Late in the first half, Bryan Scott intercepted an Andy Dalton pass and ran the ball back 43 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Bills a 10-3 lead and was the only Bills touchdown so far on the day. On the very next drive, Dalton was looking across the middle and threw another interception to George Wilson. After that, everything just seemed to fall apart.
The Bengals won the toss and deferred, giving the Bills the ball first. In the first three drives of the game, the Bengals defense made the Bills' third-ranked offense struggle. Ryan Fitzpatrick was constantly under pressure by the Bengals front four and was rushed into making quick passes for incompletions.
Unfortunately, the Bills defense did the same for to the Bengals offense.
The Bengals were the first to strike, though. On a drive in which the Bengals used backup running back Bernard Scott heavily, the Bengals drove down the field, relying mostly on the run. They were stopped on a third down play at the Bills' 13-yard line setting up Mike Nugent for a field goal. The score was 3-0.
The Bills answered right back. On the very next drive, which extended from the end of the first quarter into the second quarter, Fred Jackson and Brad Smith helped the Bills drive the ball down the field. The Bengals defense stopped the Bills at their own 24-yard line where Ryan Lindell.
After that, things took a bad turn for the Bengals.
After two more drives that ended in punts for the Bengals, Andy Dalton threw his third interception, and first pick-six, of his career. After Lindell's extra point, the Bills had a 10-3 lead. The Bengals got the ball right back and on a second-and-15 play, Dalton was looking for Andre Caldwell over the middle and threw another interception.
The Bills offense then came to life. On a second-and-10 play from the Bengals' 46-yard line, Fitzpatrick found Steve Johnson for a 44-yard gain, setting up Fred Jackson for a short touchdown run, giving the Bills a 17-3 lead.
The Bengals will get the ball first in the second half and will hopefully come out with some sort of gameplan on how they will attempt to dig themselves out of the hole their in.