Injuries now a major concern at two key positions
As hard as the Bills tried, they could not avoid key injuries during Sunday’s game. The Bills were hard hit at both cornerback and right tackle.
Levi Wallace, Ty Nsekhe, Taron Johnson, Cody Ford, and Siran Neal were all bitten by the injury bug in this game. The turf at New Era Field is notorious for being troublesome when it’s wet. That was exactly the problem on Sunday as rain fell throughout the game. The Bills have been one of the most fortunate teams in the league all season long when it comes to avoiding injuries, but the circumstances with the weather on Sunday put the Bills at greater risk for injury problems.
The Bills were actually a bit lucky that their injury problems weren’t worse in this game. Despite being banged up, Ford, Johnson, and Neal were all cleared to return to action. That’s a huge relief for Sean McDermott and his staff because the injuries to Wallace and Nsekhe look like bad ones that threaten the depth at those key positions.
The injury to Wallace appears to be the most significant injury the Bills suffered on Sunday. Wallace was seen after the game in a walking boot. The Bills haven’t confirmed anything yet. The Bills might be without their No. 2 cornerback when they face that dangerous Houston Texans’ passing attack.
The situation would have been even more dire if Johnson’s injury were significant as well. He was banged up while trying to make a tackle late in the fourth quarter and was down on the field for a bit. But after going to the sidelines, he was cleared to return to the game. If Johnson had been hurt worse, the Bills might be scrambling to add a corner to the roster in time for Saturday’s trip to Houston. As it was, the Bills had to plug wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie into the game at cornerback just to have a body on the field to finish out the drive after Johnson departed.
Still, cornerback depth will be an area of concern with Wallace out against one of the league’s most talented passing attacks.
Meanwhile, the Bills had another unfortunate injury on the offensive side of the ball Sunday as right tackle Ty Nsekhe left with an ankle injury in the third quarter. It had to have been an awful feeling for Nsekhe, who was returning to the field for the first time since he was carted off with an ankle injury in Miami back in Week 11. Making things worse on Sunday, Cody Ford, the Bills’ starting right tackle, left the game shortly thereafter as well with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. Ford started the game at right tackle, but only played a couple of series before giving way to Nsekhe as the Bills took any remaining starters out of the game. However, Nsekhe’s third quarter injury forced Ford back into the game.
When he left with an injury, the Bills had to put Dion Dawkins back in the game at left tackle and move backup Ryan Bates over to the right side to fill in for Ford and Nsekhe. Fortunately for Buffalo, Ford wreturned to the game in the fourth quarter.
Having both Ford and Nsekhe significantly hurt heading into Saturday’s wild card game would have been disastrous. After all, J.J. Watt is returning to the lineup from injury and would have been a nightmare for the Bills’ makeshift offensive line. As it is, the Bills’ offensive line depth is in peril with Nsekhe likely out and Ford banged up.
The results were not pretty for the Buffalo offensive line on Sunday with second stringers on the field. The Bills rushed for just 73 yards in the game and Matt Barkley had the ball knocked out from behind twice by Jets’ pass rushers, though one was ruled an incomplete pass. Overall, the Bills had 10 plays on offense that went for a loss.
The Houston defense doesn’t pose the most daunting challenge for Buffalo’s offense, but the task is that much more difficult if Buffalo has to turn to its offensive line depth on Saturday. The return of Watt on the opposite side doesn’t help at all. With the injuries on Sunday, depth is now suddenly one of the biggest concerns the Bills have heading into Houston.