The Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals played one of the games of the season on Sunday, with Buffalo coming out on top, 39-34.
The Bills were down by 10 in the fourth quarter, but quarterback Josh Allen put on his Superman cape and Buffalo’s defense came up big with two interceptions.
Here are the takeaways:
1. With Allen, anything is possible
The Bills faced a 10-point deficit with less than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter before Allen took over.
After the Bengals scored to make it 28-18, Allen went 2-for-3 for 28 yards before breaking loose for an impressive 40-yard touchdown run down the left side. Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow threw two brutal interceptions, then the Bills answered with Allen’s touchdown pass to tight end Jackson Hawes, the QB’s third of the game.
Allen may not be in the MVP race this season with the Bills in second place in the AFC East, but he showed his MVP form against the Bengals. He finished 22-of-28 for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and he had six carries for 63 yards and a TD.
If Allen is healthy, the Bills will not be an easy out in the playoffs. Whether the rest of the team can hold up its end of the bargain remains to be seen and will determine whether Buffalo can finally break through to the Super Bowl.
Josh Allen scrambles for 40-yard TD, cutting Bills’ deficit against Bengals
2. The Bengals can’t get out of their own way
Two fourth-quarter turnovers by Joe Burrow doomed the Bengals on Sunday in Orchard Park.
First, Burrow tried to dump off a screen pass to star receiver Ja’Marr Chase, lobbing the ball high in the air. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, Bills cornerback Christian Benford read the play, leaped to catch the ball and returned it 63 yards for the touchdown.
On the next possession, Burrow’s pass on the first play of the drive was deflected and intercepted by defensive end A.J. Epenesa.
Burrow looked fantastic at times with four touchdown passes, two of which went to wideout Tee Higgins. The turnovers, though, decided the game.
Christian Benford intercepts Joe Burrow’s pass and returns it 63 yards for TD, giving the Bills the lead over Bengals
3. The Bills’ defense didn’t inspire confidence but should be fine
The Bengals averaged six yards per play on Sunday, including 7.7 yards per pass attempt. Cincinnati moved the ball down the field consistently, but the turnovers were its downfall.
The Bills are 5-4 since their 4-0 start, and the key difference in those losses has been that the offense hasn’t scored more than 20 points. The defense had been playing well aside from a Week 11 win in which Buffalo gave up 32 points to the Buccaneers.
The feeling from this game should be that Burrow is back, and he’s going to have chances to play spoiler down the stretch. This is probably more an anomaly for Buffalo’s defense than a reason to be worried.
Cook is going to be a key factor for the Buffalo offense down the stretch. Despite a fumble in the second half, the running back still had 80 rushing yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.
It can’t all be on Allen for Buffalo offensively, so expect the Bills to lean heavily on Cook for the rest of the season.
4 ½. What’s next?
The Bills face their biggest game of the season next week on the road against the Patriots. If Buffalo is going to have any shot of continuing its reign atop the AFC East, it has to beat the 11-2 Pats.
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