Coming into the NFL season, the Buffalo Bills were expected to make some noise in the AFC playoff picture.
Now they find themselves back at the drawing board, after their 34-21 loss at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals this afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Bengals (6-0), who remain unbeaten on the year, showed why they are one of the deepest teams on both sides of the ball in the entire league while proving that despite the positive results early this year, the Bills (3-3, 1-3 at home) still have a long way to go if they want to break their 15-year playoff drought.
Andy Dalton (22-of-33 for 243 yards) threw three touchdown passes and played mistake free football all afternoon in Cincinnati’s win. Wide receiver Marvin Jones was the standout for the Bengals on offense, hauling in nine receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown on a day in which the Bills took away All Pro A.J. Green (four receptions for 36 yards off of just seven targets).
“I’m pleased to get a good win today,” Bengals’ coach Marvin Lewis said after the game. “We still ended up being our own worst enemy at times. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of coaching to do. I guess that’s a positive. We came out here and we did a lot of good things today. We’ve got to keep working to get better in a lot of areas, but I’m glad for the win.”
“It’s huge,” Dalton said on remaining undefeated heading into their bye week. “I mean you look at the schedule and you see the start week and the bye week and this is exactly what you want to be going undefeated into the bye. You want to win every game that you play so we just have to keep it going. We can’t look back to what we have done, we have to keep doing exactly what we have been doing and keep pushing to be the best we can be.”
Worse than the results on the scoreboard for Buffalo is the injury report that the Bills are going to have to produce afterwards.
Key players Sammy Watkins (ankle) and Kyle Williams (knee) both had to leave the game early due to injuries. Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (ribs) and starting right tackle Seantrel Henderson (concussion) joined them early in the locker room as well.
“It’s frustrating,” Bills’ coach Rex Ryan said after the loss. “I mean injuries are part of the game, no question about it, but it’s like, we’ve been so snake-bitten, it’s been unbelievable.”
“I think it’s effecting everyone’s moral, mine included,” Ryan said. “You have a vision for what this team could be when your healthy. It’s frustrating because you don’t have your parts. I know that we can compete with anybody, it’s just seems we take a step forward and then we end up taking two steps back.”
“Hopefully we can right the ship, we can get our guys back,” Ryan added. “And I truly believe we have a very talented team and I would love to have that ability to get them back healthy.”
Ryan didn’t have any updates to provide on the statuses of the injured players after the game, noting that he just got off the field and would have to “ask that expert”.
Buffalo’s back up quarterback EJ Manuel was forced into action due to starter Tyrod Taylor (inactive) suffering a knee-injury in last week’s win over the Tennessee Titans. Manuel, making his first start in over a calendar year, was inconsistent at times but serviceable, going 28 of 42 for 263 yards, one touchdown passing, one touchdown rushing and one interception. He was sacked just two times.
“I thought I did strong. I mean, it’s my first start in a long time, not an excuse,” Manuel said after the game. “As a performance, I would have wanted to win the game. As a quarterback that’s how you’re rated, the stats are one thing but you want to win the game. We didn’t get that done today.”
The Bills were suppose to get a shot in the arm on the offensive side of the ball from the return of Watkins and running back LeSean McCoy to the lineup.
While that was true to an extent, it didn’t go according to plan as the injury to Watkins put a dent in Buffalo’s game plan.
Watkins (four receptions, 48 yards, one touchdown) was forced out of the game before half-time, and despite a strong return to the lineup, McCoy was turned into a non-factor with the Bills’ trying to come back from a 17-point, 4th quarter deficit.
He finished the day with 90 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
“I felt okay,” McCoy said after the game, noting that he was close to 100% “Certain plays I wish I had back. I feel like I could’ve done some things different on some different runs. But we, as a unit, we’re trying to get better each game and we just got to put it together. We’re a good team. Offensively, we just have to find our groove and get to it and stick with it.”
The Bills got the scoring started early, taking their opening possession 80 yards on 11 plays, capping off the drive with a two-yard Manuel run for a touchdown.
The Bengals took a little bit to get rolling, but were highly effective in turning great field position into points during the first-half.
Cincinnati would score the next 17 points, getting touchdowns from Jeremy Hill (13-yard reception) and Giovani Bernard (17-yard run) to go with a 47-yard Mike Nugent field goal to give them a 17-7 lead.
Buffalo would get right back into it just before the half, as Manuel was able to find Watkins for a 22-yard score to make it 17-14 with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter.
On the score, Watkins was wide open in the end zone, but as he went to plant and come back to the football, his ankle gave way as he dropped to the turf. He was able to recover enough to make a diving catch for the score, but was lost for the rest of the game in the process. He was spotted outside the locker room at halftime sporting crutches.
The Bengals would make sure the game wouldn’t get closer than that after the half.
They took their opening possession of the second half 90 yards down the field in just eight plays that ended with a 10-yard Jones score.
Ten minutes later, they added to their lead, this time in the form of a Tyler Eifert four-yard touchdown reception from Dalton to put them up 31-14.
Mike Nugent would add a 39-yard field goal five minutes into the fourth quarter for insurance to push the lead to 34-14.
The Bills would keep fighting, and added a late touchdown on a four-yard McCoy run to cut it to 34-21 with a little under seven minutes left in the game, but it was too little too late.
“We’re a work in progress right now, but I still think when it’s all said and done I think we can be special,” Ryan said. “It’s just we have to get guys healthy and we really have to focus in and hone in on what we are doing [as a team].”
