The Buffalo Bills lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-18, in Week 9 action. The Bills fall to 5-4 on the season. More importantly, Buffalo is now 2-4 in AFC play.
The game started off with offensive fireworks. Cincinnati opened with a nine-play, 76-yard drive culminating with a perfect seven-yard pass from quarterback Joe Burrow to tight end Irv Smith to give the Bengals an early lead. Burrow was flawless on the drive, completing all five passes for 65 yards.
Buffalo responded in kind on their first offensive drive. Quarterback Josh Allen completed five-of-six passes for 83 yards. He finished the series with a two-yard touchdown scramble.
The Bengals took the lead once again on their next drive. Cincinnati drove 69 yards on 11 plays, finishing with a two-yard rush by rusher Joe Mixon. The Bengals ended the first quarter with a 14-7 lead.
The offensive explosion then settled down. Both teams traded punts. Both defenses were getting a bit of an upper hand at this point.
The Bengals forced the first turnover of the game. While under pressure, Allen tried to hit receiver Gabe Davis out on the sideline. Allen’s pass was too into the center of the field and was intercepted by defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt.
The Bengals were in an ideal spot to add to their lead. However, the Bengals moved in reverse on the drive, being flagged for four penalties. Cincinnati moved themselves out of scoring range and was forced to punt.
Cincinnati would respond later in the quarter. The Bengals strung together a seven-play drive in which Burrow did a tremendous job extending plays. Burrow ended the drive with a short pass to tight end Drew Sample. Sample would rumble 22 yards to put the Bengals up 21-7 going into halftime.
In the second half, the Bills offense found a bit of a rhythm on their initial drive of the second half. Buffalo used a pass-heavy approach to move the ball into Bengals territory. However, the drive stalled out, and Buffalo could only get three points out of the series. Kicker Tyler Bass connected on a 34-yard field goal to bring the Bills to a 21-10 deficit.
Buffalo’s defense kept the Bengals under wraps in the third quarter. The Bills offense looked like they could make another dent in the Bengals lead. However, Cincy linebacker Germaine Pratt forced a tight end Dalton Kincaid fumble, which stopped a promising Buffalo drive.
The Bengals had an opportunity to put the game out of reach midway through the fourth quarter. The Bills defense did just enough to keep the Bengals out of the end zone, and Cincinnati was forced to attempt a short field goal to bring the score to 24-10.
Buffalo kept things interesting with a 12-play, 75-yard drive. Allen did a great job extending plays and finding secondary options to keep the offense moving forward. Wideout Stefon Diggs won a one-on-one battle out wide and caught a 17-yard pass to pull the Bills within one score. Diggs added a two-point conversion to bring the deficit to six points.
But that’s as close as Buffalo would get. Their defense couldn’t make one more big stop after doing so numerous times and the Bengals took the 24-18 win.