Two weeks ago, Bengals receiver Tee Higgins suffered a concussion when his helmet struck the artificial turf in Cincinnati. On Sunday, Higgins’ helmet hit the artificial turf multiple times in Buffalo.
“I’m a soldier,” Higgins told reporters after the game, via Gabi Sorrentino of Fox19. “Soldiers take hits. You know, it happens. It’s football. It’s the name of the game. But you’ve got to get up. Next play mentality.”
Higgins confirmed that he was checked multiple times for another concussion. He said he passed all tests.
Did Higgins consider pulling himself from the game given the concussion he suffered in Week 12?
“I didn’t think about that at all,” Higgins said. “I’m a team-first guy. You know what I mean? My team needed me, you know, I feel like they did. So I went out there and played. Tried to dog it out with my team.”
Higgins brushed off the multiple times his helmet struck the turf by saying, “It’s ball, man. It’s ball.”
Obviously, Higgins wouldn’t have been allowed to keep playing if he hadn’t cleared the concussion evaluations. And it’s entirely the player’s call as to whether he feels comfortable with staying in the game.
For much of Sunday’s game, the Bengals had taken it to the Bills on a snowy day in Western New York.
But then a nightmare sequence for Joe Burrow put Buffalo in control and ultimately allowed the Bills to come away with a 39-34 victory.
After Josh Allen rushed for a 40-yard touchdown to narrow Cincinnati’s lead to three points, the Bengals quickly made it to Buffalo territory and looked like they had a shot at expanding their advantage. But that’s when Christian Benford intercepted a Burrow pass to Ja’Marr Chase at the line of scrimmage, returning it 63 yards to the end zone for a go-ahead, pick-six.
Things went from bad to worse on Cincinnati’s ensuing drive, with Burrow’s first pass getting tipped at the line and picked off by defensive end A.J. Epenesa for another big turnover.
This ended up being a back-breaker, as Allen connected with tight end Jackson Hawes for a 3-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to put Buffalo’s lead at 39-28.
While the Bengals scored quickly on a 25-yard touchdown from Burrow to Tee Higgins, the club couldn’t hit a two-point conversion to keep Buffalo’s lead at five points.
And Cincinnati’s beleaguered defense was poor again on third-and-15 just after the two-minute warning, allowing Allen to scramble for a 17-yard gain to seal his team’s victory.
Allen ended the contest 22-of-28 for 251 yards with three touchdowns and no picks. He also had 78 yards on nine carries with a TD.
Buffalo’s tight ends were particularly impactful against the Cincinnati defense, with Dawson Knox catching six passes for 93 yards. Dalton Kincaid had four receptions for 41 yards with a TD.
The Bengals mostly went right through Buffalo’s defense, netting 25 first downs, 338 total yards, and finishing 10-of-12 on third down. But Burrow’s two critical picks in the fourth quarter made the difference.
Burrow ended the contest 25-of-36 for 284 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Tee Higgins had six catches for 92 yards with a pair of TDs. Mike Gesicki had six catches for 86 yards with a touchdown while Ja’Marr Chase finished with five catches for 44 yards.
With the victory, the Bills are now 9-4 and are getting closer to securing their spot in the postseason. Buffalo will be on the road to face the Patriots in Week 15.
Cincinnati has now fallen to 4-9. The team will be at home to face Baltimore next Sunday.
For the second week in a row, Christian Benford has scored a defensive touchdown.
Benford intercepted Joe Burrow on what was supposed to be a quick pass to Ja’Marr Chase at the line of scrimmage, returning it 63 yards for a go-ahead score.
The Bengals looked like they were on their way to expanding their lead as the club had netted first downs on two of the drive’s first three plays to get down to Buffalo’s 33-yard line.
But on first-and-10 from that spot, Burrow looked to his right to fire quickly but Benford took the short pass out of the air. Burrow tried to bring Benford down, but Benford broke the tackle and had no one in front of him to go all the way to the end zone.
Bills running back James Cook was about to give his team a third-quarter lead with a run inside the 5.
But he fumbled before he could cross the goal line. And with the extra possession, Cincinnati got back in the end zone with a Joe Burrow 12-yard pass to Mike Gesicki, making the Bengals’ lead 28-18.
Josh Allen had something to say about that, however, taking in a rushing touchdown on Buffalo’s ensuing possession to make the score 28-25.
Cook now has four fumbles in his last two games with two lost. He nearly gave the Bengals a touchback earlier in that same drive with a fumble near the goal line. But the ball did not go out of bounds in the end zone. A holding call negated Cook’s play to get the ball to the 1-yard line.
Burrow and the Bengals have continued to be excellent on third down, with the quarterback converting third-and-4 with a a 6-yard pass to Ja’Marr Chase before converting third-and-6 with an 18-yard pass over the middle to Tee Higgins.
Higgins had to exit the field after that play after hitting the back of his head on the turf again.
But it didn’t take long for the Bills to get back on the board in response. Josh Allen took a 40-yard scramble to the end zone on the fourth play of the drive, making the score 28-25. Via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN, it was the longest regular-season rushing touchdown of Allen’s career.
The Bills have started the second half by getting points on the board.
Josh Allen connected over the middle with tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 5-yard touchdown, cutting the Bengals’ lead to 21-18 with 9:20 left in the third quarter.
While Cincinnati started the possession by sacking Allen, the defensive unit committed pass interference on the next play to get Buffalo going.
Allen converted third-and-5 with a 16-yard scramble, putting the Bills in Bengals territory. Then James Cook took a swing pass 27 yards down to Cincinnati’s 9-yard line.
A play later, Allen fired a seed over the middle to Kincaid to narrow Cincinnati’s advantage to three points.
But the Bills need their defense to play much better in the second half than they did in the first if Buffalo is going to come away with a win on Sunday.
