Two Bills Interceptions in the 4th Quarter Doom the Bengals, Fall to 4-9
BUFFALO – December 7, 2025
Joe Burrow and Josh Allen staged a classic in the now in Buffalo on Sunday. Burrow in his second game back from a turf toe injury looked great and in control until two interceptions in the 4th quarter. Josh Allen put on a show in the second half as the Bills scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, to get the 39-34 win.
First half
The Bengals started off hogging the ball. They had a 14-play drive for over 60 yards. It culminated in a Chase Brown touchdown, where he was helped over the goal line with some help from Amarius Mims. Burrow was five for six on the drive.
The Bills looked like they were going to easily answer. First, a big play to tighten Dawson Knox for over 30 yards. Then running back Ty Johnson broke the line of scrimmage without a soul around him. It looked like a sure touchdown, but he fell down on the play for roughly 20 yards. Inside the 10-yard line, the Bills had a 3rd-and-1, and Joseph Ossai was able to get quick penetration on an Allen run to cause a three-yard loss. That probably took away a fourth-down attempt. This led to a field goal to cut the lead to four points.
The next drive was much quicker for the Bengals’ offense. Burrow hit tight end for 14 yards to convert a big 3rd-and-11. That ended up being very important as Burrow launched a 21-yard pass to Tee Higgins, where he toe-tapped on the side of the end zone. Two drives. Two touchdowns for the offense.
On this drive, you could see a shift with Buffalo. They clearly decided they are going to need to keep up with Cincinnati. It started with going for it on 4th-and-4 just inside the Bengals’ territory. Then they ended up scoring when they went for it again on fourth down at the Bengals’ 11-yard line.
Allen somehow snuck the ball right over the linebacker’s shoulder pad and beside his helmet to squeeze it in for a touchdown to Khalil Shakir. The drive wasn’t done there as Ossai was called on a weak roughing the passer call on the same play. That allowed Buffalo to attempt a 2-point conversion from the 1-yard line. Allen ended up finding Knox in the back of the end zone on a rollout. That made it 14-11 in favor of Cincinnati.
Burrow and the offense were aided by a pass interference on the next drive. Burrow then found Brown at the pylon for his second touchdown of the day. It was initially ruled short, but on further review, it was, in fact, yet another touchdown. Three for three on touchdowns for Burrow and the offense in the snow.
The Bills ended up failing on a fourth down on their next drive, but Burrow got sacked out of field goal range and just missed Higgins on 3rd-and-long. Bills took a knee with 10 seconds left to get to halftime.
Second half
The Bills got bailed out early on their next drive when DJ Turner and the receiver were both hand-fighting at the top of the route. From there, Allen hit James Cook for a big catch-and-run. Then Allen drilled tight end Dalton Kincaid for a five-yard touchdown. This made it just a three point lead for the Bengals.
The Bills’ defense finally got some momentum rolling, getting the Bengals off the field quickly. Then Allen and the offense proceeded to march on a 12-play drive. It was aided by another ticky tacky call for hands to the face on what would have been a 3rd-and-long. An interesting sequence of events happened where Cook seemingly ran for a touchdown from 24 yards out. Then the play was called back for holding. Then the Bengals challenged the call as it appeared Cook fumbled out of the back of the end zone. It was determined he fumbled it out before the end zone, though.
Well, Buffalo got right near the goal line, and Cook looked like he was going in when Turner was able to reach in and get him to fumble it, where the Bengals recovered it for a touchback. The ball never lies.
Burrow and the offense then marched 12 plays for 80 yards. Plenty of close third-down conversions, but the biggest was an 18-yard pass to Higgins, who had a few drops on the day. Burrow then worked his magic, making an unblocked defender miss, then tossing it to a wide-open Mike Gesicki. That made it 28-18.
Then the Bengals had a few freakish mistakes. First, the defense blitzed Allen nearly perfectly, but the defender missed Allen, who proceeded to run for 40 yards untouched to bring it within three points.
Then, Cincinnati was moving pretty well when Burrow tried to throw it over a blitzing nickelback, but didn’t get enough on the throw and ended up right in the defender’s hands. It was returned for 67 yards and a touchdown to go up four. The Bills’ first lead of the game. The very next play by the offense, Burrow’s pass got tipped at the line of scrimmage and was intercepted by a defensive lineman. A huge swing in just a handful of plays.
The Bills were able to get the touchdown they needed to make it a two-score game. The defense forced them all the way into a 4th-and-goal, but Allen simply had all day to sit back there and find an open man. It was 21 points in just 4:30 of game clock.
Burrow got to work quickly, hitting Gesicki for a huge gain. Then he found Higgins for one of the best catches you will see. He caught it one-handed at his side with the defender draped all over him. They failed the 2-point conversion, making it still a four-point game.
The Bengals elected to kick off rather than try an onside kick. The defense got a sack to make it third and long, but Allen found a lane to run for the game-deciding first down and run out the clock.
It is a painful loss as it came because of two of the weirdest interceptions you will ever see Burrow throw in his career. Especially on a day he dominated otherwise. The untimely turnovers and the Bills taking advantage were simply too much to overcome.
The Bengals’ chances at sneaking into the playoffs were already on life support. This loss drops them to 4-9. The Pittsburgh Steelers or Baltimore Ravens will be 7-6 and just need to get to nine wins realistically to push the Bengals out of the running. There could be some tiebreaker magic to help them out, but that will be clearer when it actually happens. Both of those teams have struggled, but you need both of them to really crash out to make this happen.
The Bengals host the Ravens next week at Paycor.
