The Bengals’ early struggles this season are starting to become a distant memory.
Cincinnati defeated Buffalo, 24–18, Sunday night, extending its winning streak to four games. With a healthy Joe Burrow, the Bengals will be in the mix for a Super Bowl, and it might be time to consider Burrow for MVP after what he’s done in the past month, including wins against the Seahawks and 49ers.
Josh Allen and the Bills had a late rally, but their slow starts in games might cost them a playoff spot this season. The Bills managed to hold off the Buccaneers and Giants in recent weeks, but couldn’t do it against the Jaguars and Patriots. The Bills might be headed for a nine- or eight-win season and could very well miss the playoffs if they don’t kick it into gear soon.
Here’s what we learned about the Bengals and Bills after their Sunday Night Football meeting.
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Burrow vs. Allen showdown
It’s clear that Burrow’s mobility is what makes the Bengals’ offense special.
Burrow’s right calf strain again didn’t give him fits, evident by the handful of plays he made with his legs against the Bills. He sustained a cut on his right index finger in the first half, but that too didn’t give him many issues.
Burrow completed 31 of 44 passes for 348 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Allen went 26-of-38 for 258 yards, one touchdown, one rushing touchdown and one interception.
Buffalo outgained Cincinnati on the ground 68 to 54, but Burrow’s squad didn’t play one-dimensionally because of his mobility in the pocket. Allen needs more help from his running backs because that allows him to distribute the ball to more playmakers and to take away double teams from Stefon Diggs. But it says a lot that Burrow was able to make it work despite his subpar rushing attack.
It’s time to put the calf injury story line to rest and place Burrow in the MVP conversation after guiding the Bengals to four consecutive wins against the Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers and Bills.
The Bills’ defensive front pushed the pocket for most of the game, but Burrow often bought extra time with his mobility to allow his pass catchers to make plays against the Bills’ thin secondary.
Burrow delivered a filthy strike to Tyler Boyd while moving to his right to escape oncoming pass rushers, but Boyd was unable to complete the catch during the first half. On the following play, Burrow again avoided pressure before connecting with tight end Drew Sample for a 22-yard catch-and-run touchdown to give the Bengals a 21–7 advantage with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
The star quarterbacks had fast starts after both offenses scored on their opening drives. But Burrow, who completed his first seven passes, also helped the Bengals score on their second drive to take a 14–7 advantage with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
Allen struggled to keep pace with Burrow for most of the first half, and threw an interception to cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt on a pass intended for Gabe Davis. Later in the opening half, Allen was hit with a questionable intentional grounding call for overthrowing a pass to Davis, who appeared to run the wrong route on the play. That prevented the Bills from kicking a field goal and ushered them into the locker room with a 14-point deficit.
Allen was livid on the sideline about the late flag for intentional grounding, but he had a lot more to be mad about after another sluggish offensive performance from the Bills. Tight end Dalton Kincaid had a costly fumble in the second half.
Anarumo’s defense stifles Bills’ offense
The Bengals’ defense has been criminally underrated the past few seasons under the guidance of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
But Anarumo’s defense couldn’t be ignored Sunday night for how it shut down the Bills’ offense. Allen’s one-dimensional offense struggled to sustain drives throughout the night. Buffalo was held to 317 yards and committed two turnovers.
Buffalo had the ball for only eight minutes and 54 seconds in the first half (23:22 for the entire game). Four of their five possessions in the first two quarters went for five plays or fewer. After allowing the touchdown on the opening drive, the Bengals forced the Bills to punt twice and recorded a takeaway. Buffalo had only 11 rushing yards before halftime.
Anarumo was able to have more defenders in coverage because interior defensive linemen D.J. Reader and B.J. Hill were able to consistently push the pocket. Also, this secondary that features Taylor-Britt, Chidobe Awuzie and Dax Hill applied stellar coverage against Diggs, Kincaid and Davis.
Here’s hoping Anarumo gets a head coaching opportunity in the offseason.
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What’s to come for Bengals
The Bengals might be the best team in the AFC, but they still remain at the bottom of the AFC North standings because the Steelers, Browns and Ravens also won in Week 9.
But the Bengals (5–3) were able to leapfrog the Bills (5–4) for the seventh seed in the AFC playoff picture. The Steelers (5–3) and Browns (5–3) currently hold the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively. Cincinnati still has nine games left to potentially surpass Baltimore (7–2) for first in the division.
In the short term, the Bengals will likely need to monitor Ja’Marr Chase’s back injury. He fell hard on his back in the second half, but he managed to play the rest of the game with a heating pad on his back.
Chase had a quiet performance Sunday night, but Burrow still made it work with Tee Higgins and tight ends Sample, Tanner Hudson and Irv Smith Jr. The Bengals host the Texans next week.
What’s to come for Bills
Probably the only thing that went right for the Bills was the Dolphins’ loss to the Chiefs earlier Sunday.
They’re currently one game behind the Dolphins (6–3) for first in the AFC East, but they’re also on the outside looking in when it comes to the AFC playoff picture. The Bills have struggled for most of the season, but this might be the first time that many are considering the possibility of their missing the postseason.
Buffalo has issues with scoring and preventing teams from scoring. To make matters worse, safety Micah Hyde might be dealing with an injury after he left the field multiple times. The Bills are already without linebacker Matt Milano, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and cornerback Tre’Davious White.
As for the offense, it needs to find a way to produce a productive rushing game because Allen can’t do everything himself. The Bills host the Broncos for Monday Night Football next week.
