After a long wait, Bengals football is finally back.
The team got a home game to open the season, something that hasn’t happened often over the past decade. Coming to town was the Minnesota Vikings.
The Bengals defence started off strong. Trey Hendrickson was putting up good pressure from the edge, while Larry Ogunjobi was creating problems in the middle. Not to be left out, DJ Reader was playing up to his usual standards, and BJ Hill made an early impact with a sack.
The Bengals offence, however, failed to take advantage of good field position on multiple drives. In the 2nd quarter, the Vikings were the ones to strike first, marching 91 yards down the field in 14 plays. It was a 5 yard pass from Kirk Cousins to Adam Thielen for the TD. Joseph’s extra point made the score 7-0.
To the Bengals’ credit, they responded on the very next drive. After some chunk yardage picked up by Mixon and Chase, a pass interference call set the Bengals up deep in the Vikings’ territory. Burrow capped it off with a 2 yard TD to Tee Higgins and McPherson’s extra point tied the score at 7.
The Bengals forced the Vikings to punt on the next drive. This led to another scoring drive. Four plays was all the Bengals needed. It was a 50 yard bomb from Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase that put the Bengals up before the half.
Cincinnati remained hot to start the second half. Short gains, as well as two chunk plays to Tee Higgins, got the Bengals down to the Vikings 2 yardline. Joe Mixon ran it up the gut on 1st down for the TD. McPherson, once again, was good on the point after try, making the score 21-7 Bengals.
After going up by 14, things did unravel a little bit for the Bengals, starting after a questionable decision by head coach Zac Taylor. On 4th & short from their own 30, he left the offence out on the field, which proved to be costly, as Joe Mixon was unable to pick up the 1st down. The Vikings took over in Bengals territory, and Kirk Cousins was able to find Thielen for another TD. This one went for 24 yards. The PAT made it 21-14.
After McPherson kicked a 53 yard field goal, the Vikings were able to go 75 yards down the field for another TD. A 34 yard pass from Cousins to Justin Jefferson set the Vikings up at the Bengals 1, allowing Dalvin Cook to run for the TD. The PAT made the score 24-21 for the Bengals.
The Bengals failed to get the ball moving towards the end of regulation, but a Kevin Huber punt pinned the Vikings down at their own 5 with no timeouts left. Only needing a field goal to tie it, Kirk Cousins got going, completing multiple longer passes, including ones of 27 and 39 yards. This set up Joseph with an opportunity to tie the game from 53 yards, and that he did. Tied at 24, the game went to overtime.
Each team possessed the ball early in OT, but neither offence could generate anything. As time winded down, it seemed like the Bengals luck might be running out, as the Vikings started driving down the field. However, a Dalvin Cook fumble gave the Bengals another chance.
The play was reviewed, and it was extremely close. In these situations, the original ruling is usually upheld. Since the play was ruled a fumble, the Bengals got the ball back.
After getting close to mid field, the Bengals were faced with another 4th & short. They kept the offence out there again. Zac Taylor went with a gutsy playcall, electing to go with a play action pass. This time it paid off. Burrow completed the pass to CJ Uzomah for 32 yards. A few plays later, they sent out Evan McPherson to attempt a 33 yard field goal for the win. McPherson continued his perfect streak, earning the Bengals the victory.
The Bengals sit at 1-0 and will head to Chicago to take on the Bears next week.
Homescreen Image Via: Erik Drost (CC)