Finally, ladies and gentlemen, fans of the Cincinnati Bengals can rejoice and relax with this upcoming bye week. The Bengals have ended their losing skid by beating down their divisional and state rivals the Cleveland Browns. With a final score of 41-20 in favor of the Bengals, this is the third time this year where the Bengals won by scoring 30 or more points.
This was a game where the defence played a big role in both the defensive and offensive aspects of the game. It didn’t start off the way the Bengals and their fans wanted it to, however. The Bengals gave up 13 points in the first quarter and scored none,which wasn’t helped by the fact Andy Dalton had two Interceptions in the first quarter.
With the home faithful complaining about the bad start, they were getting ready for the worst. The Bengals though had other plans for their fans. In the second quarter they would score 31 unanswered points. It was an amazing sight. Right at the beginning of the second quarter Tight End Jermaine Gresham scored a touchdown on an Andy Dalton pass. In the next drive Mohamed Sanu would catch a 6 yard pass for the second Bengals touchdown of the game, taking the lead away from the Browns.
Then the defense decided to get involved, scoring first with a Tony Dye 24-yard touchdown from – get this – a blocked punt return. This was the first punt block touchdown return since number 18th 2007, a game where Dede Dorsey would return a 19-yard blocked punt for a touchdown to take the lead against the Arizona Cardinals only to lose the game minutes later. Luckily for the Bengals, history would not repeat itself.
Back to the game. The Browns would get the ball back after Dye touchdown, only to fumble it and have Vontaze Burfict return it 13 yards for another touchdown. Add in a 41 yard Field Goal by Mike Nugent and then you get your 31 points in the second quarter.
In the second half the Browns would only score one touchdown, and the Bengals would get 10 more points to win it all 41-20. This was a great game full of highlight reels; once again credit goes to defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. When Geno Atkins went down with a season ending injury people were concerned about how the defence would play with one of their best gone. The answer? They played amazingly and once again I have to say, the Bengals need to keep Zimmer. They will lose him though if they don’t give him a raise or a promotion, and personally I’m ok with replacing Marvin Lewis with Zimmer, because this is a heck of a defence.
That’s the defensive side, as for the offensive side, the Bengals proved that they are dominant when they play as a unit and give the ball to everyone. Dalton wasn’t that great this game, which is funny seeing as he threw three touchdown passes. The problem was he got intercepted twice, went 13 for 27 and only had 93 yards passing. Jason Campbell on the Browns side wasn’t any better. He went 27 for 56 for 248 yards with only one touchdown pass and three interceptions.
AJ Green wasn’t even effective in that game he only caught two passes for seven yards and no touchdowns. The players who did get the job done on offense were Giovanni Bernard, Mohammed Sanu, Jermaine Gresham and third string tight end Alex Smith, who scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Aside from the fact no one had huge numbers in this game everyone got the ball and they were pretty effective through out the game. Now that the Bengals are on their bye week they can prepare to play against the San Diego Chargers in week 13 and Dalton can work on his interceptions. .
Back to the defense once again where Vontaze Burfict had 10 tackles, Vincent Rey had seven and the former Steeler James Harrison had only three tackles. Harrison did have an intercept that was brought back for a touchdown, only to be taken away for a penalty, but he had a great game. Now the Bengals can heal, relax a bit and prepare for their remaining five games on the schedule. They have two games on the road against the Steelers and Charges while they have three games at home against the Vikings, Colts and Ravens. Relish in the victory Bengals fans we get to relax. The best part is when week 13 comes around the Bengals will still be in first place in the AFC North.
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