5 reasons why the Buffalo Bills lost to the Cincinnati Bengals

On Sunday the Buffalo Bills traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals who are starting to show their stripes again.

In recent years the Bills have always struggled against the Bengals since 2010 the Bills are 2-4 when squaring off against Marvin Lewis’ team. We knew it was going to be tough for the Bills to get a win on the road but the remnants of Hurricane Nate only made it even tougher for the Bills. The Bills fell to the Bengals 20-16 in a tough loss but remain ahead in the AFC East with a record of 3-2 as they go into their bye week. Here are 5 reasons why the Buffalo Bills lost.

5) Injuries

It was a difficult day to play football to begin with, the field was wet and slippery, and the fact that Bills players were getting banged up left and right made it worse. After finishing the first month of the season surprisingly healthy, the Bills now find themselves with a collection of severe injuries after two weeks.

Coming into the game the Bills were without wide receiver Jordan Matthews and cornerback E.J. Gaines.

The news only got worse as Sunday’s game went on.

The Bills found themselves without their leading receiver when tight end Charles Clay went down with a significant knee injury. Head coach, Sean McDermott addressed the media Monday morning and stated that Clay had undergone a scope and will be out “multiple weeks”.

4) Lack Of Wide Receiver Involvement

Coming into the game the Bills were already without productive receiver Jordan Matthews, so someone had to step up, right? Wrong.

This problem seems to be occurring on a weekly basis since the Bills shipped off former star receiver Sammy Watkins in the offseason. Out of Tyrod Taylor’s twsenty completions, only three of them went to receivers. Yes, you heard that right, three. Brandon Tate had the lone tip toeing touchdown snag and managed to haul in another reception.

The other completion to a wide receiver was a nine yard catch by Zay Jones, and that was it. The Bills bye week couldn’t come at a better time for their receivers to rest up, if still not healthy for their game in two week’s time against the Buccaneers, General Manager Brandon Beane may have to make a move.

3) Running Game

It may come as a surprise, but so far in the 2017 NFL season Bills running back, LeSean McCoy has yet to find the end zone dating back to week 17 of last season. McCoy will enter week 7 against the Buccaneers with only 279 rushing yards under his belt.

That is a huge difference in compared to last year where McCoy had 447 rushing yards through five weeks. It doesn’t help McCoy’s cause that left tackle Cordy Glenn didn’t take a single snap in yesterday’s game.

This decision of Glenn not playing was ultimately one of the major factors why the offense looked so bad at times on Sunday as McCoy finished with 63-yards on the ground and 26-yards receiving.

2) Tyrod Taylor

Throughout the 2017 NFL season, quarter back Tyrod Taylor has been fine. He’s making the right throws, checking down, getting touchdowns and not turning the ball over. Well, all of that seemed to change on Sunday as Taylor had his worst outing this season.

While Taylor did manage to throw the ball 37 times on Sunday, he only completed 20 of his passes, racking in 166 yards, one touchdown, and one crucial interception late in the game to seal it for the Bengals.

Taylor’s 4.49 yards per pass ratio was his worst so far this season. At the end though, Taylor had really nobody to throw the ball to, Jordan Matthews was banged up, Charles Clay, suffered a knee injury, Nick O’Leary came in to replace Clay and then he went down with an injury. Hopefully, the receiving core of the Bills can get healthy in time for their week 7 matchup against the Buccaneers.

1) A.J. Green & Andy Dalton

The Bills could simply not stop the dynamic duo of Andy Dalton and super star wide receiver A.J. Green. The duo looked to be back on their winning ways when Dalton found Green for a 77-yard catch and run touchdown after Green burned rookie cornerback Tre’Davious White.

Green finished the day with 7 receptions on 13 targets, 189-yards, 1 touchdown and 1 fumble. With Julio Jones leaving the game last weekend, this was Whites toughest matchup so far in the season. But, it doesn’t get any better as after their bye week Buccaneers super star wide receiver Mike Evans comes to town. Dalton, on the other hand, looked like the Andy Dalton we’re used to seeing; he was 22 of 36, 328-yards and 1 touchdown. The defense will look to shut down Evans in week 7 after an embarrassing outing against Green.

The Big Picture

At the end of the day, a record of 3-2 is not bad, but it’s frustrating as it could be better because the Bills had so many chances to put this game away. There are many concerns going into the bye week, mainly involving the offense and not establishing a running game and also not getting their receivers more involved in the plays.

Despite this tough loss, there is still a lot of positives that came out of this game. The Bills battled back as they didn’t let the 77-yard touchdown by Green drag them down.

They did put themselves in a winning position on the final drive despite the injuries, second and third string players making appearances and the lack of finishing drives. The defense also continues to shine as they recorded two interceptions from Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer and also a fumble recovery on Green after a huge hit from Lorenzo Alexander.

But the Bills are still at the top of the AFC East with the Patriots and Jets right behind them also at a record of 3-2, Buffalo still owns the second-best record in the AFC, second to Kansas City. The bye week could not have come at a better time for the Bills.

They’re banged up, and their offense is struggling.

Next: Buffalo Bills: Top PFF grades from BUF @ CIN

This week off is a perfect time to get healthy and establish the offense.