ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takes from the Buffalo Bills’ 24-18 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night at Paycor Stadium:
1. The Bills missed a huge opportunity to move into first place in the AFC East. They also squandered a chance to recapture a significant chunk of their steadily sliding credibility as a serious contender.
With the Miami Dolphins’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the day, the Bills could have moved into first place in the AFC East. Instead, with a 5-4 record, they’ve fallen to ninth place in the AFC, meaning if the season were to end today, they would not be in the playoffs.
The outcome only served to underscore the gap that exists between the Bills and the Bengals, something that was evident in last January’s divisional-round playoff loss against Cincinnati at Highmark Stadium.
The Bengals are too good on both sides of the ball for the Bills to continue the mediocre form they’ve shown in losing three of their last five games. Even the two wins they’ve had in that stretch, against the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, were blemished by poor play.
2. Once again, the Bills’ offense was punch-less through the first half.
Sure, they started fast, taking their first possession and driving for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 after the Bengals scored on the game’s opening possession. But after that, the Bills couldn’t find any rhythm and wound up falling into a 21-7 hole at halftime.
The Bills hurt themselves with two turnovers and no takeaways. Josh Allen threw an interception, though it didn’t lead to any Bengal points. Then, tight end Dalton Kincaid caught a pass and had the ball punched out in midair in the red zone while being flipped over on a hit. That turnover led to a field goal.
The Bills had no running game outside of Allen, who had a game-high 44 yards on eight carries. They finished with 68 yards on the ground.
3. The lopsided time of possession told the story of all the Bills lack to be taken seriously as a playoff team.
The Bengals had an overwhelming advantage of 36:38 to 23:22. At halftime, the margin was 21:06 to 8:54.
That is simply inexcusable for a team whose strength supposedly is its offense. The Bills have shown flashes this season of being able to mount a balanced offensive attack that spreads the ball around to a wide variety of receivers and incorporates a solid run game.
Buffalo’s offense has no identity. It no longer has the consistent quick-strike effectiveness that defined its rise to a consensus Super Bowl contender in 2020 and 2021. It also doesn’t show any regular physical presence to flex its muscle on the ground.
4. If there was a tiny bright spot, it was that the Bills’ defense actually performed well enough to keep the team in the game longer than it deserved.
The unit already was gutted by injuries and more players joined the injury list during the game, with linebacker Terrel Bernard suffering a concussion, safety Micah Hyde suffering a stinger and cornerback Christian Benford sustained a tweaked hamstring.
Yet, the Bills made some key stops and provided the offense opportunity to possibly to steal a victory. However, the Bengals were just too explosive, with Joe Burrow throwing for 348 yards and two touchdowns. He repeatedly found receivers for big gains, though the defense did its part to keep the Bengals from scoring more.
5. Where do the Bills go from here?
They’re struggling for answers. It’s fair to question whether they can find enough to climb back into the playoff picture through the final eight games.
In the last five weeks, they’ve averaged only 20.2 points per game. Since 2020, when they elevated to elite status, they averaged at least a touchdown more per game. That seems like antient history.
The Bills need at least five more victories and it is hard to see where they will find them. Nothing is a gimme the rest of the way, including next Monday night’s home clash against Denver.
“We’re going to come together, we’re going to figure it out,” Allen said. “The math isn’t pretty, it’s not easy. … We’ve got to find a way to put it together.”
The clock is ticking.
