Why Bills Brace for Pittsburgh Test With Costly Absences

Sometimes injuries pile up in ways that completely reshape a game’s competitive balance. Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Buffalo Bills will face the Steelers with both starting offensive tackles unavailable Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, the two pillars of protection that have anchored one of the league’s best rushing attacks, will be watching from the sideline. For Josh Allen and an offense that already struggled mightily against Houston, it’s a nightmare scenario materializing at precisely the moment it matters most.

Dawkins was cleared to return after suffering concussion-related symptoms during the Week 12 loss to the Texans, but those symptoms worsened the day after the game. He’s now in the concussion protocol, where he remains. It’s the first game Dawkins will miss due to injury since December 1, 2022 a remarkable streak of durability about to end at the worst possible time.

Brown suffered a shoulder injury against Houston and couldn’t finish the game, sitting out the final drive after trying to play through obvious discomfort. He’s ruled out for Sunday. Linebacker Terrel Bernard (elbow) and wide receiver Curtis Samuel (elbow/knee) are also ruled out, creating a perfect storm of offensive personnel loss.

Wide receiver Joshua Palmer (ankle) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring) are expected to be questionable, adding more uncertainty to an already-decimated receiving group. Palmer re-aggravated a previous ankle injury this week. Kincaid has missed the last two games entirely.

Coach Sean McDermott said “it doesn’t look that way” when asked if injured reserve is a possibility for Brown or Bernard, but that’s coach-speak optimism. The Bills are facing a potential offensive reconstruction.

When a dominant rushing attack meets a paper-thin offensive line

Here’s the cruel irony of the Bills’ situation: Buffalo has built the league’s best rushing attack, averaging 147.2 yards per game. They’ve invested resources in protecting Josh Allen through elite run blocking. They’ve constructed an offense designed to control the line of scrimmage and dominate time of possession.

Then both their starting offensive tackles go down.

The offensive line isn’t just about pass protection. It’s about run blocking. It’s about establishing identity. It’s about creating the kind of physical dominance that allows a team to impose its will on opponents. The Bills have been doing that all season. Sunday, they’ll be doing it with backups and backups-to-backups trying to fill massive shoes.

Ryan Van Demark and Alec Anderson are among the top candidates to replace Dawkins and Brown. Van Demark started for Brown earlier this season and at least has some starting experience. Anderson is a less-proven option. Then there’s Tylan Grable, whose practice window was opened this week but who remains on injured reserve. That’s the depth chart now: a guy who started for an injured tackle earlier, a less-proven option, and someone coming off injured reserve.

McDermott expressed confidence: “We’re going through some of the different options. Have a lot of confidence in those guys. Some of the guys are younger, some are a little bit older. What they lack in experience, they’re gonna make up for in grit, toughness and those that are playing alongside of them will help them out as well best they can.”

That’s a coach doing what coaches do: making the best case for his depleted roster. But confidence doesn’t block NFL pass rushes. Experience does. And the Bills are about to be very short on experience at two critical positions.

The Texans game as precursor to Sunday’s nightmare

The Bills got absolutely manhandled by the Texans in Week 12, with Allen being sacked a career-high eight times. Eight. That’s not just poor pass protection. That’s complete offensive line breakdown. That’s a quarterback getting hit repeatedly and not having time to execute. That’s a game that suggested the Bills’ offense had fundamental problems.

Now, instead of fixing those problems, the Bills have to replace two starting tackles and hope their backups can somehow perform better than the starters did against Houston. That’s not how football works. Backups don’t magically outperform veterans when facing championship-caliber defensive lines.

The offense has scored less than 20 points in its three road losses this season. Take out the home field advantage, and the Bills’ offense becomes significantly less potent. Put them on the road without both starting tackles against a Steelers defense that knows how to rush the passer? That recipe doesn’t end well.

The Pittsburgh defense that’s salivating

The Steelers aren’t some bottom-dweller. They have a legitimate defense with pass rushers who understand how to attack vulnerable offensive lines. They’ll see two backup offensive tackles protecting Josh Allen and they’ll smell blood in the water.

Allen is elite. Allen can escape pressure and create off-script plays. But even the best quarterback in the world can’t consistently overcome eight sacks. He can’t overcome consistent pressure. He can’t overcome an offensive line that’s outmatched physically and experientially.

The Steelers will have a massive advantage Sunday. It’s not the only factor that will determine the game, but it might be the most important one.

The bigger picture: Buffalo’s injury crisis

The Bills entered the season with championship aspirations. They have one of the league’s best quarterbacks. They have legitimate receiving weapons. They have Sean McDermott as their coach. They’ve been positioned to compete for a Super Bowl.

Then the injury gods decided to visit Buffalo with the kind of cruelty that reshapes seasons. Allen has been sacked eight times in one game. Both starting offensive tackles are now unavailable. Key defensive personnel have gone down. The roster that was supposed to dominate is instead hanging on by a thread.

McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane will need to make decisions about injured reserve placements. They’ll need to figure out if anyone on their roster can step up and perform at a level they’ve never been asked to perform at before. They’ll need to navigate Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh while simultaneously managing a medical crisis that’s threatening to spiral.

What Sunday means for the Bills’ season

A loss Sunday doesn’t end Buffalo’s season. But a loss Sunday with this particular roster construction against this particular opponent with this particular injury situation would send a message that the Bills are genuinely vulnerable. It would suggest that without elite offensive line play, their offense doesn’t function. It would raise questions about whether they can still compete in the playoffs when roster depth is tested.

A win would provide some measure of resilience. It would suggest that even depleted, the Bills can find ways to overcome adversity. It would show that Josh Allen is enough by himself sometimes. It would provide some hope heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

McDermott knows what’s at stake: “We’re going through some of the different options. Have a lot of confidence in those guys.” That confidence will be tested Sunday in Pittsburgh. And based on what happened against Houston, there’s significant reason to believe the Steelers’ defensive line will expose the Bills’ offensive line deficiencies extensively and repeatedly.