Week 13 is pivotal if the Buffalo Bills want to see their AFC playoffs through. With the team already dealing with multiple injuries, it wouldn’t be easy to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers. And as former Bills player Eric Wood believes, there could be one huge challenge involving linebacker T.J. Watt.

There’s a chance that Bills offensive lineman Spencer Brown could miss the game. And if that happens, the Bills might have to start Ryan Van Demark at right tackle. While speaking about this situation on One Bills Live, Wood shared that the Bills must provide all the help they can to Demark.

“You’re likely gonna give him a lot of attention, whether it’s chips, making sure you’re sliding in that direction, potentially having the guard help out as well,” Wood said. “You’re gonna have a lot of attention on T.J. Watt through that game. They’re not just gonna throw Ryan Van Demark out there to the wolves. There’s gonna be times where he has to win one-on-one matchups against T.J. Watt. You just don’t want him to have to do it 30, 40 times.”

He explained that while one-on-one situations are inevitable, the Bills should try to limit how often he’s isolated. This is because Brown’s return looks unlikely. After he suffered a shoulder injury during the Bills’ 23-19 loss to the Houston Texans, he was seen wearing a sling.

In Brown’s absence, Van Demark will have to take on one of the NFL’s most dominant pass rushers. Watt has even surpassed his older brother J.J. Watt’s 114.5-sack record this season and is now officially 26th all-time on the NFL sack list as of Sunday afternoon. He recorded the 115th sack of his career in the game against the Chicago Bears.

Even experienced tackles have struggled against him, so the Bills cannot afford to lose focus on Watt. This becomes even more important given the Bills’ issues in both the passing and running game. They lack reliable weapons around quarterback Josh Allen. Moreover, the offensive line has struggled to protect him.

Now, this was explicit in their showing against the Texans. The Bills’ defense allowed 20 points and 201 net yards in the first half. However, they did appear to have some grip after the intermission as they allowed three points and 60 net yards in the second half.

To top this, Allen was sacked eight times by the Texans. So, Sean McDermott-led Bills must fix these issues against the Steelers, or they could risk their playoff chances.

Can the Buffalo Bills bounce back for the playoffs?

The Bills are in a tough playoff fight. After their loss to Houston, the Bills dropped from a No. 5 seed to a No. 6. And the Jacksonville Jaguars’ win pushed Buffalo further down.

They currently sit at the bottom of the AFC playoff race as the No. 7 seed. And they are just one game ahead of the Steelers. As per NFL.com, their playoff probability has dropped from 92% to 85%. But there’s still hope. The Bills have six games left to turn things around.

The New York Times’ Playoff Simulator shows that their odds can rise to 96 percent. But that can happen only if the team fixes issues on both offense and defense. Unfortunately, both units are dealing with injuries. Defensive tackle Ed Oliver and defensive end Michael Hoecht aren’t expected to return until the playoffs.

Wood has also pointed out that the team must address its defensive problems to stay in contention at such a crucial time.

“And if Ed does it, it potentially be the playoffs. They’ve got to find some answers on the defensive side of the football in getting off the field earlier in games. Especially when you have an offense that’s not clicking on all cylinders either.”

So, while there’s still a chance for the Bills to recover, they must fix their issues.