ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- As the days grow colder, the room for error has grown increasingly smaller for the Buffalo Bills.
Sitting at 7-4 and with an 80.6% chance to make the playoffs per ESPN Analytics, the odds are in the team's favor. But the reality of how this team has played, along with the lack of answers -- seen in the continuous churning of the roster with veteran players -- has left Buffalo in a precarious spot.
"Urgency is up," coach Sean McDermott said. "That's important any time of year, but to your point, it's mid- to late November and heading into December. ... It's a fun time of year when you're in the hunt."
That hunt takes the Bills to Pittsburgh on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) searching for answers coming off a rough outing against the Houston Texans last Thursday night. It marked the third loss Buffalo has taken on the road this season.
Despite the time off, injuries remain a major issue for the Bills, amongst other areas of concerns: road issues, offensive play and the run game. Many of those troublesome areas will be tested in Week 13 versus the Steelers.
Here's a look at some key areas surrounding the Bills' postseason hunt.
The playoff race
The Bills cannot really afford to lose against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the New England Patriots two and a half games up in the AFC East division and only one meeting between the two left in Foxborough, attention shifts to the race for seeding and making the playoffs. Every win counts.
The team already lost to the Patriots once and is coming off a loss to the Houston Texans (6-5) in Week 12 -- Buffalo is 4-3 against the AFC. A loss to the Steelers (6-5) (a team also in contention for a playoff spot) would only hurt that record and give Pittsburgh an edge over the Bills in the seedings.
The Bills' schedule remains difficult. A home game against the now Joe Burrow-led Cincinnati Bengals is followed by New England. Games on the road at the Cleveland Browns and at home vs. the New York Jets sandwich a home game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Since 2020, however, no team has a better regular-season winning percentage in December and January (85.2%).
"We understand where we're at," quarterback Josh Allen said. "At the same time, we have full confidence in ourselves. ... Ultimately it comes down to executing on game days."
Road issues
The Bills are 3-4 over the past seven games since starting the season 4-0. A loss to the Steelers would mark a third straight road defeat, something that also happened to Buffalo in 2023.
The offense averages 32.5 points per game at home (fourth in the league). On the road, however, the unit averages 23.2 points per game (13th).
It also happens that two of those road losses -- Texans and Atlanta Falcons -- have come against teams with effective pass rushers. That will only continue against Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt & Co.
Offensive concerns
Wide receiver Brandin Cooks was signed to the active roster on Tuesday with receiver Elijah Moore released in a corresponding move. The hope is that adding Cooks will help improve the downfield passing game. Quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry overlapped with him in New Orleans so there is already built-in experience.
"Good addition," McDermott said. "Gone against him a number of times, always respected his game, has good speed, knows how to play the position. Some guys have good speed, but they're not true wide receivers and football players; He's a combination of both."
The idea, however, of the 32-year-old making a marked difference on the Bills' offense is unlikely. Cooks had 19 receptions for 165 yards in 10 games with the Saints. He averaged just 6.6 yards per target and was targeted on 9.5% of his routes, far beyond his previous career low of 16% (2019). His yards per route is also at a career low (0.63).
Allen, who was a full participant in practice with a right elbow injury on Wednesday, spent some time after practice throwing a couple passes to Cooks and WR Keon Coleman, who has been a healthy scratch the past two games.
When Allen was asked what the offense needs to do to smooth out the inconsistencies, he pointed to turnovers. Allen has two straight games with multiple interceptions, along with fumbles by a variety of offensive players,
"I think most of [the turnovers] have been in a one-dimensional type of situation where they know we're throwing and they're able to kind of pin their ears back," Allen said. "Obviously that starts early in the game where the goal is to get up early and being able to stay two-dimensional and keep them on their heels."
Run game
The strength of the Bills' offense is the running game. It sits at a league-leading 147.2 yards per game. But both offensive tackles will miss this game as left tackle Dion Dawkins is in concussion protocol and right tackle Spencer Brown could not finish the game vs. the Texans with a shoulder injury that remains.
The unit will still hope to find a way -- with backups Ryan Van Demark and Alec Anderson contenders to fill in -- to take advantage of a Steelers defense that has allowed 25 rushes of 10-plus yards (tied for 26th).
Running back James Cook III has seven 40-plus-yard rushing touchdowns since the start of 2024 (most in the NFL and tied for the most in a two-season span).
On the other side, the Bills' defense continues to search for solutions to a run defense that has given up 5.3 yards per carry (31st).
"We have to do a better job of that run game and making sure we're controlling that line of scrimmage earlier in the game," defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said.