Bengals defeat Buffalo Bills offensively after they give up on their beaten defense.

Buffalo Bills offense abandons battered defense, loses again to Bengals (Instant Observations)

CINCINNATI — The Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals seemed destined for a shootout in their rematch of their AFC divisional round playoff game on Sunday night inside Paycor Stadium.

But the Bills’ offense disappeared after the opening drive and abandoned their beaten-up defense in a 24-18 loss to the rival Bengals.

The Bills fell to 5-4 on the season. They failed to take advantage of the opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the AFC East after the Miami Dolphins lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Germany

Here are some instant takeaways.

Offense shrivels in 1st half after electric first drive

After the Bengals put the Bills on their heels with an opening-possession touchdown to take the early lead, Josh Allen led an explosive scoring drive of his own. The Bills went 85 yards in just seven plays and Allen finished it off with a touchdown run. He even pointed at Bengals safety Nick Scott, who bit on a pump fake, and showed some swagger as he crossed the goal line. It felt like it was about to be a fireworks show.

The Bengals responded with another touchdown drive on the next possession and then Buffalo’s offense just collapsed. On four more drives the rest of the half, the Bills ran just 14 plays and gained just 37 yards. They went punt, interception, punt, end of half. Dalton Kincaid had three targets on the first possession and then didn’t have his next until the final drive of the half. Allen had an interception on the third drive on a horrible decision/throw, and then Buffalo went ultra-conservative the rest of the half.

The play calling felt safe. Run plays on second down out of the shotgun and no up-tempo for Allen despite the success they had with it a week ago. When the offense finally found some life in the second half, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey allowed Allen to run some no-huddle mixed in.

It felt like there was an offensive downshift after the electric first drive. Whether it was a Dorsey deal or the result of some Sean McDermott intervention, how do you come out slinging it on the scripted drive and then just make a complete about-face on the next four drives?