The Buffalo Bills now have their third win of the 2019 season in as many games after a 21-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in their first game at home at New Era Field.
The Bills wound up losing a 14-0 lead en route to having to come back and re-take the lead and seal the game with a defensive stand. This Bills win puts the team at 3-0 to start a season for the first time since the 2011 season.
Josh Allen was sharp in the first half, but a rough second half led to him needing to orchestrate the fifth comeback of his young NFL career. Allen finished 23-of-36 passing with 243 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Allen also added 46 yards on the ground.
Frank Gore led all players on the ground with 76 yards rushing on 14 carries, and punched in the game-winning touchdown with 1:50 to go in the game.
Rookie tight end Dawson Know reeled in his first career touchdown reception, and had a key 49-yard reception to set up the game-winning score.
Tre'Davious White had a big day defenively with two interceptions in the win.
The first half was downright dominant for the Bills defense, as Cincinnati would get just two total first downs in the opening half. The Bills wound up jumping out to a 14-0 lead at the half thanks to Knox's first career touchdown in the first quarter, tacked with a two-point conversion to make it 8-0, as well as a pair of field goals from Stephen Hauschka in the second quarter.
In between the Buffalo field goals, the Bills squandered a chance to make it a bigger lead. Running back T.J. Yeldon fumbled the ball at the Cincinnati 15-yard line after the Bills were looking to take advantage of a forced fumble by safety Micah Hyde on Bengals receiver John Ross III.
The third quarter was a bit of a struggle for the Bills in Week 2, a trend that continued into their third game of the season. Buffalo's offense gained just 42 yards in the third quarter, and also coughed up the football after forcing another turnover. Tre'Davious White intercepted Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton for his first pick of the year. However, the Bengals got on the scoreboard after a bad interception from Allen gave the Bengals a short field. Dalton capped off the drive with a one-yard run to cut into Buffalo's lead, 14-7.
The Bengals would tie the game in the fourth quarte with an 82-yard drive, capped off by a Dalton touchdown pass to running back Joe Mixon. The Bengals would cap off their 17 unanswered points with a Randy Bullock field goal, taking their only lead of the game with 4:54 left in the game.
With time running out for the Bills, the offense woke up from their rough second half, marching 78 yards in seven plays to re-take the lead. The drive was headlined by Knox's 49-yard catch and run, as well as Allen escaping a sack to put the Bills inside the Cincinnati 10-yard line. Gore finished off the drive with his one-yard run to give the Bills the lead back at 21-17.
After the offense did its part to re-claim their lead, it became the defense's turn to ensure a victory for the home crowd. The Bengals wound up getting to the Buffalo 28-yard line before a batted pass by Hyde ended up in the arms of White. The cornerback's second interception of the game would be the final nail in the coffin for a Bengals comeback.
- 8-0 BILLS - Bills touchdown - Josh Allen 1-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox (two-point conversion is good)
- Drive info: 7 plays, 73 yards, 3:05
Second Quarter:
- 11-0 BILLS - Bills field goal - Stephen Hauschka's 37-yard field goal attempt is good
- Drive info: 10 plays, 46 yards, 5:33
- 11-0 BILLS - Bills fumble recovery - John Ross III is stripped by safety Micah Hyde, recovered by linebacker Matt Milano at the Bengals' 38-yard line
- 11-0 BILLS - Bengals fumble recovery - Running back T.J. Yeldon fumbles the football at the Bengals' 11-yard line, recovered by Cincinnati
- 14-0 BILLS - Bills field goal - Stephen Hauschka's 45-yard field goal attempt is good
- Drive info: 6 plays, 17 yards, 2:54
- 14-0 BILLS - Bills missed field goal - Stephen Hauschka's 62-yard field goal attempt is wide left
Third Quarter:
- 14-0 BILLS - Bills interception - Cornerback Tre'Davious White picks off Andy Dalton at the Buffalo 40-yard line
- 14-0 BILLS - Bengals interception - Josh Allen is picked off by cornerback Darius Phillips at the Buffalo 49-yard line, returned 27 yards to the 22-yard line
- 14-7 BILLS - Bengals touchdown - Andy Dalton 1-yard touchdown run (Randy Bullock's extra-point is good)
- Drive info: 3 plays, 22 yards, 1:21
Fourth Quarter:
- 14-14 TIE - Bengals touchdown - Andy Dalton 1-yard touchdown pass to running back Joe Mixon (Randy Bullock's extra-point is good)
- Drive info: 11 plays, 82 yards, 5:33
- 17-14 BENGALS - Bengals field goal - Randy Bullock's 43-yard field goal attempt is good.
- Drive info: 9 plays, 60 yards, 4:12
- 21-17 BILLS - Bills touchdown - Frank Gore 1-yard touchdown run.
- Drive info: 7 plays, 78 yards, 3:04
- 21-17 BILLS - Bills interception - Tre'Davious White picks off Andy Dalton on a tipped ball by Micah Hyde at the Bills' 10-yard line.
LoTempio Complete Stats of the Game
Josh Allen - 23-of-36, 243 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Andy Dalton - 20-of-36, 249 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Frank Gore - 14 carries, 76 yards, 1 TD
Josh Allen - 9 carries, 46 yards
T.J. Yeldon - 8 carries, 30 yards, 1 fumble lost
Isaiah McKenzie - 3 carries, 10 yards
Dawson Knox - 1 carry, 9 yards
John Brown - 1 carry, 4 yards
Joe Mixon - 15 carries, 61 yards
Giovani Bernard - 3 carries, 5 yards
Andy Dalton - 1 carry, 1 yard, 1 TD
Dawson Knox - 3 receptions, 67 yards, 1 TD
John Brown - 4 receptions, 51 yards
Cole Beasley - 8 receptions, 48 yards
Zay Jones - 2 receptions, 33 yards
T.J. Yeldon - 2 receptions, 19 yards
Frank Gore - 2 receptions, 13 yards
Isaiah McKenzie - 1 reception, 9 yards
Tommy Sweeney - 1 reception, 3 yards
Auden Tate - 6 receptions, 88 yards
Tyler Boyd - 6 receptions, 67 yards
Joe Mixon - 2 receptions, 34 yards, 1 TD
John Ross III - 2 receptions, 22 yards, 1 fumble lost
Tyler Eifert - 1 reception, 18 yards
Alex Erickson - 1 reception, 13 yards
Giovani Bernard - 2 receptions, 7 yards
Jordan Poyer - 12 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
Matt Milano - 5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
Micah Hyde - 5 tackles, 1 forced fumble
Jordan Phillips - 3 tackles, 1 sack
Kevin Johnson - 3 tackles, 1 sack
Tre'Davious White - 1 tackle, 2 interceptions
Shawn Williams - 9 tackles
Preston Brown - 6 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
Geno Atkins - 5 tackles, 1 sack
Darius Phillips - 1 interception
BUF: 241CIN: 239
BUF: 175CIN: 67
BUF: 416CIN: 306
BUF: 25CIN: 17
BUF: 7 for 55 yards CIN: 8 for 54 yards
BUF: 36:54CIN: 23:06
The Buffalo Bills return to New Era Field next Sunday for a matchup with the 3-0 New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on WGR Sports Radio 550 with John Murphy, Eric Wood and Sal Capaccio on the call.