The three-game winning streak for the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t the hardest to predict so far because of one factor.
Joe Burrow.
And it sure feels like a fourth straight is on the docket.
When the Bengals host the Buffalo Bills on the Week 9 edition of “Sunday Night Football,” a national audience will again see a fully healthy Burrow.
Last week, he went into San Francisco and beat a five-win 49ers team 31-17 while going 28-of-32 for 283 yards with three scores and some play-extending and first-down runs, too. That, while leaving roughly 10 points on the board because of a missed field goal and a redzone lost fumble.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed in the NFL and other such typical disclaimers. But that was the closest to the offseason vision we’ve seen the Bengals offense so far — where a healthy Burrow plays behind the best line he’s enjoyed since being drafted and the offense continues to expand.
Another disclaimer, though — the Bills aren’t a slouch. Josh Allen is still massively boom-or-bust, having thrown 17 scores and rushed for five more, yet also sitting on eight interceptions and three fumbles. Even while playing through an injury to his shoulder last week, he managed to throw for two scores, 324 yards and rush for a score in a win.
The Bills also have two guys averaging 4.8 yards per rush or better, one of those being Allen, while the Cincinnati defense is one of the league’s worst — at least statistically — against the run.
Still, it’s hard not to keep coming back to the quarterback comparison. Burrow and Co. have turned the ball over just six times this year for a plus-seven differential, second-best in the league.
And while Allen deals with a shoulder injury that still had him on the injury report last week, he’ll also have to deal with Trey Hendrickson’s pass-rush behind a line that is very young on one side.
We’d be remiss not to mention last year, too. The Bengals fired out of the gates and looked well on the way to a win during the regular season before that game got called off. In the playoffs in Buffalo, that really came to fruition, a 27-10 Bengals win in which Burrow threw for two scores, the offense ran for 172 yards and a score and Allen mustered no touchdown passes on 42 attempts.
The Bengals have simply felt like a bad matchup for the Bills for a few years now, especially with the way Lou Anarumo can put out defenses that give Allen problems. Add on his injury and the fact the Bills are 2-2 over their last four, the wins coming against teams with losing records, and it feels like the Bengals are catching them at a good time — at home, no less.
For this one, it wouldn’t be too much of a shock to see the Bengals pounce on another early lead and really turn the running game loose.
Prediction: Bengals 30, Bills 21
