The Cincinnati Bengals this year have captured the hearts of many, and excited their fans across the land most of the time. They have also been heart breakers, losing games that they could have won, but couldn’t win in the end. The best part about this team this year is that game in and game out, they have always had a chance to win.
The same with game week 10 against their division rivals, Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals were down 17-0 after the first half and still managed to claw their way back to tie the game with zero seconds remaining in the game. QB Andy Dalton threw a 51 yard pass that bounced off a bunch of players and into the arms of wide receiver AJ Green for a touchdown, tying the game 17-17. Unfortunately the amazing comeback just wasn’t meant to be. Justin Tucker the Ravens kicker managed to kick a 46-yard field goal winning the game for the Ravens. The Bengals are now 6-4 and the Ravens are 4-5, so once again the Bengals still lead in the AFC North, but once again, for the second straight week in a row the Bengals lose a tough one in overtime on the road.
The Bengals are 4-0 at home, but are now 2-4 on the road they better win all the home games if they want a secured playoff spot and maybe one playoff game played at home. Luckily for Cincy they have more home games left on the schedule. They do however really need to figure out how to win on the road.
With Geno Atkins out for the rest of the season and Rey Maualuga still injured the Bengals D still managed a great game. Think about it, they only allowed 17 points for all of the regulation time in the game and all of those 17 points were scored in the first half.
The problem with this game is that QB Andy Dalton was not at his best. He threw 24/51 for 274 yards and two TD passes. Which sounds good, but he was also intercepted three times during the game. Don’t get me wrong Joe Flacco wasn’t much better; he threw for only 140 yards going 20/36 with two TDs and two INTs. Wasn’t a pretty game for either QB that’s for sure. Dalton needs some serious work though. He had three INTs for the second straight week and only two TD passes. Hopefully some home cooking will help the Bengals QB. A unique stat to look at is when he throws two or more interceptions he is 0-3, while he is 6-1 with only one interception or less.
The bright spots for the Bengals were players like wideout AJ Green who had eight receptions with 151 yards and a touchdown. The best defensive player was Vincent Rey who basically gave us a clinic out their on how to defend he had eight tackles, three sacks, three deflections and an interception. The Bengals will face the Browns in Cincinnati for the Battle of Ohio, the Bengals lost in Cleveland and they will be looking for some home cooking and some retribution from their week four loss. Chin up Bengals fans, there is a fair bit of football left and the Bengals are still holding onto first place.
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