Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has won his last two starts against his superstar Bills counterpart Josh Allen, and he'll need to rattle off another victory in Buffalo to keep his team's playoff hopes afloat.
But as we all know, fun as it is to dissect head-to-head QB matchups as juicy as this, how the Bengals fare in Week 14 comes down to how their defense performs. After a historically horrendous start to the season — eh, "start" is putting it kindly — they've come on strong the past few games or so.
One practice squad call-up to the secondary and a handsomely-paid starter who somehow remembered how to play football are just two of the exciting subplots for coordinator Al Golden's oft-gashed unit.
Here's where the Bengals could go really wrong, though...
Bengals' pass rush must execute & finish vs. Josh Allen in Week 14
Breaking news: Josh Allen is hard to tackle. Oh, and despite trending in the right direction recently, Cincinnati is still one of the worst tackling teams in the NFL.
But the man I teased in the intro, Joseph Ossai, and 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy are producing for a defensive end group that's struggled mightily whenever Trey Hendrickson isn't on the field.
Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy each have 17 total pressures over the last 4 games. pic.twitter.com/eyTFt71EXz
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) November 28, 2025
Hendrickson is out again this week. Can these two guys sustain their surge, or is it an illusion? All us Who Dey Heads are asking for is the type of relentless effort they're attacking with that seemed to be lacking before.
What I mean by execution and finishing pass rushes in the subheading has more to do with a relentless mentality and second-effort type of plays than anything else. Allen is going to break the pocket, and make plays out of structure with his rocket right arm and his legs. The key is to stay disciplined in rush lanes, even if it means giving him more time to throw.
Allen is nothing if not antsy. His earned arm arrogance has him forcing the ball into tight windows when his patience is tested. Some of those windows are even too tight for him, despite the fact that Allen might have the very strongest arm in the sport.
Check out this play by Houston Texans superstar Will Anderson Jr. from a while back, when he traveled over half a football field on one play to chase down the Bills field general:
Will Anderson Jr. traveled 51.7 yards to sack Josh Allen, the longest distance on a sack since Week 2, 2023.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 21, 2025
No other Texans defender over the last decade has covered more than 37 yards on a sack.#BUFvsHOU | #HTownMadepic.twitter.com/aZfNQ2A4EI
Speaking of hustle, look how far Murphy ran to chase down Derrick Henry to prevent a potential game-changing TD in Thanksgiving's 32-14 romp in Baltimore.
44-yard catch-and-run by @KingHenry_2 to close out the third quarter!!
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 28, 2025
Tune in on @SNFonNBC | @peacock | @EAMaddenNFL pic.twitter.com/5JANyHv7Tq
Keep that same type of energy on Sunday, and the Bengals just might help Joe Brrr outduel Allen yet again, improve to 5-8 on the season, and stay right in the AFC North hunt.