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The Buffalo Bills followed the same pattern on Sunday against Cincinnati that they’ve done in every game so far in 2013 – they played a close, exciting game that went down to the wire. This time, they were on the losing end, dropping a 27-24 decision in overtime to the Bengals. Going into the game, conventional wisdom said that the team’s defense needed to carry the day, or basically keep playing the way they have this season, in order to help out new quarterback Thad Lewis, who was promoted from the practice squad to start in place of injured starter EJ Manuel. Lewis did his part, throwing for a pair of highlight reel touchdowns in the second half to lead the Bills from a 24-10 deficit to a 24-24 tie to send the game into OT. The running game wasn’t spectacular but all three backs, C.J. Spiller (gutting it out on a bad ankle), Fred Jackson and Tashard Choice, took turns churning out good yardage to keep drives alive. Lewis wound up throwing for the 2 TDs and running for another – enough to get the win if the defense had been able to turn in even an average performance. Instead, Mike Pettine’s unit got schooled by the Bengals, who used quick passes and bubble screens to gash a poor-tackling Bills’ defense that didn’t look ready to play. Jairus Byrd and Stephon Gilmore returned to the lineup, but in retrospect both seemed like they could have used another week off. Gilmore especially played tentatively in coverage and seemed to want no part of any contact when it came to tackling runners. To their credit, the Bengals took full advantage of it. In the ultimate sign of disrespect for the Bills’ defense, the Bengals eschewed a punt to pin the Bills deep in their own territory, the conventional move, and instead went for it on a 4th and 15. Apparently they knew what they were doing, since they converted for a first down. The other turning point in the game that turned the defense into goats was giving up a 98 yard touchdown drive after coach Doug Marrone decided to go for a fourth and goal from the one yard line. The offense failed, but instead of stepping up and bailing out their coach for the decision by stopping the Bengals and keeping the field position advantage, they gave up the long touchdown drive. Those types of situations are what define whether a team is a winner or a loser, and right now the Bills are still a losing team. The fourth down conversion did seem to be enough of a slap in the defense’s collective faces that they woke up and played well the rest of the game as Lewis and the offense mounted the comeback. Then in overtime, the punt coverage team, for the second straight week, gave up a long return, this time setting up the Bengals for the winning field goal. One positive in the game was the return of punter Brian Moorman, who had a great game. His first punt was a classic coffin corner boot that went out of bounds at the one yard line.

Buffalo, with a banged up roster, now goes on the road to face the daunting task of playing Miami, with the Dolphins coming off a bye and having two weeks to prepare. After that, they go from the frying pan into the fire as they visit New Orleans, who will also be coming off their bye and be rested and prepared. That means the team will most likely be 2-6 at that point and will be hard-pressed to equal the back-to-back 6-10 finishes that Chan Gailey’s teams posted.