MDS's take: Maybe it's a mirage because they were playing the Browns, but I think the Bengals turned a corner on Sunday. They're going to play better football going forward and beat a good Bills team.
MDS's pick: Bengals 24, Bills 17.
Florio's take: The Bill are surging. The Bengals are treading water. Buffalo takes another step toward its first playoff berth since 1999.
Florio's pick: Bills 24, Bengals 20.
The Cincinnati Bengals are still a good football team. They're certainly the best of the 1-3, 0-4 teams. They'll be at home, they've figured out how to get A.J. Green going, and they have weapons at the running back position.
However, this is a Buffalo Bills team that is playing smart football. I'm not sure if Cincinnati is creative enough to take advantage of the Bills because Buffalo plays a style that forces a team to execute flawlessly all the way down the field to win.
The Bills could also have some difficulty on offense. They don't have a ton of downfield weapons, and running against Cincinnati's talented defensive front could be a problem.
Ultimately, this is going to be a physical, close football game. That favors the Bills because that's exactly the type of game Buffalo has been winning this season. The Bills are accustomed to pulling out close games, which only adds to the toughness Sean McDermott has brought to Buffalo.
Prediction: Bills 19, Bengals 16
Top upset pick of Week 5
Kevin Seifert, national NFL writer: Bills over Bengals. Cincinnati is going to have a tough time getting much going against Buffalo's defense, which is allowing the fewest points per game (13.5) in the NFL.
Are the Bills for real? They pulled off a big upset at Atlanta last week, but are playing consecutive road games. The Bengals seemed to find themselves last week at Cleveland. This won't be that easy, but Andy Dalton pulls it out late. Cincinnati 24, Buffalo 20
To the delight of Buffalo's loyal fan base, the Bills (3-1) have rolled to a fast start. They were considered basement dwellers entering the season, but their record cannot be explained away as facing bad opponents, as two of their wins came against Denver and Atlanta. Their defense might actually be as good as it has looked thus far, but there is reason to believe Buffalo has played over its head, while the Bengals (1-3) have underperformed. Pick: Bengals
Buffalo Bills (3-1) over CINCINNATI BENGALS (1-3)
Not that the Bills haven't earned much respect yet, but they're still underdogs to the Bengals, a team it feels like everyone has been laughing at for weeks. Hmm.
