Bengals get better of Bills
Burrow throws for 348 yards, 2 TDs
Bengals 24
Bills 18
CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow threw for a season-high 348 yards and a pair of touchdown passes as the Bengals knocked off the Bills, 24-18, in a key AFC matchup Sunday night for their fourth straight victory.
Burrow was 31 for 44 while completing passes to eight receivers, with tight ends Irv Smith Jr. and Drew Sample making the touchdown grabs. Tee Higgins had eight receptions for a season-high 110 yards for the Bengals (5-3).
Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s defense kept Josh Allen and the Bills (5-4) playing from behind throughout.
Cam Taylor-Britt intercepted Allen to shut down a drive in the second quarter. Nick Scott upended Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid and recovered the fumble on the Cincinnati 13-yard line in the third quarter.
The subsequent Bengals drive ate up 5:20 and a 20-yard field goal by Evan McPherson extended Cincinnati’s lead to 24-10.
Allen threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs, and the two connected on a 2-point conversion pass to cut the lead to 24-18 with 3:32 left, but the Bengals got two first downs and ran out the clock to seal it.
Allen had a respectable night, going 26 for 38 and 258 yards, but he also threw an interception for the fifth straight game. Diggs had six catches for 86 yards.
Burrow was 6 for 6 for 65 yards on a methodical opening drive that he finished off with a 7-yard pass to Smith, who got his first touchdown catch of the season.
The Bills answered with a quick scoring drive, highlighted by a 34yard catch-and-run by Diggs and capped by Allen’s 2-yard TD run.
Aided by a roughing the passer call on the Bills’ Tim Settle, Burrow put together another extended drive. Joe Mixon barreled in from the Buffalo 2-yard line to finish it.
Burrow tossed a bubble screen to Sample, who ran for a 22-yard touchdown and gave the Bengals a 21-7 lead at the half.
In the previous meeting of the teams at Paycor Stadium, during “Monday Night Football” last Jan. 2, a terrifying incident brought the game to a halt.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field after tackling Higgins in the first quarter. He was revived and rushed to a hospital. The game was postponed and eventually canceled.
Hamlin recovered and is back with the Bills, although he was inactive Sunday night. As much as he’d like to play, Hamlin told The Associated Press he has no problem with having been inactive for eight of Buffalo’s first nine games.
“Since I first got drafted by the Buffalo Bills, I think the first interview that I did, with whomever I spoke to, I told them I don’t care if I had to carry the water,” Hamlin said. “I just want to do my part to win games . . . A team is never ‘I.’ It’s always ‘we.’ So that’s my mission.”
The third-year player’s only game this season was Oct. 1 against Miami, and he was limited to special teams.