WGR

‘The Buffalo Bills are set to face the New England Patriots in their Week 18 matchup at Highmark Stadium, which will officially take place at 1 p.m. EST at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.’

‘With the Chiefs’ 27-24 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, the Bills need to beat the Bengals in order to not have to rely upon the Jarrett Stidham-led Las Vegas Raiders next week to beat Kansas City.’

‘Quarterback Joe Burrow can pick matchups he wants on almost every play. The Bills will have to defend every inch of the field to make sure they don’t give him easy looks throughout the night, and force him to have to keep looking to find someone open.’

‘The Bills face the Bengals in a huge AFC matchup on Monday Night Football in Cincinnati. The final injury report and game status for individual players will be released on Saturday.’

‘“We gotta play really, really well on defense to give ourselves a chance to win and it starts with our leaders and having a great week of practice,” McDermott said.’

‘While they did get a couple key players back on Thursday, wide receiver Stefon Diggs did not practice due to an illness, while safety Jordan Poyer missed with a knee injury he’s been dealing with. Running back/special teamer Taiwan Jones also did not practice with a hamstring injury.’

‘The Bills offense got the ball to start the second half with a lot of work to do and wasted no time. Allen found wide receiver Stefon Diggs for their first connection of the day on an important 15-yard play. Running back Devin Singletary came up big on the first drive of the second half as well with a 33-yard touchdown run. The Bills elected to go for a two-point conversion and succeeded when Allen connected with wide receiver Kahlil Shakir.’

‘The offense, as it has done numerous times over the course of the season, went into a deep freeze. Over the next four drives the Bills managed just 12 plays and a meager 36 yards. There was another Allen interception and a Gabe Davis fumble to go along with a couple of punts. It was also a rare instance where offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey should have just kept calling run plays because they were practically unstoppable. He didn’t and the passing game never really got into a rhythm.’

‘Bass missed an extra point and a 38 yard field goal. Those four points were looking pretty large most of the game until the Bills turned it up on offense.’

‘It’s not going to be fun playing in it, and it can no doubt impact the game in some way. From a missed kick or dropped punt, to scaling back the game plan because it’s too tough to throw.’

‘Bills head coach Sean McDermott joined the “Extra Point Show” with Sal Capaccio and Joe DiBiase on Thursday and confirmed that center Mitch Morse (concussion) and defensive end Boogie Basham (calf) have been ruled out.’

‘With Morse being out for Saturday, the depth of the offensive line has been crucial for the Bills now with Ike Boettger returning after being on PUP list for all of the season up to this point. McDermott has been very impressed with his work ethic getting back on the field. “It’s good to have Ike who has worked his tail off to get back now given the green light, and we’ll see where it goes this week and the weeks moving ahead,” McDermott said.’

‘In addition to Morse, safety Jordan Poyer (knee) and defensive end Boogie Basham (calf) missed their second-straight day of practice, as well.’

‘The Bills usually go to the opposing team’s city the day prior to the game. However, the current forecast for Western New York on Friday calls for a winter storm with winds in excess of 35 miles-per-hour, as well as 5-to-8 inches of snow.’

‘In addition, a total of 12 other Bills players were voted in as alternates, including linebackers Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds, tackle Dion Dawkins and tight end Dawson Knox as first alternates.’