The Buffalo Bills Week 17 game with the Cincinnati Bengals should be one of the games of the 2022 season and is a perfect way to wrap up Monday Night Football for the 2022 regular season. Ahead of Bills-Bengals on MNF, let’s make some bold Bills predictions.

Buffalo’s path to a first-round bye is simple. Beat the Bengals in Week 17 and then take down the New England Patriots in the final game of the season. They do this, and Josh Allen and company can watch the Wild Card round from their couches.

On the Bengals side, their path to the top seed in the AFC is more difficult, but it also includes winning in Weeks 17 and 18. If they do this and the Kansas City Chiefs lose a game, Joe Burrow’s team slides into the No. 1 spot.

In the three-way battle for the best young quarterback in the NFL, Burrow is 3-0 vs. Patrick Mahomes, while Allen is 2-3 vs. the KC signal-caller. Since Burrow entered the league in 2020, though, this will be the first Bills-Bengals face-off. In honor of that auspicious occasion, here are a few bold Week 17 Bills predictions.

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3. The Buffalo secondary will be exposed

Despite a rash of injuries that started all the way back in Week 1, the Bills defense is still the No. 2-ranked scoring defense in the NFL this season. However, the unit is in the middle of the pack when it comes to allowing passing yards (3,199).

Some of this is due to Von Miller going out and what that means for the pass rush. Most of it is on the secondary, though. Tre’Davios White is still working his way back from his knee injury and isn’t as aggressive in press coverage as he’s been in the past. Micah Hyde went out for the season after Week 2, and Damar Hamlin is no Miach Hyde.

Dane Jackson and rookies Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford have missed time with injuries, too.

All this adds up to the fact that the Bills secondary isn’t what it should be, and almost no team in the NFL can take advantage of that more than Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and the rest of the Bengals offense.

2. Bills-Bengals will be the Josh Allen vs. Joe Burrow dual we are all hoping for

Heading into Monday we will all be hoping that Josh Allen vs. Joe Burrow is a heavyweight fight, and the next bold Bills prediction for Week 17 is that it will be.

Burrow has the second-most passing yards (4,260), third-most completions (389), and second-most passing touchdowns (34) in 2022. Allen is right behind him with the sixth-most passing yards (4,029), eighth-most completions (340), and third-most passing touchdowns (32).

They are both also a Super Bowl win away from being able to make a real argument that they are as good or better than Patrick Mahomes, and the next step toward a Super Bowl this season is winning this game.

After snow, freezing temperatures, and moved games, Allen and the Bills will finally play in decent conditions on Monday. The forecast for Monday is cloudy with a chance of showers with 60-plus-degree temperatures during the day and high 40s at night.

Conditions are perfect for a shootout, and that’s what fans will get in the Bills' Week 17 tilt.

The bold Bills prediction here is that both Allen and Burrow show up and show out in the Monday night closer this season. Both QBs will throw for over 350 yards (with at least one going for 400-plus) along with multiple touchdowns and one interception each.

1. Bills 34, Bengals 31

Bills-Bengals will be everything we hope it will be, including a dramatic, field-goal game in the end. As predicted above, both Josh Allen and Joe Burrow will be incredible, and this game will come down to the team that makes a big play on the final drive.

After struggling in close games with Allen under center, the Bills have beat the close-game bugaboo in 2022. Six of Buffalo’s 12 wins this season have been in one-score games, including six of their last eight.

The bold Bills prediction here is that Allen makes a late-game drive to go ahead by a field goal but leaves time for Burrow to counter. Despite the secondary’s struggles, a Bills defender Pro Bowl snub Matt Milano?) will be the one to make the play in the end, and the Bills win a tight one to help them hold on to their first-round bye.