With the Wild Card Round officially in the books, all eyes are on the Divisional Round. The Buffalo Bills are set to host the Cincinnati Bengals at the Highmark Stadium on Sunday, which should be one of the most entertaining games of the weekend.
In the Wild Card, the Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 34-31 in dramatic fashion. Now, Buffalo has eight straight wins going back to the regular season.
A big part of the team's success has been the performance of Josh Allen. The quarterback completed 63.3% of his passes for 4,283 yards and 35 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. He also added 762 rushing yards for seven scores. He ended up earning his second selection for the Pro Bowl.
Versus Miami, Allen had some ups and downs. Despite the three passing touchdowns, he also threw for two picks and fumbled three times.
Because of that, other players had to step up. Luckily for the Bills, one of them should have another solid performance on Sunday. With that being said, here is the Buffalo Bills' X-factor against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it is not Josh Allen.
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Bills X-Factor vs. Bengals: Gabe Davis
If there was one player who Buffalo fans expected to have a breakout year was Gabe Davis. The former UCF Knight took over the WR2 role as Cole Beasley and Emmanuel Sanders both retired prior to the season. Not only that, the last impression Davis gave was one for the ages.
In the 2022 Divisional Round against the Kansas City Chiefs, the wideout finished with a career-high 201 yards on eight catches. Most notably, he broke an NFL playoff record for most receiving touchdowns in a game with four. He also became just the ninth player to get 200-plus receiving yards in a postseason matchup.
Fast forward to the 2022 regular season, Davis had his moments such as the 98-yard score against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5. However, his overall numbers for the season were not as eye-catching as some expected. He caught 48 passes on a 51.6% catch rate, the worst among Bills with more than 20 targets. He had 836 yards and seven touchdowns.
Davis only had one 100-yard game in the regular season and just had double-digit targets twice. For comparison, he had the same number of receptions as Dawson Knox but had nearly 30 more targets.
However, just like last year, Davis has quickly stepped up in the playoffs. Against the Dolphins, he caught six out of his nine targets for 113 yards and a touchdown.
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In his last three playoff games, the wideout has 16 catches for 354 yards and six touchdowns.
On Sunday, the Bills will have a tough challenge ahead of them. The Bengals had the best-passing defense in the regular season, allowing opponents to complete just 58.9% of their passes. On the other hand, Cincinnati was allowed just 6.6 yards per pass attempt, worse than non-playoff teams such as the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Browns.
Davis' 17.4 yards per reception in the regular season could come in handy in the Divisional Round. Allen could opt for deeper shots as Cincinnati should focus on Stefon Diggs. That way, Davis can compensate for the incomplete passes that the Bengals should keep forcing on Sunday.
At the end of the day, Allen and Diggs should be key players against Cincinnati. Still, Davis' recent postseason résumé cannot be taken for granted. He has already shown he can play in big moments, especially against good defenses. If the Bills want a better shot at winning this game, it starts with more targets for Davis.
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