Bengals vs. Bills score, takeaways: Cincinnati sneaks past Buffalo behind Joe Burrow's two touchdown passes

The Bengals are 5-3 after a 1-3 start

After a 1-3 start, the Cincinnati Bengals look very much like the team that has appeared in the last two AFC title games. The Bengals won their fourth straight game after recording a 24-18 win over the visiting Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. 

Per usual, Joe Burrow had a big role in a Bengals win. The Pro Bowl quarterback threw two first-half touchdowns while helping Cincinnati take a 21-7 lead at intermission. Burrow completed 11 of his first 14 passes while directing the Bengals offense to touchdowns on its first two drives. 

Cincinnati only added three points to its tally in the second half, but it was enough to pull out a win over Buffalo, which fell to 5-4. Down 24-10, the Bills made it a six-point game when Stefon Diggs scored on a 17-yard catch, then caught Buffalo's two-point conversion attempt. But a 32-yard completion from Burrow to Tyler Boyd and a 5-yard run by Joe Mixon on Cincinnati's ensuing possession put the game on ice. 

Here's a closer look at went down in the Queen City. 

Why the Bengals won 

Cincinnati never trailed and made plays on both sides of the ball. Burrow spread the ball around while mostly staying one step ahead of Buffalo's defense. Speaking of Burrow, he continues to look more and more like himself after a calf injury limited him during the season's first month. He moved around in the pocket, extended plays and even picked up a key first down with his legs on a third down in the second half.

Burrow had a field day throwing to Tee Higgins, who led both teams with 110 yards on eight receptions. Burrow also had success throwing to his tight ends that included first-half touchdown passes to Irv Smith Jr. and Drew Sample. Smith, Sample, and fellow tight end Tanner Hudson caught a combined 10 passes for 101 yards and the two touchdowns. 

While often overlooked, the Bengals defense deserves a lot of credit for holding the Bills to just 18 points and 317 total yards. 

Why the Bills lost 

When the Bills lose, it's usually for the same reasons. That was again the case on Sunday night, as turnovers and a lack of a running game were two big reasons why Buffalo is just a game over .500.

The Bills' lack of a running game contributed to them having the ball for less than nine minutes in the first half. Of the Bills' 68 rushing yards, 44 of those were courtesy of Allen, who scored Buffalo's first touchdown on a 2-yard touchdown run on the Bills' first possession. James Cook had just 20 yards on the ground, while Latavius Murray had only 4 yards on two carries. 

Allen's pick didn't directly lead to any points, but rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid's fumble early in the fourth quarter set up Evan McPherson's 20-yard field goal that made it a 14-point game with 8:08 left. Kincaid's fumble largely overshadowed his 10-catch, 81-yard performance. 

The sixth-best red zone defense entering the game, Buffalo gave up a pair of touchdowns inside its own 20-yard line in the first half. The unit also gave up touchdown late in the first half and was unable to get off the field after Diggs' heroics late in the game. 

Allen made quite a bit of history on Sunday night, albeit in a losing effort. He scored his 44th career rushing touchdown to pass Steve Young for the second-most all time by a quarterback. Allen's 200th total touchdown passed Dan Marino for the second-most in a player's first six seasons. His 31st game with a touchdown pass and run tied Young and Aaron Rodgers for the second-most all time, courtesy of CBS Sports Research. 

Turning points 

Two plays immediately come to mind. While he had a relatively quiet, night, Ja'Marr Chase's 11-yard grab on a fourth-and-1 play helped set up Burrow's 22-yard touchdown pass to Sample with 1:37 left until halftime. 

The Bengals were protecting a 21-10 lead early in the fourth quarter when Germaine Pratt knocked the ball out of Kincaid's grasp with the Bills threatening to score. The turnover not only prevented a score by the Bills, it helped set up a 12-play, 85-yard drive that was capped off by Evan McPherson's field goal. 

Play of the game 

The award goes to Pratt's heads-up forced fumble that was scooped up by Nick Scott, a free agent acquisition this past offseason. 

Quotables 

"I told him before the game I was going to feed him. He told me he was feeling good, I told him it was coming his way all day. Stepped up big time." -- Burrow to NBC Sports when asked about Higgins, who recorded his first 100-yard receiving performance since Cincinnati's win over New England in Week 16 of the 2022 season 

"Just a little scratch. Thats' football, baby." -- Burrow when asked about his nicked up pointer finger on his non-throwing hand 

What's next 

Cincinnati will play host to a Houston Texans team next Sunday that is coming off a 39-37 win over the Buccaneers. In that game, C.J. Stroud — who played just up the road from Cincinnati in college at Ohio State — threw for a rookie single-game record 470 yards and added five TD passes. 

Buffalo will play host to the Broncos next Monday night. After a 1-5 start, Denver won consecutive games going into their Week 9 bye, defeating the Packers and Chiefs. 

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:22 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

No idea why Mixon went out of bounds there but it doesn't matter. Bengals can run the clock out. Cincy will improve to 5-3. Buffalo drops to 5-4.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:17 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Cincy came out throwing, and Tyler Boyd beat Taron Johnson on the corner route. Now the Bengals are pretty close to field goal range, which would make this a two-score game again. But if the Bengals get a first down, it might be over anyway.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:15 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

That'll work. Stefon Diggs up the right sideline over Turner and now it's gonna be a one-score game. Buffalo went for two to give itself a better chance to win the game in regulation. Now, if the Bills get the ball back, a TD+XP wins the game rather than tying it. And if they'd missed there, they could still go for two again next time to tie.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:13 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Buffalo really needs to start moving with more urgency here. Especially with only one timeout left.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:09 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

That ... might be a catch for Trent Sherfield. Looks like it bounced off his hand, rather than the ground.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:05 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

That's a heck of a move by Josh Allen to avoid what Sam Hubbard thought was going to be a huge hit and instead convert the first down.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 11:01 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

McPherson's field goal extends the lead to 14 points. Still two scores, but now Buffalo needs a pair of TDs just to tie it. Josh Allen and Co. will have to move quickly here.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:58 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Somebody finally got the better of Dane Jackson. Tee Higgins almost took it to the end zone, but instead it's first-and-goal.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:53 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

A bunch of receivers and defenders in the same area on that throw from Burrow to Hudson but he drops it in for a nice gain. Bengals at least have a chance to run some more time off the clock here now.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:49 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Oh wow it was actually Germaine Pratt that knocked the ball out, while Kincaid was flipping end over end.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:47 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

What a huge play by Nick Scott. It looked like the Bills were about to cut the lead but instead it's a turnover. That was looking like one of Buffalo's best chances of the night, but it ends with nothing.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:36 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Big stop for the Bills. Still a two-score game, but they need to start cutting into the deficit soon.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:34 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Make that 6 for 83. Nice back-to-back games after a cold stretch and some injuries earlier in the year.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:33 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Tee Higgins finally looked a bit like himself last week, catching 5 passes for 69 yards. He's got 5 for 74 so far tonight.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:27 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Ja'Marr Chase is getting some heat or electric stimulation on his back after that fall on then deep pass on the previous Cincinnati possession.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:20 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Buffalo's safeties are having a rough night. Poyer got beat on the first TD, Rapp missed a tackle on the third TD, and Hyde got banged up earlier and just got faked out of his shoes by Tee Higgins.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:14 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Allen didn't put enough on the throw to Davis working against Taylor-Britt in the first half and got picked. Looked like he tried to make up for it there and put too much zip on the throw instead of lofting it for Davis and allowing him to use his size to win.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:11 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

That may have been the first successful run of the night for the Bills.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 10:07 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Sean McDermott said during his halftime interview that the Bills need to stay out of third-and-longs. Only one of their third-down opportunities in the first half came with fewer than 5 yards to go.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:57 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Halftime stats 

• Score: Bengals 21-7
• First downs: Bengals 15-8
• Third down: Bengals 4-7, Bills 1-4
• Red zone: Bills 1-1, Bengals 2-2
• TOP: Bengals 21:06

Burrow: 18-24, 181 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 1 sack
Allen: 9-15, 120 yards, 1 INT, 1 sack

Bills: 5 carries, 11 yards 
Bengals: 11 carries, 38 yards 

Diggs: 2 catches (2 targets), 43 yards
Higgins: 3 catches, 42 yards
Chase: 3 catches, 9 yards 

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:51 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

That does not seem like it should have been intentional grounding. Alas, it is, and the Bengals will head into halftime up 21-7.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:46 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Buffalo has a chance to really swing this game by scoring right here and on the opening drive after halftime. But the Bills haven't done much since their opening possession. Let's see if they can get on the board.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:43 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

The Bills made that way too easy for Drew Sample. Really bad tackling by Taylor Rapp in the open field.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:41 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Dane Jackson is BALLING tonight. What a play to knock that ball out of Boyd's hands at the very end.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:37 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Somewhat surprising to see a team in shotgun and throwing on fourth-and-less-than-1 but that was an easy pitch and catch for Burrow and Chase right there.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:33 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Micah Hyde is down after that contested deep ball throw to Chase. It looked like both he and Dane Jackson had a chance for a pick there but they ran into each other. Not a very smart throw by Burrow but that's the kind of trust he has in Chase.

[Nov 5, 2023 at 9:30 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Allen wanted to get rid of that ball quickly but he just got swallowed up by the rush. Right side of the offensive line totally collapsed into his lap.