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- REWATCH: Bengals-Bills on NFL+ Premium
- Bills demonstrate toughness in comeback. Buffalo spent most of Sunday chasing after Joe Burrow and the Bengals, who started the game as emphatically as possible with three straight touchdown drives. Cincinnati appeared to be in control in the fourth quarter, too, until Josh Allen galloped through a wide stretch of open field for a 40-yard touchdown, and Christian Benford picked off an awkwardly delivered Burrow lob and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bills a 32-28 lead that seemed unlikely, if not impossible just a few minutes earlier. One more interception on the very next play gave the Bills the opportunity they needed and they didn't waste it, converting a fourth-and-goal from the Cincinnati 3 via a touchdown pass from Allen to Jackson Hawes. On a day that felt like a playoff setting, the Bills overcame inclement weather and a stiff challenge from the desperate Bengals to emerge victorious, notching a win that is as valuable for team morale as it is for their AFC playoff seeding.
- Bengals' meltdown overshadows entertaining performance. Burrow and Allen spent much of Sunday afternoon attempting to outduel each other, delivering two of the most impressive quarterback performances you'll see in such unfavorable weather conditions. To Burrow's credit, before his consecutive, game-altering interceptions in the fourth quarter, he played excellently, powering Cincinnati's offense with pinpoint passing that capitalized on the return of Tee Higgins and relied on Mike Gesicki's ability to make contested catches on key downs. The Bengals didn't convert 10 of 12 third downs by accident, and for much of the contest they looked the part of a playoff team that was embarking on an unbelievable climb from the depths of the division cellar to the top. Almost all of the credit for that was due to Burrow, making his two-play meltdown that much more disappointing. Instead of recording a landmark victory that would have put the rest of the AFC North on notice, the Bengals essentially kissed their postseason hopes good bye in brutal fashion.
- Benford, Allen power Bills to another impressive win. Buffalo's Week 13 triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers was built on an assortment of second-half clutch plays, beginning with a Benford fumble return for a touchdown and ending with an amazing touchdown pass from Allen to Keon Coleman and an 8-yard Allen touchdown run. Week 13 followed a similar format. Allen sparked the Bills' comeback effort with his 40-yard touchdown run -- the longest by a Bills quarterback in franchise history -- and Benford followed that with his athletic, instinctive interception returned for a touchdown, almost instantly flipping what was a 10-point deficit into a four-point lead. The Bills haven't been remarkably consistent in 2025, but it's very encouraging to see their key contributors produce in the biggest moments, a development that is creeping toward becoming a trend. On a day in which they couldn't rely as heavily on James Cook (who fumbled into the end zone), this was crucial -- and could be a sign of a team peaking at the perfect time.
NFL Research: Sunday's electric showdown between the Bengals and Bills featured just two total punts, tying for the second-fewest combined punts in any game in 2025 and representing the first game in which the Bills did not punt since Week 1 of the 2022 season.