Bills return to Sunday Night Football to take on the surging Bengals: What to know
If the first eight games of the Buffalo Bills’ schedule was allegedly the easy stretch, it certainly didn’t turn out that way.
Sean McDermott’s team earned only five victories in eight games, they suffered two awful road losses to the Aaron Rodgers-less Jets, and the offensively inept Patriots, and very nearly lost to the terrible Giants and average-at-best Buccaneers at Highmark Stadium.
Now, things take a stark turn for the Bills as the undeniable tougher half of the schedule begins Sunday night when they travel to Cincinnati to play the same Bengals who drummed them out of the 2022 playoffs with a 27-10 romp in Orchard Park.
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The Bills currently sit in second place in the AFC East, one game ahead of Miami but only a half-game ahead of the Jets who pulled off a simply miraculous victory over the Giants Sunday afternoon. In terms of the wild-card race, the Bills hold the top spot, No. 5 overall in the AFC, thanks to both the Steelers and Browns losing their games Sunday.
The Bengals are actually on the outside looking in thanks to a slow start when they lost three of their first four games with quarterback Joe Burrow trying to overcome a calf injury that he suffered in training camp. But now, Cincinnati is rolling with three straight victories over the Cardinals, Seahawks and 49ers.
Here’s an early look ahead to the matchup:
Top players for Cincinnati Bengals on offense, defense
▶QB Joe Burrow: He looks completely healed and is back to being elite. He carved up an outstanding 49ers defense by completing 28 of 32 passes for 283 yards and three TDs in a 31-17 victory in San Francisco.
▶RB Joe Mixon: He gashed the 49ers for 87 yards and a 5.4 average per carry with one touchdown and he’s eighth in the NFL in rushing with 453 yards.
▶WR Ja’Marr Chase: As Burrow has returned to form, Chase is flourishing. He had 10 catches for 100 yards, and two weeks ago against the Cardinals he had 15 catches for 192 yards and three TDs. For the season, Chase is tied for fourth in the NFL in receptions (60) and sixth in yards (656).
▶WR Tee Higgins: The No. 2 receiver has had a slow start as he has just 19 catches for 218 yards and two TDs, but he did have five for 69 against the 49ers.
▶WR Tyler Boyd: He completes one of the NFL’s best trios and he has outplayed Higgins to date with 33 catches for 244 yards and two TDs. Boyd has settled in as an excellent possession receiver and the Bills’ secondary will have its hands full covering these three receivers as a unit.
▶DE Trey Hendrickson: One of the NFL’s best pass rushers, he has two forced fumbles, two batted passes, and eight sacks including one against the 49ers.
▶DT D.J. Reader: Yet again, the Bills are up against an elite monster of an interior lineman. This has been the case in almost every game they’ve played and Reader is a 335-pounder who hammers the run and can also rush the passer.
▶LB Germaine Pratt: A sideline-to-sideline player who has 49 tackles, a forced fumble and two interceptions, one coming against the 49ers.
▶LB Logan Wilson: The Bengals’ leading tackler with 57 who also had three interceptions and a half sack
▶CB Cam Taylor-Britt: Pro Football Focus has him allowing completions on just 53.1% of the targets in his area. He has two interceptions, a forced fumble and 34 tackles. It’s possible that he might travel with Stefon Diggs.
▶S Daxton Hill: A 2022 first-round pick, he’s a physical player who is second on the team with 51 tackles and he also has two interceptions.
Who is favored to win Bills vs Bengals?
The Bills have opened as a 2-point underdog for the game. The money line is Bills plus-110 (bet $100 to win $110) and Bengals minus-130 (bet $100 to win $130). The over-under is 48.
What time does the Bills vs Bengals game start?
Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. at Paycor Stadium.
How to watch Bills vs Bengals game on TV, streaming
∎Cable/Network TV: NBC. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WHEC (Channel 10, Rochester), WGRZ (Buffalo area), WSTM (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WETM (Elmira area), WNYT (Albany area), and WBGH (Binghamton area).
∎Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV - you must watch on your phone or tablet.
∎TV streaming: You can also stream if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Peacock.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Bengals game
You can listen on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Who do Bills play next? Big game vs surging Bengals on Sunday night
