{"id":39220,"date":"2025-12-07T23:41:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T23:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39220"},"modified":"2025-12-07T23:41:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T23:41:05","slug":"bengals-up-against-wall-after-dropping-to-4-9-with-bills-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39220","title":{"rendered":"Bengals \u2018up against wall\u2019 after dropping to 4-9 with Bills loss"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Cincinnati Bengals knew they likely needed to win their final five games to have a shot at capturing the AFC North and making the playoffs.<\/p>\n

But Sunday\u2019s 39-34 loss to the Buffalo Bills all but dashed those hopes, as they fell to 4-9 and three games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers with just four games left.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat probably lowers our chances even more, but that\u2019s how the cookie crumbles,\u201d Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said of the loss.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati led by 10 points with 8:18 remaining but went reeling after Burrow threw interceptions on back-to-back pass attempts following a Josh Allen 40-yard touchdown run. The first was a remarkable interception by Bills cornerback Christian Benford, who leaped at the line of scrimmage to snag a swing pass from Burrow and returned it for a 63-yard touchdown with 5:25 remaining. The second, by AJ Epenesa, set up the Bills in Bengals territory, with an Allen TD pass eventually putting Buffalo up, 39-28.<\/p>\n

Despite a late push, Cincinnati was unable to regain the lead.<\/p>\n

It marked Burrow\u2019s first loss as a starter this year. After helping the Bengals win their first two games of the season, he was sidelined for nine games with a turf toe injury that required surgery. The team won in his first game back, on Thanksgiving over the Baltimore Ravens, which set up Sunday\u2019s high-stakes showdown against the Bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was going to be an uphill battle for us when I was coming back,\u201d said Burrow, who was 25-of-36 passing for 284 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t really in my thought process too much. I just wanted to come back and put on a show and play well in front of everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cincinnati hoped to recreate the magic it had last season, when it finished with five straight wins and nearly made the postseason. Instead, the Bengals will need something special to erase the 3-game gap with Pittsburgh (7-6). Cincinnati split the season series with the Steelers and faces Baltimore (6-7) next weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we\u2019re up against the wall here with whatever our opportunities are, but we got a big home game this week in the division,\u201d Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. \u201cSo we have to be able to pick ourselves up and find a way to go respond.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After Sunday’s 39-34 loss to the Bills, the Bengals’ playoff hopes were all but dashed, as they fell to 4-9 and three games behind the first-place Steelers with just four games left.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2493,2492],"class_list":["post-39220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cincinnati-bengals","tag-buffalo-bills-sports-football-team-team-statscom-324","tag-cincinnati-bengals-sports-football-team-team-statscom-327"],"yoast_head":"\nBengals \u2018up against wall\u2019 after dropping to 4-9 with Bills loss - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39220\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bengals \u2018up against wall\u2019 after dropping to 4-9 with Bills loss - 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