Bills host Bengals in matchup of AFC teams with recent history of dominant December records

Cincinnati (4-8) at Buffalo (8-4)

Sunday 1 p.m. EST, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Bills by 5 1/2

Against the spread: Bengals 5-7; Bills 6-6

Series record: Tied 17-17

Last meeting: Bengals beats Bills 24-18 at Cincinnati on Nov. 5, 2023.

Last week: Bengals beat Ravens 32-14 at Baltimore. Bills beat Steelers 26-7 at Pittsburgh.

Bengals offense: overall (22), rush (30), pass (11), scoring (16).

Bengals defense: overall (32), rush (31), pass (32), scoring (32).

Bills offense: overall (2), rush (1), pass (10), scoring (5).

Bills defense: overall (8), rush (30), pass (1), scoring (13).

Turnover differential: Bengals minus-3; Bills minus-2;

Bengals player to watch

QB Joe Burrow. Cincinnati’s franchise quarterback looked solid in his first game back after missing nine weeks because of a turf toe injury, passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Baltimore. The Bengals have won their past eight games when Burrow has been the starting quarterback.

Bills player to watch

RB James Cook. This might be Josh Allen’s offense, but Cook has been the constant this season. The fourth-year player is the NFL’s second-leading rusher with a career-best 1,228 yards, coming off his seventh 100-yard outing of the season and faces a defense that’s allowed 100 yards in every outing except the opener.

Key matchup

Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase vs. Bills CB Christian Benford. Even with Burrow sidelined for all but three games, Chase is 29 yards shy of his fifth straight 1,000-yard receiving season, and 14 receptions short of his third straight 100-catch season. He’ll line up against Benford, a fourth-year player who has been Buffalo’s most consistent defender this season. Benford is coming off his best outing of the season, in limiting Pittsburgh’s D.K. Metcalf to three catches for 32 yards, had his first interception of the season and returned a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown.

Key injuries

Bengals: DE Trey Hendrickson (hip/pelvis) is expected to miss his fifth straight game. … WR Tee Higgins and RB Tahj Brooks could return after missing last week’s game because of the concussion protocol.

Bills: Edge rusher Joey Bosa (hamstring) has not officially been ruled out but is not expected to play after being listed week to week. … WR Joshua Palmer’s status is uncertain because of a knee and ankle issue. … Starting LB Terrel Bernard (elbow) is in jeopardy of missing his second straight game. … The status of starting offensive tackles Dion Dawkins (concussion) and Spencer Brown (right shoulder) bear monitoring after they each missed one game.

Series notes

The Bengals have won six of the past eight meetings, including a 27-10 win in the AFC divisional round of the 2022 playoffs. The playoff win came three weeks after a regular-season meeting at Cincinnati was canceled when Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the field. Buffalo has lost two straight since a 21-17 home win in 2019. The Bills dominated the series by winning 10 straight in a stretch spanning 1989-2010.

Stats and stuff

The Bengals are 14-3 in regular-season games played in December and January since the 2022 season. The 14 wins are tied with Buffalo for the most. … Burrow has 17 300-yard passing games, which is tied with Kurt Warner for third most in a player’s first six seasons. … RB Chase Brown has six straight games with at least 100 scrimmage yards, the longest active streak in the league. He has at least six catches in three of the past four games. … WR Ja’Marr Chase needs 29 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for the season. That would make him the fifth player in NFL history with 1,000 yards in each of his first five seasons, joining Randy Moss, Justin Jefferson, A.J. Green and Mike Evans. … Cincinnati’s defense forced a season-high five turnovers last week. … The Bengals lead the league with 138 missed tackles, but only 12 have come in the past two games. … DE Joseph Ossai had a career-high two sacks last week. … LB Demetrius Knight Jr. is one of two NFL rookies with at least five tackles in 10 or more games. … S Jordan Battle has at least six tackles in six straight road games. … K Evan McPherson has made his past nine field goals, including a franchise-record 63-yarder against New England two weeks ago. … The Bills lead the NFL with a combined 23-4 record in regular-season games played in December and January since 2020, with two of their losses coming last season. … Allen’s 8-yard TD run last week was the 76th of his career in a regular-season game, breaking the NFL record among quarterbacks previously held by Cam Newton. … Allen has committed seven giveaways (six interceptions and a lost fumble) over his past four starts, and 10 overall this season. Four of his interceptions have occurred inside an opponent’s 20. He’s 47-31 when committing a turnover, including 3-4 this season. … Buffalo is 6-1 when Cook tops 100 yards rushing this season. … Buffalo’s 16 first downs rushing against Pittsburgh was the team’s most since having 20 in a 31-10 win over Dallas on Dec. 17, 2023. … Buffalo is 5-2 this season when scoring a TD on its game-opening drive. … The Bills have scored touchdown returns in consecutive outings. Aside from Benford’s fumble return, Ray Davis returned a kickoff 97 yards for a TD against Houston. … Buffalo limited Pittsburgh to 10 first downs, the fewest against the Bills since they allowed four in a 27-10 win over the Jets in the 2021 season finale.

Fantasy tip

Allen is a must start, even with his recent rash of turnovers and Buffalo’s middling group of receivers. Allen’s dual threat presence provides a healthy floor in a season he’s had 10 outings with multiple touchdowns, and six with three or more.

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