Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - After trailing for most of Sunday's contest at Highmark Stadium, the Buffalo Bills rallied back to earn a pivotal win over the Cincinnati Bengals, 39-34.
Josh Allen helped lead the comeback on offense, putting on the super hero cape with four total touchdowns, including a 40-yard touchdown run that charged the comeback in the fourth quarter.
Reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, Christian Benford, was another huge piece to Buffalo's efforts, tallying a sack and a game-changing interception he returned for a touchdown after the Allen touchdown run.
The Bills then continued to ride the wave with another defensive interception by A.J. Epenesa, eventually leading to the touchdown pass from Allen to Jackson Hawes that was enough to help Buffalo earn a victory and improve to 9-4 this season.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott loved the toughness he saw from his team, even when it seemed like the team was down-and-out in the fourth quarter.
"[The Bengals are] a heck of a team, a well-coached team. We have a lot of respect for them. Obviously, an elite quarterback [Joe Burrow], and we knew it was going to be tough," said McDermott on Sunday after the win. "I thought the coaching staff did a phenomenal job of adjusting throughout the game, and then coming up with some big plays. Obviously at the end of the game, with Christian Benford, Jordan Phillips, with the tip pass on the A.J. [Epenesa] interception, and then Josh's play overall, certainly the last play of the game, or close to the last play of the game... just phenomenal play on his part. Super proud of him. Certainly still a lot to learn and things that we've got to do better. So we'll get back to work on it this week."
All three of Buffalo's tight ends - Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, and Hawes - had a big game in their own way, and and each got had their moments in the win.
"That was one of the areas we felt we could expose some of what they do," McDermott said. "Having Dalton back helped, Dalton had a big game. Dawson Knox, and then Jackson [Hawes]. So coach [Rob] Boras is doing a great job getting all three of those guys ready, and it's good to have Dalton back. I think from the sounds of it, he made it through healthy."
The Bills and McDermott were aggressive on fourth-down calls on Sunday, and managed to score on two of those attempts. This included the late fourth-down touchdown pass from Allen to Hawes to put the Bills in the driver's seat. McDermott says the success of the earlier attempts did not affect his decision in the big, late-game moment.
"It really had zero implications, in terms of what I was going to do, what we were going to do. It was just more trying to do the right thing for our team, and I felt like that at that moment, it was important for us to be aggressive," he said. "Not all that different from things last year. It was a 4th-and-2, maybe against Kansas City. It was not 4th-and-goal and we were not up. We wouldn't have gone up seven in that situation. But that's my wrestling nature, is to be aggressive."
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