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 fourth-quarter interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by Buffalo's Christian Benford to give the Bills their first lead, ultimately won the game for the home team.

Cincinnati staged a late scoring drive as Burrow found Tee Higgins for his second touchdown of the day, which pulled 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.

Cincinnati converted nine of its first 11 third downs of the game, and Burrow hit two of them on that drive. In his second game back from a toe injury, he finished 25 of 36 for 284 yards with the four touchdowns and two picks, good for a 106.7 passer rating.

Allen matched the effort by completing 22 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 78 yards which was spearheaded by a 40-yard sprint to the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

Burrow defied the elements from the get-go when he led the Bengals to touchdowns the first three times they had the ball. He 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.

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 also improved his career receptions total to 486, surpassing 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 was 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.

Two for Tee

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. He added his ninth late in the fourth quarter on a one-handed catch to bring Cincinnati back to within a score. His nine touchdown catches on the year rank third in the NFL.

Higgins 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.

QUOTES

"I'm sick for the guys. I thought they made some plays. (The Bills) made more than us down the stretch, and that was the difference in the game. You had two really good teams. It was a hard-fought football game. We came up short, and it's disappointing." - Head coach Zac Taylor, on his thoughts on the game

"Just keep picking each other up. It was a hard-fought game. We had our moments. They had a couple more. I still believe in these guys. I know we're up against the wall here with whatever our opportunities are, but we've got a big home game this week in the division, so we've got to be able to pick ourselves up and find a way to go respond." - Head coach Zac Taylor, on his message to the team following the game

"Great plays by them. Corner blitz and (I was) trying to throw a hot (route) reaction, and the guy jumps up and catches it. Great play. The next one, tipped ball, lands right in that guy's hands. Good plays by them." - Quarterback Joe Burrow, on the Bills' two interceptions in the fourth quarter

"We've got four games to go and show high-level execution, high-level play, playmaking. I'm going to relish the opportunity to go out and play with these guys and continue to try to put on a show for everybody watching. I hope that comes across, and I know I'm going to continue to work hard to put myself in a good position to make plays." - Quarterback Joe Burrow, on his outlook for the remainder of the regular season