Greg Brady
NFL pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live

Like Matt Milano, you don't give up on a play even if you can just jiggle the ball loose a little bit. What you want is your receiver to go up in the air and come back down, but Chase had to dive for that out of the back of the end zone.

Field goal - Bengalspublished at 21:12 Greenwich Mean Time 22 January 2023

21:12 GMT 22 January 2023

Cincinnati Bengals 17-7 Buffalo Bills

Evan McPherson boots a 28-yarder after that TD was called back, and it's top marks to Buffalo's Matt Milano who kept on attacking the ball as Chase made the 'catch' and forced the bobble in the first place.

That play has saved his side four points.

Image source, Getty Images

What a pass! And what a catch! Joe Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase, who takes a leaping catch at the back of the end zone, gets two feet down and... oh no, hang on, upon review it looks like the ball comes loose as he hits the deck, and luckily for the Bills one of the plethora of TV angles catches it. No touchdown is the ruling!

Samaje Perine runs for a first down after Hayden Hurst caught an 18-year pass and did a pleasing forward flip in a tackle at the end of it.

The Bills had the best red zone defence in the league this season, but so far Burrow has sliced them twice, let's see who wins this round.

We've got a game on now people! Let's see what Joe Cool can conjure up, but it's Joe Mixon who makes a nice first-down run and that shows a big difference between the teams, with Mixon just offering a bit more menace and moxie in the run game than Buffalo can muster.

And that's even with Cincy's banged-up offensive line.

Huge play by Josh Allen with a 22-yard strike to Khalil Shaqir, perhaps the forgotten man in this Buffalo pass attack, right down near the end zone inside the five-yard line.

I'm not sure you can call this one a sneak as on fourth-and-one there was only ever going to be one person taking the ball and that's Josh Allen.

It's the right choice as he converts it easily enough - I'm also not sure it should be called a sneak when it's a big ox of a man like Allen charging over the line.

The first couple of first downs of the game for Buffalo finally come on two Josh Allen throws. It doesn't look like Buffalo have much going in the run game today, so Allen's going to have to use his legs quite a bit while they'll also need some screens and short, quick passes to try and fend off this pass rush.

Wow, what a first 15 minutes, which we can sum up simply as - all Cincinnati!

On offence their scripted plays to start the game worked perfectly, with Burrow 10/13 for 118 yards and two TDs, while they've added 44 yards rushing in a balanced approach.

Seriously impressive stuff from the Bengals.

Now Josh Allen gets sacked just as Buffalo needed a positive start to the drive - this looks like a pivotal series already even this early in the game.

Finally the Bills get their hands on Joe Burrow who is sacked by Matt Milano, and thankfully for the hosts that means the Bengals have to punt the ball away as their offensive juggernaut eventually hits a speed bump.

Image source, USA Today Sports

Tyler Boyd almost pulls in a Hollywood one-handed catch, just after Burrow throws another first down - it's now 10 completions to seven different receivers for 'Joe Cool' who is looking very cool indeed.

The Bills need a stop.

There's a bit of rabbit in the headlights about Buffalo here, whether it's the emotion of Damar Hamlin, whether it's because tickets have already been sold for a neutral AFC Championship game against the Chiefs - whatever it is they need to snap out of it.

Joe Burrow is toasting them on the field while Josh Allen is getting cold on the sideline - that needs to change.

Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo on commentary: Right now it looks like Cincinnati is absolutely dominating and Buffalo looked a bit lucky that the last play was ruled an incomplete pass.

Ouch!published at 20:30 Greenwich Mean Time 22 January 2023

20:30 GMT 22 January 2023

Cincinnati Bengals 14-0 Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen goes down - it's not quite a sack as he gets rid of the ball just before he's cleaned out, but it means Buffalo have to punt it away and this is now a huge problem for the hosts.

Allen was sacked seven times last week by the Dolphins and Buffalo's offensive line has started in a similarly sluggish fashion.

Greg Brady
NFL pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live

It is crazy how good Cincinnati looks, no one is cashing their tickets but you can tell there are some murmurs in the stadium.

Image source, Getty Images

Two great quarterbacks are on show today and another QB legend was on the pitch pre-game.

Wonder what Peyton Manning makes of this start by Joe Burrow?

The wonderfully named Boogie Basham goes chasing after Joe Burrow and gets him down, but there's some yellow on the field and the flag is on Buffalo, so the sack is chalked off.