The build up between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals turned into three consecutive offensive drives where the Bengals scored twice and the Bills put together a scoring drive. After the Bengals took a 14-7 lead, the Bills could not get anything going for the rest of the half. They either punted or turned the ball over. If you compare their first offensive drive to the rest in the first half, it was two different stories and not for the best.
The Bengals would go into halftime with a 21-7 lead after the Bengals managed to score to make it a two-score game, and the Bills' offense continuing with their offensive struggles. The Bills came out of the second half better on defense, but the offense still struggled to get going early down by two touchdowns.
While the Bills managed to score in the fourth quarter and make it a six-point game, the Bengals ultimately would go on to win 24-18 and send the Bills to 5-4.
Here are the five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals game.
5.) First opening touchdown drive since Week 4
The last time the Buffalo Bills’ offense drove down the field and put the ball in the endzone was back in Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins. The unit managed to respond to the Bengals’ opening touchdown with one of their own.
On the opening drive for Buffalo, Allen connected with Stefon Diggs and Dalton Kincaid twice, and Khalil Shakir once. One of the connections between Allen and Diggs was a simple dump off route where Diggs managed to take it 34 yards and set the Bills up in a great position to get on the board.
For the past month, the Buffalo offense started out slow and it delayed any kind of momentum to begin. That was not the case on their first drive in this game. This is what is expected out of the offense when they have the quarterback they do, as well as the weapons that are surrounding him.
4.) Josh Allen’s interception streak continues
While the Bills started great in the first quarter, the start of the second quarter was the opposite as Buffalo was the first team to punt the ball first, as well as Allen throwing an interception to cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. With this interception by Allen, not only did it cost the Bills a drive to tie the game at 14, but it extended Allen’s streak of interceptions to five consecutive games, which is a career high for Allen.
Turnovers have been a big problem for the Bills as of lately and it continued early on against the Bengals who have now extended their takeaway streak to six consecutive games.
3.) Terrel Bernard suffers a concussion in the first half
Another game and another injury bug for Buffalo. The Bills’ defense takes yet another big loss on the defense, as linebacker Terrel Bernard went down with a head injury before being ruled out for the rest of the game. The Bills lost their star linebacker in Matt Milano to a leg injury back in Week 5 and may now be without Bernard for at least one game depending on his progression in the league’s concussion protocol. Injuries have been hard on the Bills on both sides of the ball.
Bernard’s potential absence should put both rookie linebacker Dorian Williams in the starting lineup, and Tyrel Dodson, who Bernard beat out in training camp this past summer. Players rebound back from injuries in different ways so it is difficult to predict if Bernard will be out next week or not. This will be a situation to monitor moving forward into the Bills’ next game next Monday night against the Denver Broncos.
2.) The run game was close to nonexistent
Coming into this game, the Bengals’ run defense had been horrible, allowing 140 rushing yards per game on average (5 games allowing over 100+ rushing yards). Running back James Cook could have had a great game against the Bengals but the offense simply was not running the ball during the game. Cook finished the game with 6 carries for 20 yards.
The trend continues for the Bills where if they run for less than 100 yards, they end up losing the game. We saw more Josh Allen carries in this game which was not necessarily the worst thing to see, seeing as how the offense does operate better.
Going into the cold weeks of the season, the Bills are going to need to boost up the running game because the cold weather could affect the pass. Someone like Leonard Fournette, who was just recently signed, can not only run the ball hard but also serve as a pass-catching back as well.
1.) The Buffalo Bills are officially in trouble in the AFC
With this loss against yet another AFC team that will more than likely make a run at the playoffs, the Bills are now down in the tiebreakers against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals. To make things worse, the Bills failed to take control of the AFC East with the Miami Dolphins losing to the Kansas City Chiefs and could fall down to third place in the division if the New York Jets win on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The start to the tough schedule for the Bills starts with a loss to the Bengals and now they head home to host the Denver Broncos next week. After that, they will see the New York Jets again, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. At 5-4, in the tough AFC conference, the Bills are closer to looking in from the outside rather than getting into playoff position.