Buffalo Bills: Top takeaways from Week 3 win over Bengals

2 of 6

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 22: Buffalo Bills offense runs the ball during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at New Era Field on September 22, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /

Bills miss opportunities in dominant first half

By looking at the stat sheet from the first half, it could be considered arguably one of the best halfs of football for the Buffalo Bills in a long time. They outscored the Bengals 14-0, had almost as many first downs (18) as the Bengals had total offensive plays (19), didn’t allow a third down conversion, and had the ball for 22:57 out of a possible 30 minutes.

While there was plenty to like from the first half, the Bills also had numerous missed opportunities that could have put this game away much earlier. It started in the first quarter with an intentional grounding penalty by Josh Allen that knocked them out of field goal range.

Then in the second quarter, the Bills had drops by Tommy Sweeney in the end zone followed up by a drop by Dawson Knox that would have resulted in a first down. One of the biggest defensive plays for the Bills was a forced fumble on John Ross III, but then T.J. Yeldon fumbled it back on the following drive inside the redzone.

These missed opportunities allowed the Bengals to hang around and in the second half they almost stole a win from Buffalo.

Home/Buffalo Bills News