As the Cleveland Browns get set to host the Buffalo Bills in Week 16, the contrast between these two teams couldn’t be more telling. For Buffalo, this is a tune-up for a playoff push. For Cleveland, it’s a glimpse at what a postseason-ready roster looks like - and maybe, a measuring stick for where they go from here.
The Browns are in evaluation mode, whether they’ll say it out loud or not. With the 2026 NFL Draft creeping into focus, and questions swirling around the future of the coaching staff and quarterback position, this game offers more than just a win-loss column entry. It’s a chance for players like Shedeur Sanders to show they belong - or at least flash enough to keep the conversation going into the offseason.
But Sanders won’t have it easy today. Buffalo brings one of the league’s more adaptable and aggressive pass defenses, a unit that can disguise coverages, bring pressure from different spots, and make life miserable for young quarterbacks. And the Browns are walking into this matchup shorthanded - again.
Three key offensive contributors are out: right tackle Jack Conklin is already on IR, and now tight end David Njoku and rookie running back Dylan Sampson are inactive. That’s a blow to both the passing and run game. Add in the absence of starting guard Wyatt Teller and defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr., both ruled out due to illness, and you’re looking at a Cleveland roster that’s taking the field without some of its best trench talent.
There was a glimmer of hope that Teller might suit up after the Browns didn’t elevate another offensive lineman on Saturday, but that optimism faded with the release of the official inactive list 90 minutes before kickoff.
Cleveland Browns Week 16 Inactives:
- CB Denzel Ward
- TE David Njoku
- RB Dylan Sampson
- DT Mike Hall Jr.
- OL Wyatt Teller
- WR Jamari Thrash
- DT Sam Kamara
That’s a lot of talent in street clothes - especially on the interior. For a quarterback still trying to find his rhythm, missing a starting guard and tight end is far from ideal. And on defense, the absence of Ward and Hall Jr. leaves Cleveland thin in two key areas against a Bills offense that can spread you out and hit you in multiple ways.
Buffalo isn’t completely healthy either, but they’re in a better spot depth-wise. Their inactive list includes a few notable names, including some familiar faces for Browns fans.
Buffalo Bills Week 16 Inactives:
- DT Jordan Phillips
- K Matt Prater
- OT Chase Lundt
- WR Keon Coleman
- WR Gabe Davis
- S Darnell Savage
- DT Larry Ogunjobi
- OL Tylan Grable
Coleman, a former first-rounder, and Davis, a proven vertical threat, will be missed in the passing game. Ogunjobi, once a key piece on Cleveland’s defensive line, won’t get a chance to face his old team. And with Prater out, Buffalo will lean on a backup kicker in what could be a chilly, wind-swept afternoon on the shores of Lake Erie.
So what does this all mean? For Buffalo, it’s about staying sharp and stacking wins on the road to January football.
For Cleveland, it’s another chapter in a season that’s been more about development than contention. But make no mistake - these final games matter.
They matter for Sanders. They matter for the coaching staff.
And they matter for a front office that has some big decisions to make in just a few months.
Today’s matchup is more than a late-December game between two teams on different tracks. It’s a snapshot of where the Browns are - and where they hope to be.