The Buffalo Bills will not go winless this season. In fact, with a favorable matchup this weekend, two wins before December is a possibility.
The Bills will be looking for their first winning streak of the season when they visit the lowly Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Buffalo (1-8) gave plenty of teams a scare in its first eight games, coming within a touchdown of its first win five different times, but could not manage to get over the hump until last Sunday, when the Bills scratched out a 14-12 victory over the Detroit Lions.
The game wasn’t decided until the final seconds, when Buffalo safety George Wilson recovered an onside kick and immediately ran off the field to begin hugging teammates and coaches. Detroit had scored to pull within two points with 12 seconds left but could not complete a two-point conversion.
Fred Jackson was the star of the game for the Bills, rushing for a season-high 133 yards and two touchdowns - one receiving - in rainy conditions at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed only 12 passes for 146 yards but did not turn the ball over.
Jackson could play an even bigger role this week with rookie C.J. Spiller nursing a hamstring injury. Spiller, who has been sharing the running load with Jackson recently, suffered the injury on a punt return against Detroit and will likely sit out against the Bengals.
Buffalo had lost close shootouts -38-30 to the New England Patriots and 37-34 to the Baltimore Ravens - as well as defensive slugfests - 13-10 at Kansas City and 15-10 against the Miami Dolphins - but could not seem to come up with the big play or the big stop when it prior to last week.
Cincinnati (2-7) had high expectations this season but was likely knocked out of any potential playoff spot with their sixth consecutive loss, a 23-17 setback to the Indianapolis Colts last weekend. With the top-heavy AFC, even winning out and finishing 9-7 would probably leave the Bengals on the outside.
What Cincinnati is looking to do now is avoid falling behind the Bills in the race for the worst record in the conference.
With veteran Pro Bowlers like Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco leading the receiving corps and talented rookies Jordan Shipley and Jermaine Gresham catching passes as well, quarterback Carson Palmer figured to have an easy job sitting back and picking out a target in the passing game. But Palmer’s play has been erratic at best this season, and while Owens is making plenty of catches, the rest of the offense has looked terrible at times.
Palmer has thrown 11 interceptions, with three of them returned for touchdowns.
The game will mark a reunion of sorts for Owens, who spent last season with the Bills and quietly averaged over 92 receiving yards per game - the fourth-best mark in the AFC.