The Cincinnati Bengals will be without three starting offensive linemen when they play at the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs on Sunday afternoon. The latest Cincinnati Bengals injury update comes with the odds holding steady with a trip to the AFC Championship game to the winner.
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Cincinnati is a 5.5.-point road underdog at Buffalo, using the OddsShopper tools to find the best NFL lines.
The Bengals on Friday said left tackle Jonah Williams (knee) and right guard Alex Cappa (ankle) are out this week, joining right tackle La’el Collins (knee), who was lost for the season in Week 16. Williams and Cappa are being replaced by left tackle Jackson Carman and right guard Max Scharping. On Sunday, Carman will make his first start of the season, Scharping will make his second, and right tackle Hakeem Adeniji will make his third.
“[Jackson has been] diligently working at that tackle spot all year and slowly learning the position from a playbook standpoint,” Cincinnati offensive line coach Frank Pollack told the Bengals website this week. “He’s been approaching things the right way and he did a lot of good things when he came off the bench last week.”
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According to NFL.com, when Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow has been sacked three or fewer times, the Bengals are 22-3. When he is sacked four or more times, the Bengals are 4-8.
Carman did not play an offensive snap this season until the regular-season finale against the Baltimore Ravens, after playing in all 17 games and 42% of the snaps at guard as a rookie last season.
“I feel like the whole year last year was a crazy year. Top to bottom. I couldn’t even begin to count the things I learned,” Carman said. “I’m glad I’ve been able to pull it all together.”
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The Buffalo defense ranked sixth in the NFL this season, fifth against the run and 15th against the pass. The Bills were 13th at 2.5 sacks per game, and tied for 11th in Pass Rush Win Rate at 43%. Von Miller led them with eight sacks in 12 games, and was sixth in the NFL in Win Rate at 23%, but he is out for the season with a knee injury.
Using the Stokastic NFL Stat projections, Burrow is forecast for 270.5 yards passing and 1.77 touchdowns on Sunday. Using the Stokastic DFS projections, the Bills have the highest rated defense for the playoff weekend at 7.90 points.
“We’ll have our hands full trying to come up with ways to get [Burrow] to hold the ball,” Buffalo defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier told the Bills website. “But that’s the goal to get him to hold it so we can get after the quarterback. … There are a lot of different things different teams have tried, but not with a lot of success. We’re going to try to come up with a way to disrupt them as best we can.”
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Williams was injured last week in the 24-17 Wild Card Round win against the Ravens, when Burrow was sacked four times. Cappa was injured in NFL Week 18 and did not play last week. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said their return for a possible game next week is uncertain.
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