The Cincinnati Bengals have had great success against the Buffalo Bills with Joe Burrow at quarterback, and they may be getting a little extra help for Sunday's showdown.
Not that such a cerebral QB like Burrow needs any extra edge. Whether it's tactical, intrinsic, or an external outburst of pure passion, Joe Brrr has that "it"/edge/dawg in him in spades. But given the slim margins of the NFL and the fact that his defense is prepping to thwart Bills superstar Josh Allen as best they can, any little bit helps.
So what is this under-the-radar move I'm pining to gas up while I gush about Joe in the intro? Forgive the belated reveal. Suppose I'm still hyped out of my cranium that Himothy Burrow is verymuchsofully back.
Bengals sign former Bills CB to practice squad before road trip to Buffalo
The Bills released cornerback Jalen Kimber on October 14. Although it took him a while to land on his feet elsewhere the NFL, he's arrived in Cincinnati right on time, having just signed onto the practice squad.
Hand up. I said, "WHO?" when the Kimber press release dropped. Then I saw his last team was Buffalo. Coincidence? Don't think so!
Kimber won't be contributing on the field on Sunday, barring some dreadful misfortune befalling the Bengals' secondary. However, he could provide some insight via insider knowledge that gives his new teammates the slightest of competitive advantages.
And look, it's possible the 24-year-old undrafted free agent out of Penn State does have some upside to contribute going forward. Perhaps he'll be a practice squad staple on a futures contract.
If any cornerback knows the value of keeping one's head down, sticking with one team, and working tirelessly until opportunity knocks to kick the door in, it's newly minted starting nickel Jalen Davis. Not a bad mentor for Kimber to follow around. Davis is credited as a critical contributor critical to the development of All-Pro-caliber Bengals corner DJ Turner after all.
OK but enough pie in the sky talk about Kimber. I will say that the Bills have the No. 1 pass defense in the league, so even if he was faring well in practices, Kimber wasn't skyrocketing up Buffalo's depth chart any time soon. Hence his landing in Cincinnati.
It sure appears that Kimber was brought into the fold this week for a specific purpose, though. None of us outsiders can know how much of an impact his foreknowledge of the Bills will have. Probably not a lot. Maybe enough to be the difference between winning and losing and keeping the Bengals' playoff chances alive.