Bills (5-3) at Bengals (4-3) Sunday, Nov. 5 at Paycor Stadium (Field Turf), 8:20 p.m. ET, TV, WLWT-TV Ch. 5 (Cincinnati) Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark, Radio: Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham. 700 WLW-AM, WEBN-FM (102.7 FM), ESPN1530. Westwood One Ryan Radtke (play-by-play) and Tony Boselli (analyst).
CINCINNATI — Sunday night football is back in the Queen City.
For the first time since 2012, the Bengals will be hosting the national football stage on Sunday when they battle the Bills in a crucial game that is likely to have playoff implications at the end of the season.
The last home appearance for the Bengals on Sunday night came on Oct. 21, 2012 when Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers came to Cincinnati and beat the Bengals, 24-17. That dropped the Bengals to 3-4 before the bye. That year, the Bengals would win seven of their final nine games to qualify for the playoffs.
The Bengals have lost 10 straight on Sunday night and are just 3-17 overall in the spotlight. Cincinnati’s last Sunday night win came in 2004, 16-13, over the Miami Dolphins.
The Bengals do have some recent success on NBC-TV, having defeated the Raiders, 26-19, in the Wild Card game in Jan. 2022 and the Ravens last year, also in the Wild Card round. The Bengals did lose Super Bowl LVI on NBC on Feb. 13, 2022
Two of the top contenders in the AFC square off for the first time since their AFC Divisional showdown last January when the Cincinnati Bengals (4-3) host the Buffalo Bills (5-3) in Sunday night football.
This week’s game also marks the return of Bills safety Damar Hamlin to Paycor Stadium.
On Jan. 2, 2023, in the final game of Week 17, Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field after making contact with Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. The game, which Cincinnati led 7-3, was postponed, and eventually canceled.
Hamlin received immediate emergency attention on the field, then was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he spent the next six days before being transferred to the Buffalo General Medical Center to continue his recovery.
“What happened is in the past, I think everybody remembers it but you know (we’re) not going to dwell on it,” Burrow said. “I know he’s not either. I know our fans are going to support, be loud, be proud. We’re going to fight our tails off for it.”
The two teams met 20 days later in the AFC Divisional round in the snow in Buffalo on Jan. 22, with Cincinnati recording a 27-10 win.
Burrow earned his sixth career AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors in last Sunday’s 31-17 road win against San Francisco. Burrow, showing no ill effects of a strained right calf from training camp, completed 28-of-32 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
He also completed 19 consecutive passes at one point, one shy of Ken Anderson’s team record set on Jan. 3, 1983.
In snapping San Francisco’s 11-game home win streak, the Bengals gained 400 yards on offense and forced three second-half turnovers to move over .500 for the first time this season.
“That was our first real complete game,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “That’s how we’re meant to play.”
After starting the season 1-3, the Bengals have rebounded to win three straight but still trail Baltimore by 1.5 games in the AFC North.
The Bills enter with a little extra rest, having defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-18, on Thursday night football on Oct. 26. Bills quarterback Josh Allen could use the extra rest, as he injured his right shoulder and did not practice on Wednesday.
Allen completed 31-of-40 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way for the Bills, who enter the week a game behind Miami in the AFC East. Allen will be going against Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson, with whom he played at the University of Wyoming in 2016 and 2017.
“That’s a really good defense that we’re going against and led by another Wyoming Cowboy Logan Wilson, who’s maybe the best linebacker in the game right now,” Allen said. “He’s flying around and is super instinctive.
“Their front is really good, they got four guys up front that can go and I think they’re playing really well in the secondary to playing and tying it together with their D-line.”
As for defending Burrow, Bills safety Jordan Poyer pointed to his accuracy as the biggest challenge in containing the Bengals quarterback.
“He’s an extremely smart quarterback who’s seen all the looks, he knows where to go with the football, he can make all the throws, he’s got good playmakers around him that understand that offense as well,” Poyer said. “We’re going to have to play extremely well to win and find ways to take the football away.”
Here’s what to look for:
No shock that the single-biggest factor in the Bengals three-game win streak has been the improved health and play of the Bengals quarterback. The reigning AFC Offensive Player of the Week completed 28-of-32 passes against the Niners with three touchdowns. His accuracy has shot through the roof in the last two games, with stretches of 19 straight completions against San Francisco and 15 straight against Seattle. Safeties Poyer and Hyde are the two anchors of the Bills secondary. They take on even bigger roles with linebacker Matt Milano and corner Tre’Davious White out for the season. Hyde has two interceptions and Poyer is second on the team with 42 tackles. Both are always around the ball. Burrow needs to account for both at all times in the pass game.
The Bengals safety gets his second big test in a row as he faces one of the best rookie tight end talents in the NFL in Dalton Kincaid. The rookie out of Utah had five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown in a win over Tampa Bay and eight catches for 75 yards against New England. This would seem to indicate that Josh Allen is becoming more comfortable targeting him in his progressions and something Hill and the Bengals need to be aware of. Last week, George Kittle had nine catches on 11 targets for 149 yards but the Bengals were able to keep him out of the end zone.
Cam Taylor-Britt has established himself as the team’s No. 1 corner, supplanting Chido Awuzie who is still working his way back to full strength from his Oct. 31, 2022 ACL tear. Taylor-Britt will draw again one of the game’s top receivers when he is expected to travel with Stefon Diggs. Taylor-Britt had a impact game against the Bills in the snow in the playoffs last season, including an interception in the red zone. He helped frustrate Diggs all game long, holding him to four catches for 35 yards.
With Rasul Douglas being acquired this week from Green Bay, it will be interesting to see how much the Bengals test the veteran DB. The Bills have been playing catch-up in the secondary ever since Tre’Davious White was lost with a torn Achilles. Chase and Higgins could have big nights if Burrow is once again on his game. Could this also be a game where Tanner Hudson attacks the middle of the Bills defense that has been susceptible to the passing game, as running backs and tight ends accounted for 13 of Tampa Bay’s 25 pass completions in the Thursday game in Buffalo.
Do not let Allen create with his legs. This is where he is most dangerous. Make him a pocket passer, make him thread the needle with his dinged up shoulder. If the Bengals pass rush gets up-field too quickly, it can open running lanes, like the ones Brock Purdy was able to exploit to the tune of 57 yards on six carries last Sunday. The Bengals want Allen to have to play from the pocket all night and eliminate explosive off-script plays as much as possible. That’s how they beat them in January in Buffalo. It’s how they can beat them on Sunday night.
The Bengals are the healthier team. They have the crowd behind them that is expected to be as loud if not louder than the incredibly electric atmosphere present on Jan. 2, 2023 before the Damar Hamlin episode. If the Bengals win the turnover battle and force Josh Allen into a couple of turnovers, then this game should be theirs for the taking. The Bengals spoke this week of starting to discover their true identity, the biggest revelation from the three-game win streak. It continues this week.
Bengals 27, Bills 17
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