Bills TE Dawson Knox: A Matchup Challenge For Bengals?

Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox remains one of Josh Allen’s favorite and most-trusted offensive targets.

The Buffalo Bills are bound for the playoffs for the fourth straight season. 

The team secured its third consecutive AFC East title with a 35-13 victory over the Chicago Bears on Saturday at Soldier Field. With two games remaining on its schedule, Buffalo is now setting sights on securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC Postseason standings. 

Their quest to obtain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs begins on Monday night, when the Bills travel to the Queen City to take on the Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) at Paycor Stadium. 

Though the Bills turned in an impressive performance on both sides of the ball, their offense exhibited a new dimension by using running backs Devin Singletary and rookie James Cook to put points on the board.

However, Cincinnati’s stout run defense may prevent Buffalo from duplicating the efforts of its newfound rushing prowess in Week 17. As a result, the Bills may be best-suited by utilizing the short passing game, an area in which the Bengals defense has had its share of difficulty in 2022. 

Enter tight end Dawson Knox. 

Knox has once again been one of quarterback Josh Allen’s favorite targets. In 14 games this season, the 26-year-old has caught 46 passes for 504 yards and five touchdowns. As such, Knox has become a prominent pass-catching threat in Buffalo’s offense.

When the ball is not headed his way, Knox has also stepped up his blocking game on the edge, especially improving upon sealing his blocks. In most circumstances, he is well-positioned to be a problematic player to defend for any team.

The 6-4, 254-pound tight end is at his best when utilizing the intermediate area of the field, particularly against teams with difficulty defending it. The Ole Miss product is successful when finding space sitting down in soft zones, as well as utilizing flat combinations. When teams attempt to neutralize the middle of the field by taking away slot targets underneath, Knox often finds room to operate in some catch-and-run situations over the middle.

While he was already expected to be a notable weapon for Allen in the red zone, any deficiency in Cincy’s secondary should allow Knox the opportunity to maneuver in the middle of the field as well. With star wideout Stefon Diggs likely to draw the attention from Cincinnati’s perimeter corners, wideouts Gabriel Davis and Isaiah McKenzie will command attention from remaining members of the secondary, namely slot corners and even safeties.

If Knox is given room to make plays in the open field, the Bengals defense will surely pay the price. Therefore, Allen would be smart to utilize him in this fashion, as well as in short-yardage scoring situations. 

Though Cincinnati is expected to give the Bills all they can handle in Week 17, Knox may be just the player to help them pass the test. 

Kickoff between the Bills and Bengals is set for 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 2 from Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. 

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Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL

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