevented a touchdown late in the game that could have scored six, but put a halt to that by quickly stopping it. This was the one area of concern many fans thought the Buffalo Bills would have with all the injuries to the secondary, but this was an area of success.

Linval Joseph– Coming from the Philadelphia Eagles, the 6’4″, 329 lb. giant is a big hulking defensive tackle whose specialty is stopping the run.

That was evident when the Bengals tried to run the “Tush Push” on second and one and looked like they were going to score after Josh Allen threw an interception.

Joseph stopped Burrow’s attempted forward progress, then pushed him back three yards behind the line of scrimmage, lifted him, and brought him to the ground. Hmm, wonder who invented the tush push and where he learned to defend it in practice?

The big defensive tackle gives Buffalo Bills fans that Ted Washington & Pat Williams nostalgia where he is tall, husky, and very difficult to run up against in the middle.

Rasul Douglas– This was the most important addition in the NFL trade deadline for the Buffalo Bills as they needed a number one corner like Douglas to come in and fill in the void left by White’s Achilles injury.

At 6’2″, 209 lbs., Douglas is a carbon copy of White as he is a monster in man coverage and is great at creating turnovers for the offense. He also was drafted in the same year as White, but Douglas was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft, whereas White was drafted 27th overall by the Buffalo Bills in the first round.

Douglas had an effective debut, as he played in 40 percent of the Bill’s defensive snaps and showed his effectiveness with two tackles and a pass deflected.

If Douglas finishes out the year strong, then you can envision him and White being teammates and dream of possibly the best cornerback tandem in the 2024 NFL season.

Buffalo Bills Week 9 Bombs

Dalton Kincaid– Yes, we already know Kincaid is going to be a franchise tight end for the Buffalo Bills in an ever-growing tight end-driven game. Yes, he scored his first career TD catch last week against the Tampa Bay Bucs, and I give him his flowers for that.

But just like you have to give honors to great players in a great week, sometimes you have to give bombs to embarrassing plays in a game that can cost you.

It was very frustrating to watch a promising Buffalo Bills drive stall out by the sure-handed tight end out of Utah fumbling the ball. But we don’t have to clam the guy as it was just one fumble and we know he’s going to be a star in the NFL for years to come.

Von Miller– It was nice to hear after the fact that Miller feels like he’s pretty close to being back to 100% healthy.

Well, it didn’t show on Sunday, as Miller missed a crucial tackle late in the game that would have brought up fourth down and had given the Buffalo Bills offense at least one more crack at driving down the field for a game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Miller didn’t really contribute in the game as he could not create an effective pass rush on Burrow all day. He also looked sluggish coming off the edge of the line of scrimmage.

Gabe Davis– From hero of the Bucs game last week, Davis fell to a non-factor in Week 9’s, 24-18 loss to the Bengals. Allen and the offense could not find Davis the ball and he had to play a blocking number two tight end role the rest of the game.

The disappointing wide receiver finished the game with no receiving yards and no touchdowns.

If the Buffalo Bills want to consistently win down the stretch, they will have to go back to airing the ball deep to Davis, as he has had a big year playing for a contract.

After this last loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the inconsistent wide receiver will have to continue to contribute with the Buffalo Bills having the NFL’s toughest remaining schedule on the 2023 regular season.

For another NFL Story, please check out:

NFL: Are the Buffalo Bills Really Back in the AFC Race?