Bills at Bengals: Highlights, score and recap

The Buffalo Bills beat the Cincinnati Bengals 16-12 on the road in Week 11. Here are the highlights and key players from the game.

Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy got the scoring underway when he went in almost untouched from seven yards out in the opening quarter.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton saw his best receiver, A.J. Green, carted out of the game in the first quarter. Yet Dalton still answered McCoy’s score with a rushing touchdown that’s not as rare as you might think, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

But placekicker Mike Nuget missed the extra point, so Cincy trailed by one. A Dan Carpenter field goal extended the Bills’ lead to four.

Dalton wiped out the lead when he connected with impressive rookie Tyler Boyd from a yard. Sadly, Nugent crashed this PAT off the right upright.

A 54-yard boomer from Carpenter put Buffalo back in front 13-12, making the cost of those missed extra points painfully clear. Carpenter split the uprights again from 20 yards out in the fourth quarter.

Three Stars

1. Tyler Boyd

Cincy’s passing game looked doomed once Green’s hamstring gave out. But the Bengals used a 2016 second-round draft pick on Boyd for a reason.

Specifically, they wanted a possession-style catch-machine who runs excellent routes. The latter quality helped Boyd get his hands on six of Dalton’s passes for 54 yards and a score.

He’ll never boast the big-play flair Green owns. But Boyd is a super-smart wideout who possesses a true knack for thriving underneath.

2. Michael Johnson

It hasn’t been a great season for Michael Johnson. He entered this game with just 1.5 sacks to his credit. But Johnson delivered in style against Buffalo’s dual-threat quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

Johnson played the read-option packaged plays the Bills love superbly well. He didn’t gamble early, kept his discipline out on the edge and played down the line once he’d read the play.

Johnson also got his hands up to swat down a Taylor pass. He was even in on a sack with fellow D-end Carlos Dunlap.

This is the kind of impact the Bengals expect and need from their bookend edge players.

3. Mike Gillislee

When you’re a change of pace for McCoy, you know you’re fast. Mike Gillislee is exactly that as he proved when he entered the game to rip off a few big runs against a weary Bengals D’.

He carried the ball 14 times for 72 yards, with many of his runs helping to kill the clock in the fourth quarter.

Gillislee boasts tremendous acceleration from the handoff. He’ll never offer the same nuance or shiftiness as McCoy brings to the running game.

But his sprint-style traits are perfect for an offensive line highly adept at knocking open clear holes for a direct runner to exploit.

McCoy freelances his way to big plays. Gilleslee follows his blocks in a blur to keep the chains moving.

Next: NFL Week 11: Picks and predictions

Next Week

The Bills will host the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12. Meanwhile, the Bengals will be on the road for a fierce divisional battle with AFC North rival the Baltimore Ravens.