On a micro level, what I saw today was this: the Bengals lost a bunch of their secondary to injuries during the second quarter and the Bills tried to capitalize by running 4- and 5-WR sets. They actually moved the ball fairly well during this point of the game, but then abandoned it once some of the injured Bengals came back in during the second half.
On a macro level, two things: (i) part of the "process" this year - like it or not - is figuring out whether Tyrod can become a complete QB, which he has never been asked to do. They are giving him the chance to stay in the pocket and sustain drives. Last week he mostly succeeded; this week he flopped. It's not going to be linear. I wasn't a fan of throwing away ANOTHER season just so that McBean can evaluate its roster, but Terry let them do it, I guess, so that's where we are - this is the process. We'll know in a month or two what we've got. But also, (ii) when you live by playing defense and field goals, you also die by playing defense and field goals. This was a close, physical game decided by a few big plays: Tre loses leverage and focus on the deep pass, Mabin needlessly tugs a jersey and then loses contain, Dawkins gets flagged for phantom holding. If your strategy is to play it close, settle for field goals and try to eke out a win (Jauron Ball), you're going to lose a few close games like this, just as you'll win a few close games. It is what it is, as Aristotle said.