The Buffalo Bills trailed the Cincinnati Bengals by a field goal on Sunday, at that moment losing 21-18 in a game that hadn’t gone their way for much of the afternoon. When Buffalo looked as if they were about to take the lead, they instead committed a costly turnover at the Cincinnati one-yard line.
After the Bengals quickly drove downfield to score, extending their lead to 28-18, it seemed as if the Bills were going to suffer another one of those “woulda, coulda, shoulda” games that have become far too common in the 2025 season. Instead, over the course of three possessions, the entire contest swung. A 40-yard touchdown run by quarterback Josh Allen was followed by interceptions on two straight plays from scrimmage by quarterback Joe Burrow — and, suddenly, the Bills were in business.
For us old heads, the momentum swing was eerily reminiscent of another three-possession swing against a team that wears orange. All the way back in 1990, the Bills trailed the Denver Broncos 21-9. With just over 10 minutes left in the game, David Treadwell set up to kick a short field goal that would have extended Denver’s lead to 15 points. Instead, the field goal was blocked and returned 80 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Cornelius Bennett, and suddenly, the Bills had life. Two plays later, Leonard Smith returned a John Elway interception 39 yards for a touchdown to give the Bills the lead. One play after that, Elway fumbled, Bennett recovered, and it led to a quick Kenneth Davis touchdown run. Suddenly, the Bills had a lead in a game they’d ultimately win 29-28.
The scores might not have come as quickly on Sunday as they did on that September afternoon, but the momentum swing was swift. Buffalo showed real grit in pulling out a 39-34 win against a desperate Bengals team. There were plenty of heroes in this one, and some of them were even among our players to watch entering the contest.
Here’s how our five players to watch performed in Buffalo’s victory over Cincinnati.
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Once again, the Bills used their run game to pick up chunks of yardage while also keeping the opposing offense off the field. For much of the afternoon, Cook was excellent, and while he wasn’t ripping off huge gains like he has at points this season, he was consistently putting the Bills in manageable situations on second and third down.
Cook’s longest run was 18 yards, although he had a 23-yard run called back on a holding penalty. That particular run was the subject of some craziness, as it was initially ruled a 24-yard touchdown run, but replay showed that Cook fumbled at the one-yard line. It was no harm, no foul since the fumble went out of bounds and not through the end zone, but it was a harbinger of things to come on that drive.
Just six plays later, Cook had a carry from the two-yard line, and he fumbled. This time, it was recovered by Cincinnati, thereby ending the threat. It was a huge play, as it led to a 14-point swing once the Bengals marched down and scored. Fortunately for the Bills, some other players stepped up and prevented us from harping on that fumble being the turning point in a loss. Instead, it’s merely a question mark about Cook’s ball security, as he now has six fumbles on the season. That matches Cook’s fumble total for his whole career entering the season.
Overall, it was a good day for Cook, as he totaled 80 rushing yards on 18 carries, adding two catches for 31 yards on his two targets.
I wrote that someone had to step up in the passing game, and for at least one play, it was Shakir. On a fourth down, the Bills decided to forgo a field goal and try for a conversion with just over 7:30 remaining in the second quarter.Josh Allen scrambled right, deked a defender or two, extended the play, and just threw an absurd ball in between three Cincinnati defenders to find Shakir for an 11-yard touchdown.
Somehow, that wasn’t the most impressive play Allen made on the day. He also ran for a 40-yard touchdown and threw two more passing touchdowns — one to tight end Dalton Kincaid, and the other to tight end Jackson Hawes — in yet another fantastic game.
Shakir was only targeted three times, and he caught two passes for 16 yards and that absurd score. It was really a day for the tight ends, as the aforementioned duo scored two touchdowns while Dawson Knox led the Bills in receiving with six catches for 93 yards on seven targets.
It was a solid game plan against a team that gives up so much to the tight ends, and it’s one that the Bills might want to try to replicate next week against the New England Patriots. New England has allowed 79 catches for 789 yards and four touchdowns against tight ends this season.
It’s hard to step up on defense when you only play six snaps, so I won’t be too mad at Solomon for being unnoticeable on defense on Sunday. Whereas the Bills usually rotate their defensive ends heavily, they strayed from that strategy this past weekend.
Defensive end A.J. Epenesa, who intercepted Joe Burrow on a tipped pass by defensive tackle Jordan Phillips in the fourth quarter, played 49 snaps on Sunday. Defensive end Greg Rousseau played 45 snaps. That heavy usage out of the starting defensive ends might have been driven by necessity, as practice-squad player Morgan Fox joined Solomon as the only other defensive ends in the game.
While the Bills stifled Cincinnati’s run game, allowing just 54 rushing yards on 18 carries between Samaje Perine and Chase Brown, they were unable to generate much pressure on Burrow. Solomon did not register a tackle on defense or special teams.
It was a bit of an up-and-down day for Hairston, who played on 42% of the team’s defensive snaps after playing far less last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals picked on him a bit, as they attacked either Hairston or Tre’Davious White whenever they could.
Hairston allowed a touchdown catch to wide receiver Tee Higgins, who managed to catch six passes for 92 yards and two scores while somehow passing not one, but two concussion checks after whacking his head on the frozen turf days after clearing concussion protocol. Hairston also had three tackles and two pass breakups on the day.
Hairston had to deal with the much bigger, stronger Higgins for the majority of the day, and while it wasn’t perfect, there were some positives.
Man, I think that, as much as I love Benford, I still sell him a little short. I would have used Benford on Higgins on Sunday, not Ja’Marr Chase, because I was afraid that he wouldn’t be fast enough to stick with Chase. Man, was I wrong.
Benford is an elite cornerback who is currently playing at, arguably, the highest level of his career. Sure, it was a slow start for him this season, but of late, Benford has been a flat-out eraser.
He had 35 coverage snaps on Sunday. He allowed zero catches on just three targets. Benford blitzed off the edge twice, and both times resulted in huge plays. On his first blitz, he absolutely leveled Burrow for a sack, and it’s actually crazy that Burrow didn’t fumble the ball. The Bills set a perfect trap, disguising their coverage and the blitz, and Burrow took the bait.
Benford’s second blitz, however, was the play that changed the game entirely. Facing a 3rd & Short, Burrow read the blitz and tried to drop a quick toss over Benford’s head and into the hands of Chase. Instead, Benford leapt high in the air to intercept the ball, racing 67 yards for the go-ahead score. He even outran Chase on the way to the end zone.
So much for my thinking he’s not fast enough to stick with receivers who have elite-level speed. Benford has steadily improved as the season has progressed.