The Buffalo Bills failed to catch the Kansas City Chiefs for the top seed in the AFC, but did earn a mini-bye week for the season finale after locking up the No. 2 seed.
The Bills clinched the second seed with last week’s win over the New York Jets, allowing the team to rest some key players in the Week 18 game against the New England Patriots. The game could also give a big opportunity to a fan-favorite player who has been stuck at the bottom of the running back depth chart and spent the season on the practice squad.
Bills Expected to Dig Deep into Depth Chart
The Bills have announced that quarterback Josh Allen and other starters on offense will play at the start of Sunday’s game, but will see limited action. That could give an opportunity for practice squad running back Frank Gore Jr., who could be elected to provide depth in the backfield.
Gore is the son of NFL great Frank Gore, who played for the Bills in the 2019 season and helped the team earn a wild-card berth. The younger Gore was elevated from the practice squad once this year, providing some depth when James Cook was ruled out of an October game against the Jets, but ended up being a healthy scratch and has yet to appear in a game this season.
Gore joined the Bills this offseason as an undrafted rookie after a standout four-year career at Southern Mississippi, where he rushed for 4,022 yards with 26 touchdowns and added 682 receiving yards with four receiving touchdowns. Gore became a fan favorite in training camp and the preseason, rushing for 101 yards with a touchdown in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers.
Gore said he remembered traveling to Buffalo to watch games when his father was on the team in the 2019 season, saying he loved the atmosphere.
“It was great,” Gore Jr. said, via CBS Sports. “I came to like three games. It was cold when they played the Jets at the end of the season. This is one of the most enthusiastic places I’ve ever been.”
Bills Aiming for NFL Record
Gore could have an unusually big opportunity in Sunday’s game, with the Bills in sight of an all-time touchdown record and looking down the depth chart to break it. As reporter Sal Capaccio of WGR 550 noted, the Bills have thrown touchdown passes to 13 different players and would need one more to break the NFL record.
“Not only are the Bills fully aware of having 13 different players catch a TD pass this season, one shy of breaking the NFL record, they are clearly embracing it as a team accomplishment and players have talked about who could be the one to break the record Sunday at the Patriots,” Capaccio shared in a post on X.
Because all of the wide receivers and running backs on the team’s active roster have already caught a touchdown pass — along with quarterback Josh Allen — the record-breaking score would likely need to come from a player elevated from the practice squad or a non-skill player.
The Bills could also call up another wide receiver, like practice squad speedster KJ Hamler, or call a play for an offensive lineman. Left tackle Dion Dawkins has been an occasional target, catching touchdowns in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Comments
Fan-Favorite Bills RB Could Get Big Opportunity in Season Finale