The Bills pulled within three points of the Bengals on a 40-yard touchdown run by quarterback Josh Allen midway through the fourth quarter on Sunday, but it was a play on the other side of the ball that blew the game open for the home team.
The Bengals had a first down in Bills territory a couple of minutes later and quarterback Joe Burrow’s attempt to add to the lead was thwarted by a blitzing Christian Benford. The Bills cornerback left his feet to snag Burrow’s pass and sprinted 63 yards for a touchdown that gave the Bills their first lead of the game.
Burrow would throw another interception on the next drive and the Bills would follow that up with another touchdown. After the 39-34 win, head coach Sean McDermott pointed to the Benford play as the major momentum changer.
“Just [a] big-time moment in the game,” head coach Sean McDermott said, via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com. “That’s this time of year. You’re looking for moments, guys doing their job, and when you do your job, good things happen. That’s what we saw happen. It was just a phenomenal play, phenomenal call. Just great to see.”
It was the second straight week with a touchdown for Benford and he also had a sack while allowing zero completions to Ja’Marr Chase while covering the Bengals star. Other top wideouts have suffered the same fate when matched up with Benford this season and the Bills will continue to lean on him down the stretch.
