The Buffalo Bills entered Week 13 without both of their starting offensive tackles. Dion Dawkins is dealing with a concussion, while Spencer Brown is nursing a shoulder injury. Both suffered injuries in Week 12 against the Houston Texans, where Josh Allen was sacked a career-high eight times. Facing a Pittsburgh Steelers team with T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig, many were fearful of what things could look like, and that Allen would be under fire again.
However, Alec Anderson and Ryan Van Denmark played great, allowing zero sacks of their quarterback as the Bills rolled to a convincing 26-7 win.
In the process, the Bills rushed for 249 yards, which is the most in the history of Acrisure Stadium. James Cook was responsible for 144 of those 249 yards, and he revealed after the game that he reached out to the backup offensive linemen in the morning to encourage them.
"James Cook said he woke up this morning and texted Alec Anderson and Ryan Van Demark and told them he trusted and believed in them and ‘let’s go get a win,’" Cook said via Sal Capaccio. "He said they texted back ‘I love you, brother, let’s go.’"
The Bills get to 8-4 with the win, and they will head back home to face the Cincinnati Bengals, led by Joe Burrow. Cincinnati defeated the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving night, and are 4-8 as they try to win out and get a lot of help to get into the postseason.
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