The Cincinnati Bengals came to Ralph Wilson Stadium without a loss this season. The Buffalo Bills just came off a sloppy win against the Tennessee Titans. Just before the game started, the Buffalo Bills officially announced E.J. Manuel would be making his first start in more than a year due to Tyrod Taylor's injury.
The first series of the game Buffalo appeared to come out ready to play. LeSean McCoy began his return from injury with a huge run to open up the drive. Then Rex Ryan threw a challenge flag after a Charles Clay's reception was called an incomplete pass. After the overturned play the Bills stayed alive and completed a 80-yard 11 play drive on an E.J. Manuel rushing touchdown.
On the kickoff (Dan Carpenter's first since 2013) Adam "Pacman" Jones ran it back 40-yards before Dan Carpenter himself ran him out of bounds. Despite the huge run, the Bengals went three and out.
The Bills returned to the field but they too went three and out. The highlight of the series was an attempted throw to Sammy Watkins who earlier this week complained he wasn't getting the ball enough.
On the kickoff, the Bills' Ron Brooks had a great tackle but he celebrated a little too much as was flagged for taunting. The penalty gave the Bengals improved field position and led to Andy Dalton 13-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Hill tying the game at 7.
The first quarter ended shortly after E.J. Manuel tried to throw a deep ball to Chris Hogan that Darqueze Dennard intercepted. Thankfully for the Bills, the defense held the Bengals to a three and out.
The Bills didn't fare any better in the next offensive series. It included a flag (shocking) for intentional grounding and a deep in the end zone punt. This lead to a Bengals field goal making it 17 - 7 Cincinnati.
After a 65-yard kickoff and 14 yard return the Bills began the last offensive series of the half at the Bengals 14 yard line. One sack and a couple penalties later, E.J. Manuel passed to a wide open Sammy Watkins for a 22-yard touchdown. Watkins appeared to be injured in the end zone right before he caught the pass. He left the game with a sprained ankle.
The second half began all in Cincinnati's favor. The Bengals began on the 15 yard line and in 8 plays and less than five minutes, scored another touchdown on an Andy Dalton pass to Marvin Jones.
The Bills got the ball back but failed to convert. When the Bengals offense returned to the field, it was more of the same: Another drive down the field, another Andy Dalton touchdown pass. The Bills offensive again failed to produce and the third quarter ended with the score 31-14.
Another Bengals field goal early in the fourth made it 34-14. The Bills got the ball back and were able to march down the field thanks to some big plays including a long rush from quarterback E.J. Manuel. The drive ended with another LeSean McCoy rushing touchdown narrowing the gap to 34-21.
That is where the score stayed as the Bills failed to muster up a comeback. The Bills now fall to 3-3 as they head to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday. The Bengals perfect season keeps rolling as they improve to 6-0.