Fresh off Thursday Night win in week 4, the Bengals were looking to continue their momentum against what is likely the best team they have faced thus far. It was a nail biter through and through, but in the end, they came up just short losing in OT.
It was a slow start for both offences. The Bengals had two 3 and outs, while the Packers stalled on their first drive, and threw an interception on their second. The INT came courtesy of Chidobe Awuzie, who was making his return off an injury.
On their third drive, the Bengals started with the ball near midfield. Samaje Perine was involved quite a bit in this one, both on the ground and through the air. The 10 play drive was capped off with a 4 yard TD pass from Burrow to Perine.
Now down 7, it seems like the deficit was what the Packers needed to jumpstart their offence. Davante Adams carved up the Bengals on this drive, as Rodgers was able to find him twice for 17 and 34 yards respectively. To cap off the drive, Aaron Rodgers found a wide open AJ Dillon for the TD. Crosby missed the PAT, keeping the score 7-6.
Later on, after a Mason Crosby field goal, the Bengals punted the ball back to the Packers. Chunk plays to Adams and AJ Dillon helped move the ball down the field. Aaron Jones was also involved in this drive, albeit contributing smaller gains. Nevertheless, the Packers eventually found themselves on the Cincinnati 5 yard line, where Rodgers was able to find Davante Adams for the score. That made it 16-7 for the Packers.
The Bengals got the ball back with 1:07 left in that half, and it did not take them long at all to answer back. In fact, two plays were all they needed. After a 5 yard completion to Tee Higgins, Burrow, with an insane amount of time, found Ja’Marr Chase deep down the field. The pass was nearly broken up, as the DB went all in to make the play. But it was just out of his reach, and Chase was able to walk into the end zone. The 70 yard TD made the score 16-14 at the half.
The Bengals were driving to start the second half. However, while trying to extend the play, a poor throw by Burrow led to an interception. The Packers turned that turnover into points. However, their 12 play, 7:38 minute drive only resulted in a field goal. 19-14 Packers.
The Bengals get the ball back and proceed to go on a longer drive. After starting on their own 25, the ball was spread around and the Bengals got into Packers territory. Chase, Perine, Mixon, Boyd, and Higgins were all involved in this drive. On 4th & 2 on the Packers 30, Burrow scrambled up the middle for a big 1st down. Unfortunately, a holding call on Quinton Spain backed them up to the 40. Instead of attempting a field goal, Zac Taylor elected to send out Kevin Huber and the punting unit.
The Packers started at their own 15, but a 59 yard pass from Rodgers to Adams eventually put them at the Bengals 6 yard line. The Packers ran the ball on the next two plays, picking up a combined 2 yards, thanks to stops by DJ Reader and BJ Hill, respectively. On 3rd down, Mike Hilton came up with a huge pass breakup, with Cobb being the intended target. Crosby kicked another field goal, making the score 22-14 Packers.
The Bengals were in need of an answer, with chances running out. It took the Bengals 5 plays to get to midfield. They continued to pick up smaller gains before Burrow hit Chase for 19. On the next play, Perine had a nice 9 yard run, which was followed by a Joe Mixon 8 yard TD run. Needing the 2 point conversion to tie the game, the Bengals elected to pass the ball. Burrow shuffled a little in the pocket to buy time, before finding Tee Higgins in the back of the end zone, tying the game at 22.
At this point, things started to go crazy. The Packer drove down the field to attempt a field goal for the lead with just over 2 minutes left. However, Crosby missed it. The Bengals then drove down the field and gave McPherson the chance to give them the lead with around 20 seconds left. However, his 57 yard attempt doinked off the right post.
Knowing how dangerous Rodgers and Adams can be in these late game scenarios, it is not a surprise that they got into field goal range in such a small amount of time. With a second chance, Crosby was unable to take advantage, as his 51 yard attempt went wide left.
The Bengals got the ball to start OT, but on the first play, Burrow threw a terrible interception. There seemed to be some miscommunication between him and Boyd on the play, but it is still one he would surely like to have back.
The Packers elected to send Mason Crosby on to attempt the game winner, despite it being 3rd & 15. The kick was from 40 yards out, but he missed it yet again.
Looking to capitalize on their good fortune, the Bengals offence took the field and proceeded to march down the field. A 10 yard run by Perine was followed by a 21 yard catch by Chase. After another string of shorter gains, the Bengals found themselves with 3rd & 2 on the Packers 33 yard line. Taylor went with a conservative approach, and handed the ball off to Mixon, who could only pick up a yard. The Bengals sent out McPherson to attempt a 49 yarder to win, but he missed his second of the game. The ball skimmed wide left, in fact, going over top of the left upright, and hitting the flag in the process.
Between the two teams, that was the 5th straight missed field goal. Adding Crosby’s missed extra point, there were 6 missed kicks total in this one.
The Packers had another chance to end things, but the Bengals defence, thanks to a Hendrickson sack, had them in a 3rd & 16 situation on the Bengals 47. Looking for a stop, the defence couldn’t get the job done. While they did stop them from picking up the 1st, Rodgers found Cobb for 15 yards, which got them into field goal range. Crosby got a 4th chance to make his kick and this time, he hit it right down the middle for the win.
The Bengals lost 25-22 and see their record fall to 3-2. It is a tough loss to swallow, but they will look to bounce back in Detroit next week against the Lions.
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