The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s divisional round showdown, 27-10.
Cincinnati had a 17-7 lead at halftime after a dominant first half and that pretty much continued for the second half. The result sends the Bengals to the AFC title game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead for the second season in a row.
Here’s a look at some of the instant notes and numbers from right after the game.
Quick Hits
— You couldn’t script a better start to this game for the Bengals as Joe Burrow went 4/4 on the opening drive before finding Ja’Marr Chase for the touchdown. Joe Mixon looked steady on the ground in the snow too.
— Ditto for the defense, as Joseph Ossai got pressure on Josh Allen on a 3rd-and-4 to force the Bills to punt on their first offensive drive.
— Burrow and the offense’s next drive? A precise march down the field with good runs on the ground and Burrow finishing it with a touchdown pass to Hayden Hurst. Burrow was 9-of-9 with two touchdowns at that point.
— Trey Hendrickson disrupted Allen for a Bills three-and-out but a sack of Burrow forced the first Bengals punt of the game to end the first quarter.
— Bills figured it out in the second quarter, going 15 plays for 75 yards and a score. The Cincinnati defense struggled with the up-tempo looks, something the Bills would keep exploiting if the Bengals didn’t adapt.
— Center Ted Karras injured his knee and got it taped up, per the broadcast. He was struggling to get up multiple times near the end of the first half.
— An absolute epic fumbling of the NFL’s catch rules while overturning a Ja’Marr Chase touchdown before halftime.
— Bills spent a huge chunk of time marching down the field right after halftime, only to settle for three points. That’s a big win for the Bengals defense that made the score 17-10.
— Fantastic challenge by Zac Taylor on a Joe Mixon touchdown run to get officials to actually call it as such, making the game 24-10.
— Smart again by the coaching…
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