Week 16 saw the Cincinnati Bengals face the Minnesota Vikings; in a game where the Bengals needed a win to ensure they get a playoff spot (with the help of a Miami loss) and to prove to everyone that last week’s loss against the Steelers was just a small bump in the road.
The beginning of the game saw the teams trade TDs with to BenJarvus Green-Ellis scoring for the Bengals and Jairius Wright scoring for the Vikings. From there though the cats would blow the game wide open, scoring 35 straight points. By the time the Vikings would finally get a second touchdown late in the third quarter it was already a blow out at its finest in Cincy, with the final score being 42-14 for the Bengals.
If people who question Andy Dalton’s abilities as quarterback for this team, hopefully this game helped them change their minds a little bit. Dalton went 27/38 with 366 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Lets hope it’s this Dalton that leads the Bengals into the playoffs.
On the Vikings side, Matt Cassel had a much more depressing kind of game, as he was 13/27 for 114 yards, one TD and three interceptions. The Bengals even held the always-dangerous Adrian Peterson to just 45 yards on 11 attempts.
Dalton really distributed the ball well today. AJ Green had seven receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns, Marvin Jones had six receptions for 85 yards, and Giovanni Bernard had 47 yards receiving and another 20 yards on the ground. On top of this a look at the stat sheet shows that the nearly all of the Bengals skill players touched the ball at some point in the game.
Dalton becomes only the sixth quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of the first three seasons of his career.
On the defensive side of the ball Vincent Rey returned an interception for 25 yards and a touchdown while Vontaze Burfict lead the team with 5 tackles and 2 sacks.
With the Miami Dolphins losing to the Buffalo Bills the Bengals have guaranteed their spot in the post-season. They are now 7-0 at home and are waiting to play the Baltimore Ravens next week, in the last game of the regular season.
Before todays game the Bengals have averaged over 33 points in the past six games at home, but beat that average again this week with the 42-14 victory.
The biggest concern for this team are injuries at the moment Burfict left the game today after hurting his head and he did not return. Add in injuries to other players like Carlos Dunlap, Terence Newman, James Harrison and others, and this could affect the Bengal’s defense. Luckily, Mike Zimmer is a heck of a defensive coach and he has managed to work with every player he is given, so there isn’t too much to be concerned with just yet.
For now the Bengals fans can relax and enjoy the fact that there will be at least one more game after next week.
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