When we last checked in with the Bills and Bengals, it looked like we were heading toward a thrilling finish after the Bengals blew all but three points of a 31-14 lead.
Much to the disappointment of those of us who love a good Gus Johnson call, it wasn’t to be but not because the Bengals got their act together. The Bills kept on pouring on the points as they came all the way back to bury the Bengals 49-31 thanks to 35 unanswered points in the second half.
The leading lights of the comeback, on the Bills side at lease, were Ryan Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson and Stevie Johnson. Fitzpatrick threw for 139 yards and three touchdown passes in the final 30 minutes, all of them to Johnson. Fitzpatrick, in parts of two seasons with the Bills, now has 27 touchdown passes, which is more than Trent Edwards threw in his entire Buffalo career. Jackson added a score, his second of the game, and finished with 116 yards on the ground to render C.J. Spiller’s absence meaningless.
Buffalo got help from the Bengals, though. Carson Palmer threw two interceptions, including one in the end zone by George Wilson that really got the Raiders of the Lost Ark-sized boulder running downhill. He was pulled for his brother Jordan in garbage time and another ugly loss on Thanksgiving night could have people itching to make that a more permanent arrangement as the Bengals play out the string.
That doesn’t mean Jordan Palmer is the future starter, of course. Right now, the Bengals are just one Panthers win away from the driver’s seat in the Andrew Luck derby.
