Bengals Somehow Have Losing Record in Games in Which They Score TDs on First 3 Drives, as They Did in Buffalo

CINCINNATI – Dan K. asked, and I filtered.

After the Cincinnati Bengals scored touchdowns on their first drives Sunday and still lost to the Buffalo Bills 39-34, Dan K. posed the question.

“How many teams have lost after scoring TDs on their first three drives?”

Can we get a Jay’s got stats for how many teams have lost after scoring TDs on their first three drives?
— DanK (@DanKBengals) December 9, 2025

The drive data only goes back to 2000, but it turns out, it’s kind of the Bengals thing.

The Bengals have lost four games despite scoring touchdowns on each of their first three possessions.

No team has lost more.

The Bengals have scored TDs on their first three drives seven times since 2000 and have gone 3-4 in those games.

Only two other teams have losing records in games in which the start touchdown-touchdown-touchdown offensively.

In 2025, nine other teams have done it, and they are a combined 8-1.

The only other team to lose were the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, who jumped out to a 21-0 lead against the Cowboys in Week 12 and never scored again, falling 24-21.

Since 2000, teams who score touchdowns on the first three drives of the game are 164-28 for an .854 winning percentage.

Take the Bengals’ dismal 3-4 record out, and the league’s other 31 teams are 161-24 (.870).

There are 13 teams who have never lost a game in which they began with three consecutive touchdowns.

Packers 13-0

Patriots 12-0

Steelers 9-0

Rams 8-0

Cardinals 7-0

Falcons 7-0

Ravens 7-0

Vikings 7-0

Seahawks 6-0

Dolphins 4-0

Raiders 4-0

Commanders 3-0

As far as the teams with the worst winning percentages in those games:

Jets 0-2 (.000)

Browns 1-3 (.250)

Bengals 3-4 (.428)

Buccaneers 1-1 (.500)

Broncos 3-2 (.600)

If we filter it to head coaches, there are 38 who have opened multiple games with three consecutive touchdowns, led by Bill Belichick with 12.

Only three coach have more than one loss – Zac Taylor (two), Marvin Lewis (two) and Sean Payton (four).

Taylor is 1-2

Lewis is 2-2

Payton is 7-4

When looking at teams who have given up three consecutive touchdowns to start a game, the Detroit Lions lead the way with 15 and have gone 1-14.

The Bears are second with 11 (1-10).

The Bengals are middle of the pack with six, going 0-6 in those games.

The most recent was Week 3 last year against the Commanders.

Here is a look at all seven games since 2000 in which the Bengals scored touchdowns on their first three possessions.

Week 14, 2025: Bills 39, Bengals 34

No need to recap this one 48 hours after the fact.

Week 7, 2022: Bengals 35, Falcons 17

The Bengals actually scored on their first four drives to take a 28-7 lead at home.

Joe Burrow threw a 60-yard touchdown to Tyler Boyd just two minutes into the game and then hit Ja’Marr Chase for scoring strikes of 31 and 41 yards, while Joe Mixon added a 1-yard run.

Week 6, 2020: Colts 31, Bengals 27

The Bengals raced out to a 21-0 lead at Indianapolis on touchdown runs by Burrow, Mixon and Giovani Bernard, only to be outscored 31-6 the rest of the way.

Week 4, 2018: Bengals 38, Falcons 37

Another one where they scored TDs on their first four drives on a pair of Bernard runs and Andy Dalton scoring passes to Tyler Eifert and John Ross, the Bengals only had a 28-21 lead at that point.

They needed an A.J. Green touchdown reception with seven seconds left in the game to pull out the win.

Week 11, 2010: Bills 49, Bengals 31

The Bengals used a couple of short fields after intercepting Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick twice to build a 21-7 lead on Carson Palmer touchdown passes to Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens and a Cedric Benson run.

The visiting Bills took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter on the second of three Stevie Johnson TD catches in the second half.

Week 7, 2009: Bengals 45, Bears 10

The Cedric Benson game. The Bengals running back torched his former team for 189 yards, although it was four Palmer TD passes (Chris Henry, Laveranues Coles, J.P. Foschi and Johnson) on their team’s first four drives that built the insurmountable lead at home.

Week 10, 2006: Chargers 49, Bengals 41

The Bengals used the Johnson, Johnson and Johnson firm to build a 21-0 lead, as Jeremi Johnson had a 3-yard run, Rudi Johnson a 7-yard run and Chad Johnson a 51-yard catch from Palmer in San Diego.

The Chargers didn’t get their first points until 5:27 remained in the first half, but they outscored the Bengals 42-13 after halftime.

The 42 points allowed after halftime are a franchise record and are tied for the third most in NFL history (the 1972 Oilers gave up 45 second-half points to the Bengals, and the 2012 surrendered 45 second-half points to the Patriots).