The Buffalo Bills found themselves in a familiar place against a familiar foe on Sunday Night Football, as the Cincinnati Bengals ran out the clock to secure a 24-18 victory.
While the Buffalo offense staged a fourth-quarter scoring drive to bring the game within a touchdown, they were inconsistent, and their defense failed to get a needed third-down stop in the final minutes. Cincinnati went into victory formation, taking knees on snaps until time ran out.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, whose emphasis since the beginning of his tenure has been complimentary football and competing in all three phases, was to the point when asked after the game about what cost his squad a win.
“Just too inconsistent overall,” McDermott said to the press. “Not enough complementary football. Turned the ball over twice, I thought the defense got off to a slow start the first drive in particular… Too much inconsistencies in the kicking game as well as just the offense overall. Some good plays and just not enough of them.”
Inconsistency and execution issues have been a common issue for this year’s Bills team, as has been finding a rhythm.
While they did just that last week against the Buccaneers and started to find a similar rhythm early in their matchup against the Bengals, they did not sustain it.
“I thought we got off to a really good start in a rhythm and then after that, it was tough sledding,” McDermott added. “And that can’t happen against a good football team that is known for scoring points.”
In both matchups last season, the NFL Week 17 game that was cut short due to Bills S Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, and the divisional round of the playoffs, the Bills looked outmatched by the Bengals.
In this most recent matchup, the game was winnable for Buffalo, if not for the inconsistency in performance across their three phases.
The Bills time of possession on only nine total possessions was exacerbated by two turnovers as well. One was a fumble punched out TE Dalton Kincaid’s grasp by Cincy LB Germaine Pratt, and the other was an interception by QB Josh Allen who underthrew WR Gabe Davis on a forced pass after a double clutch where Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt would take it away instead.
“We had our opportunities, didn’t score before half, didn’t get six in the first drive of the second half,” Allen said after the game. “That’s not complementary football, you’ve got to double dip and get the points there.”
The loss drops Buffalo to 5-4, to third in their division behind the Jets and Dolphins, and out of the AFC playoffs for now. They’ll have a chance to right the ship next week against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.