The Bengals took on the San Francisco 49ers in week 14. Fresh off a loss to the Chargers in which their own mistakes cost them, they were looking to right the ship. This has been a common theme this year, but it was a big opportunity. With the Ravens losing to the Browns earlier in the day, it was the chance to move into 1st place in the division.
The Bengals defence started strong, forcing two 49er punts. The DL was physical up front and Hendrickson established himself early in the game with a sack. However, the miscues also started early. On the 2nd 49er punt, Darius Phillips misjudged the ball and as he fell forward to catch it, he muffed it. San Francisco recovered, and turned the turnover into 3 points.
While the Niners were gifted their field goal, the Bengals had to work hard for their opening score. It was a drive that lasted 11 plays. Joe Burrow worked the short passing game before finding Higgins for 20. They continued to slowly move down the field, but on 3rd & 12 from the SF 30, Perine’s catch went for only 11. Zac Taylor made the questionable decision to kick the field goal to tie the game, instead of going for it on 4th down.
The 49ers needed only 6 plays to go 75 yards on their next drive. They started it with a 21 yard completion to Brandon Aiyuk. After moving down the field with quicker plays, they found themselves on the Cincinnati 27. Jimmy Garoppolo handed the ball off to the dangerous Deebo Samuel, who was allowed to turn the corner. He tiptoed down the sideline and into the end zone for the go-ahead TD. 10-3 Niners.
In the 2nd quarter, the Bengals thought they had tied it. Burrow hit Chase deep down the sideline for what looked like a spectacular TD catch. However, video review determined that the ground had aided the catch and that CHase did not have full control. The Bengals continued their drive, eventually ending up with a 4th & 2 situation at the SF 10. Like the previous one, Taylor made the questionable decision to kick the field goal. 10-6 Niners.
After a second muffed punt by Darius Phillips, the Niners got the ball back in the Cincy 31, with 57 seconds left in the half. After the Bengals stopped them on 3rd down, a taunting call on Vonn Bell allowed SF to extend their drive. On the next play, Garoppolo hit George Kittle for a 14 yard touchdown. It was 17-6 at the half.
The 3rd quarter wasn’t much kinder to the Bengals. Each team only had two drives each in the quarter, but each also had one that went beyond 5 minutes. The 49ers extended their lead to 20-6 through a Robbie Gould field goal. The Bengals then, after a long drive, missed a field goal.
Down two TD’s in the 4th quarter, the offence finally showed life. Joe Burrow found Tee Higgins for a big 27 yard gain. A few plays later, he found Ja’Marr Chase down the sideline for a 17 yard TD. That made it 20-13, cutting the lead down to 7.
The next three combined drives all resulted in punts. Cincinanti got the ball back with 2:40 on the clock. A 12 yard pass to Uzomah got things going before Higgins caught one for 22. The big plays continued on this drive. Burrow, just getting rid of the ball before his arm was hit, found Tyler Boyd down the field for 29 yards. On the very next play, he dropped one in the bucket for Ja’Marr Chase. The 32 yard TD was his second of the game and, after McPherson’s extra point, tied the game.
San Francisco still had over a minute on the clock to win the game late. Aiyuk, Kittle, and Jennings all contributed on offence for SF. They drove down to the Cincinnati 29 and looked to kick the winning field goal. However, Robbie Gould pushed it wide right, forcing the game into overtime.
Bengals won the toss and got the ball to start OT. The drive looked very promising early on. Burrow found Higgins for 26 and Uzomah for 23 yards. Sitting at the SF 26, Taylor called two straight draw plays, putting the Bengals in a 3rd & 3 situation. Unfortunately, Burrow was sacked. McPherson’s 41 yard field goal gave the Bengals the lead.
On the 49ers next drive, there were three possible outcomes. A stop would win the game for Cincinnati, a TD would win it for San Francisco, while a field goal would extend overtime.
This drive for the 49ers was almost all about George Kittle. Garoppolo found him for gains of 8 and 21, with a 25 yard pass to Jennings sandwiched in between. On 3rd & 5, it was Kittle yet again, as his 9 yard catch, off a perfectly placed Jimmy G pass, moved the chains. On the next play, Garoppolo completed the pass to Brandon Aiyuk, who ran it the rest of the way into the end zone, sealing the win for the 49ers.
After this loss, the Bengals drop to 7-6. They remain a game behind the Ravens and are currently tied with the Browns. Cincinnati will travel to Denver to take on the Broncos in week 15.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: Alexander Jonesi (CC)