The Cincinnati Bengals moved to 0-3 after a Week 3, 21-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
On the road again for the first of a two-game away stretch, the Bengals played in a scoreless game until Buffalo’s third drive, where a pair of personal fouls assisted the Bills down the field. They then converted an easy two-point conversion after the score.
After falling down 11-0, a John Ross fumble in the second quarter summed up more of the problems before the next drive yet again failed to register a first down.
The team’s first chain-moving play didn’t occur until after the two-minute warning in the first half. By the half, taking out a stat-padding 33-yard throw as time expired, the offense had generated just 44 yards.
Note that reporters behind the bench were overhearing things like this:
Early in the second half, after taking a sack on a previous drive, Dalton stood in a clean pocket after a playaction and tossed a pick. His defense got it right back though and he scored on a read-option run.
Then the offense woke up.
On the next drive, Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon and John Ross had big involvement in keeping the chains moving, leading to a Mixon score off a well-designed toss to get in range, then an even better-designed pass.
The offense’s next drive was more of the same. An excellent first-down throw to Boyd, a superb screen to Mixon that went for a huge gain. No score — just a field goal — but a 17-14 lead.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, a gassed defense coughed up a touchdown at that point, only to watch as Dalton tossed his second pick of the game with less than a minute remaining.
On the day, the Bengals drummed up 306 total yards and a 3-of-11 mark on third downs to Buffalo’s 416 yards. Dalton went 20-of-36 with 249 yards, one score and two picks. The ground game averaged 3.5 yards per carry, though Mixon put up 61 on a 4.1 average with 34 more yards and a score as a receiver.
Defensively, Cincinnati tallied just one sack and forced two turnovers while enduring a staggering 36:54 time of possession for the Bills. The unit kept the game close but simply couldn’t go it alone.
