For the second time this month, the Buffalo Bills will attempt to pick up the pieces from a humbling road loss in which their offense played well below expectations. And once again, they’ll have to do it against a team with a winning record firmly in the hunt for the playoffs.
The Bills (7-4) will go on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) in a game that could have massive playoff and tiebreaker ramifications. The Bills are 4-3 with Josh Allen the week after a Thursday night game, though none of those seven outings came after a loss.
How the Bills respond Sunday, particularly on offense, amidst some new adversity, will be a big challenge this week. With so much on the line, here’s our Week 13 Bills notebook.
The Spencer Brown injury is massive for the entire offensive environment
A little bit into the third quarter, an injury occurred that could have a pretty significant trickle-down effect in the short term and potentially the long term. Starting right tackle Spencer Brown suffered a shoulder injury, came back in the game for another quarter, but continued to look in pain and was limited before getting subbed out. By the end of the night, Brown’s right arm was in a sling, and Friday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott said a trip to injured reserve could be on the table. When asked again Wednesday, McDermott didn’t rule it out. In another context clue, the Bills’ choice to open up second-year offensive tackle Tylan Grable’s 21-day practice window from IR could mean they are expecting an extended absence for Brown.
Without question, as the rest of the offense continues to try to find itself, the offensive line was the biggest strength of their operation. While James Cook plays a big part in how well they’ve run the ball, it’s the offensive line routinely clearing out space to set the table for Cook to maximize all these runs. The running game has been the best part of their offense in 2025. And of all the offensive line starters, heading into the Houston game, Brown has been the best of the bunch. In fact, he was the highest graded Bills player through 11 games in our season-long film study. Losing that level of talent is bad enough, but it’s multiplied by the disparity of on-field results between him and his likely backup, Ryan Van Demark.
Van Demark’s best position is left tackle, and when he’s subbed in at right tackle, it has led to some real opportunities for the opposition. For instance, Van Demark was called for holding late in the Texans game after losing his rep initially. Then on the Bills’ crucial 3rd-and-1 attempt deep in Houston’s zone at the end of the game, defensive end Will Anderson Jr. shoved Van Demark off of his pads, which allowed the Anderson to do an unimpeded jump and knock down Allen’s pass to Khalil Shakir, which would have been an easy first down, with the potential to have gone for the touchdown.
Because of some of Van Demark’s pass-protection issues, it has all the potential to change how the Bills operate when Allen drops back for as long as Brown is out of the lineup. The Bills, due to the strength of their offensive line, often operate without any help for the front five in pass protection. It came back to bite them against the Texans, as Houston’s outstanding defensive line put together one of the most prolific pass-rushing days against Allen that he’s ever seen, and for some reason, the Bills continued to try to protect the quarterback with five blockers for much of that game.
But for the most part, it’s been a more than passable strategy for the Bills with only five players blocking for Allen. If Van Demark is in for Brown, it will likely necessitate help from a chipping skill position player against the defensive end. For a Bills offense that has struggled to consistently move the ball through the air, delaying a skill position’s route to help with protection gives Allen one fewer plausible downfield target and could hurt their ability to push the ball down the field even more. For those reasons, the Brown injury is a massive one to their 2025 hopes.
It gets even more dire for the Bills this week, as starting left tackle Dion Dawkins is in concussion protocol and did not participate in practice Wednesday – almost a full week after the game against the Texans. It could push the Bills into a big reshuffling scenario. If Dawkins can’t go, the minor upside is that it would likely push Van Demark over to left tackle against the Steelers, where Van Demark has been definitively better and more comfortable.
That brings right tackle into question, with a few options for the Bills. Grable, if they deem him ready to play after an extended absence, is their most talented of the group. However, that’s a big ‘if.’ Rookie Chase Lundt has been active only once this season, with a grand total of three NFL snaps to his name. The other option they could consider is interior offensive lineman Alec Anderson, who played right tackle in college. Anderson has far more experience than Lundt, and could be more ready to play than Grable.
Regardless of how the Bills handle it, this will be a feeling-out process as they’ve enjoyed remarkable health along the offensive line for almost three full seasons. Now we get to see how their inexperienced depth handles the opportunity, and if they can make the best of a potentially harmful situation. But this Steelers matchup, with their ferocious edge rushers, is on the shortlist of games they would have least liked to have injuries to their offensive tackles.
Why Sunday is a potential fork in the road for Keon Coleman
There are often things that are way too over-dramatized in professional sports, and especially in the NFL bubble. Acknowledging that, there may not be higher stakes for the outlook of Keon Coleman’s Bills career than on Sunday, when the team announces its inactive list. Coleman was a healthy scratch for two straight games. The first, against the Buccaneers, was a disciplinary action for being late to a team meeting. The second, last week against the Texans, was explained by McDermott.
“We rolled with the same group we had the week before, just because of the short turnaround,” McDermott said.
However, it wasn’t the exact same group as the Buccaneers game. There was one notable lineup switch, as Curtis Samuel was ruled out due to injuries, and the Bills went with Elijah Moore ahead of Coleman. Moore was also a healthy scratch for the Buccaneers game. McDermott could have been alluding to Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers, who took the snaps at X-receiver against Tampa Bay, as that is Coleman’s majority position within the Bills offense.
“Really we’re forward-looking right now in terms of what could happen this week,” McDermott said, answering as to whether Coleman would be in the lineup against the Steelers. “We’ll take it one day at a time. We’ll see where it goes.”
So then, why is being active for this game so important for Coleman? For multiple reasons. For one, the Bills are coming off a horrendous offensive showing in Houston. If they don’t deem Coleman as a potential solution to their problems when they desperately need answers, that’s a statement in itself. The second is because of all the moving parts at receiver. Moore was released Wednesday, they just signed Brandin Cooks to the 53-man roster and Samuel is staring at another potential missed game due to injuries. For the Bills to have only five receivers Sunday without Coleman, it would mean Cooks is active after a mere three practices plus a walkthrough. That would set off the Coleman alarm bells, especially with how difficult the Bills have said it is to onboard a receiver to their playbook in-season. Third, the Bills will have had a week-and-a-half to think about Coleman and if he’s one of their top receivers. If, after all that time, they decide against making him active, that’s another sizable statement.
When McDermott discussed the notion of Cooks being active Sunday, he led off with his go-to “we’ll see,” though he didn’t rule it out entirely. But amid his Wednesday news conference, McDermott did pass along this interesting nugget about offensive coordinator Joe Brady as it comes to the game day roster at receiver.
“Joe ultimately makes the decision who he feels like gives us the best chance this week,” McDermott said, “and then we take it one week at a time.”
If I had to guess right now, I think Coleman plays Sunday to see if he fires back with a spark after being a healthy scratch for two weeks. However, given the situation, I’m in no way confident about that, and the Bills are likely trying to figure out what’s best for them with Coleman, all the same.
Cooks in, Moore out. Does it help at all?
When the Bills signed Cooks, another receiver move was likely on the way, and in this case it was to move on from Moore. The big question is, does it make the Bills better? Cooks has the reputation of a field stretcher from earlier in his career. But at 32 years old, what is he bringing to the Bills for the rest of the season? After watching a lot of Cooks’ current season on film, it doesn’t really scream as a massive upgrade. At best, the Bills may be getting just a similar player, albeit one who is more versatile than Moore, who was mostly a slot player for the Bills. This season with the Saints, Cooks lined up most commonly in the slot or at Z receiver, though he occasionally got snaps at X, as well.
As a route runner, Cooks did not really look like someone who would legitimately challenge a defense deep. Mostly, he simply played the part as a decoy for the Saints offense to occupy some space. The stats back that up, as Cooks was targeted on only 8.8 percent of his routes, according to TruMedia and Pro Football Focus. That ranks as 145th out of 154 receivers who have run at least 50 routes. His yards per route run are 0.58 for the season, which ranks 137th out of 154. He was on a losing team with inferior quarterback play, which should be noted. Considering how limiting that Saints offense is, the Bills could help Cooks’ metrics improve, but it’s not as though the Bills have had an incredible passing game this season. All the signs point to it being unlikely that Cooks will make a meaningful difference for the Bills, though he could certainly settle in as a more dependable role player and an upgrade to Samuel if all goes well.
Projected Bills roster moves: Sign WR Gabe Davis to 53-man roster, activate OT Tylan Grable from IR, release DT Phidarian Mathis
Projected Bills practice squad elevations: TE Keleki Latu, LB Baylon Spector
Projected Bills inactives vs. Steelers: WR Curtis Samuel, WR Joshua Palmer*, TE Dalton Kincaid, OT Dion Dawkins, OT Spencer Brown, LB Terrel Bernard, CB Ja’Marcus Ingram
*Palmer popped up on the injury report on Wednesday with an ankle injury that has to do with his previous ankle injury earlier in the season. He did not participate in practice on Thursday and was limited on Friday.
(**Subject to change following Friday’s practice)
Prediction: Bills 22, Steelers 16
The Bills potentially being without both starting offensive tackles in a critical AFC game against a Steelers team that has invested most heavily in its pass rush could be the key detail that prevents the Bills from getting back on track this week. It will take a well-schemed offensive attack, with their rushing attack leading the way, for the Bills to do enough to come away with a win.
Ironically, the Bills may have to depend on their defense to steal the game, and in their favor is that they’ll either face Aaron Rodgers, who has a broken wrist, or backup quarterback Mason Rudolph. Plus, the Steelers will be without their starting left tackle, Broderick Jones, which could set up for a big day from Greg Rousseau. Ultimately, Sunday might wind up being a low-scoring slog between two injured teams, but the Bills defense might have the upper hand against a backup quarterback and following an outstanding second half in Houston to propel the team to a win.
