ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. _ Perennial MVP candidate Joe Burrow and reigning MVP Josh Allen dueled as advertised amid snow showers Sunday at Highmark Stadium. Burrow tossed four touchdowns, but a pair of four-quarter interceptions, one returned for a touchdown by Buffalo's Christian Benford to put the Bills up 31-28, sealed the game for the home team.

Cincinnati staged a late comeback drive as Burrow found Tee Higgins for his second touchdown of the day to pull the Bengals back within a score. The Bills were able to salt away the clock to clinch the 39-34 victory.

The Bengals extended their lead to 10 in the fourth quarter when Burrow beat a blitz and old friend Larry Ogunjobi as he stepped up into the pocket and feathered a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Gesicki with 8:44 left to give the Bengals a 28-18 lead.

The Bengals converted nine of their first 11 third downs and Burrow hit two of them on that drive, one each to wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

That made Burrow 20 of 28 for 187 yards, giving him a 125.1 passer rating. But Allen came right back when he ran through a blitz for a 40-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to 28-25 with 7:33.

Burrow finished the day completing 25-of-36 passes for 284 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Allen finished Sunday with 81 rushing yards on seven carries and 251 passing yards, completing 22-of-28 passes

Burrow defied the elements from the get-go when he led the Bengals to touchdowns the first three times they had the ball, punctuated by a seven-for-seven effort on third down. Burrow finished the first half with a 129.4 passer rating on 13 of 18 passing for 130 yards despite All-Pro wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase getting one catch for eight yards.

With the Bengals leading, 21-11, late in the first half, their defense made the first stop of the game with 71 seconds left in the half. Defensive end Cedric Johnson, coming off the first two fumble recoveries of his career in Baltimore, drilled Allen as he failed to complete a fourth-and-three pass from the Bengals 43.

NOTES

Ja'Marr Reaches 1K Yards

Ja'Marr Chase caught five passes for 44 yards, moving his receiving yardage total this season to 1,035. He became the fifth player in NFL history to reach the 1,000-yard receiving mark in each of his first five seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss, former Bengal A.J. Green, Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans and Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson.

Chase's career receptions total improved to 485. He surpassed Jarvis Landry (481) for the fifth-most catches in a player's first five seasons in NFL history.

Turner Forces Fumble at Goal Line, Burks Recovers in End Zone

Buffalo was in position to take its first lead of the afternoon late in the fourth quarter, before DJ Turner II stripped the ball from running back James Cook at the Cincinnati one-yard line and Oren Burks recovered it in the end zone. It marked the Bengals' sixth takeaway in the past two games.

The play marked Turner's first career forced fumble. Burks registered his third career fumble recovery and his first as a member of the Bengals.

Turnover Sets Up Gesicki's First TD of Season

Cincinnati's offense capitalized on the fumble recovery with a 12-play, 80-yard drive ending with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to tight end Mike Gesicki. The score extended the Bengals' lead to 28-18 midway through the fourth quarter.

Gesicki, who had his first receiving touchdown of the season on the play, finished the game with a season-high 86 yards on six catches.

Brown's Run Continues Opening Drive Scoring Streak

Cincinnati won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball first, then put together a 14-play, 67-yard touchdown drive to take an early 7-0 lead. The drive featured seven runs and seven passes, ending in Chase Brown's five-yard plunge into the end zone.

The Bengals have scored points on their opening offensive possession in each of the last six games. It is the longest streak by any team in the NFL this season, and the longest by Cincinnati since a seven-game streak from Weeks 4-11 of the 2023 campaign.

The scoring play marked Brown's 10th career rushing touchdown and his third this season.

Tee Extends Lead

The Bengals' offense made it two touchdowns on two drives when Burrow lofted a pass to the right corner of the end zone that Tee Higgins came down with early in the second quarter.

It marked Higgins' eighth receiving touchdown of the season. Higgins scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter as well to pull Cincinnati within a score, bringing his total on the season to nine, the third most in the NFL.

He now has 18 career touchdown catches in the month of December, the second-most among all players since he entered the league in 2020. Only Rams receiver Davante Adams (21 touchdowns) has more in that span.

Extra Points

• Chase Brown finished with 35 yards from scrimmage (23 rushing, 12 receiving), moving his total this season to 1,026. It is his second consecutive season with over 1,000 scrimmage yards, following his 1,350 yards in 2024.

• B.J. Hill recorded his third sack of the season on the opening play from scrimmage in the second half, bringing down Allen for a loss of eight yards.

• T.J. Slaton Jr. notched his first sack as a member of the Bengals later in the third quarter, when he dropped Allen for a three-yard loss near midfield.

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