The Bengals did what they had to do today, though it was far more dramatic than they had hoped. Now, they’ll need another win and help to continue their season beyond next week.
Cincinnati kept Denver from clinching the final AFC playoff berth with a 30-24 overtime win on Saturday. The Bengals improved to 8-8, with the Broncos falling to 9-7.
Denver still can clinch next week with a win over the Chiefs, who have clinched the AFC West title and the No. 1 conference seed.
But the Bengals controlled what they can control despite a 33-yard missed field goal by Cade York with 2:43 left in overtime. They got the ball back when the Broncos, who would have clinched the playoff spot with a tie, punted after a three-and-out.
Tee Higgins caught a 31-yard pass from Joe Burrow to the 3-yard line with 1:10 left in overtime. Replay let the play stand with Higgins’ left toe down on the catch before his right foot landed in bounds as his momentum carried him out of bounds. Higgins then caught the 3-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to end it.
Higgins caught 11 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bengals thought they had the win at the end of regulation when Burrow scored on a 1-yard quarterback push play with 1:29 remaining. The Bengals got unlucky when Chase Brown was hurt while sliding down at the 1, so the Broncos got their final timeout back, and then Burrow scored. Without Brown’s injury, the Bengals could have burned most of the time.
Bo Nix then lead the Broncos on a seven-play, 70-yard drive with Marvin Mims catching a 25-yard touchdown pass high-pointing the ball between defenders Geno Stone and Mike Hilton with eight seconds left. It was close, with the ball moving as Mims was hitting the ground and then going out of bounds, but replay let the play stand.
The Broncos were going for two and the win before the replay, but opted to kick the extra point for the tie and overtime.
The Bengals won the overtime coin toss but gained only 12 yards on five plays and punted for the first time all game. The Broncos, who started at their own 10, went three-and-out to give the ball back to the Bengals at their own 46. Cincinnati then drove to the Denver 15 where York banked the chip-shot field goal off the left upright.
The next time the Bengals got the ball back, they left it to Burrow and Higgins rather than York.
The Bengals never punted in regulation, and they should have won earlier and by more. They had three touchdown drives, a field goal drive that ended at the Cincinnati 3, two drives that ended on downs deep in Denver territory and a drive that ended acxross midfield with a Higgins’ fumble that Pat Surtain forced and recovered. The Bengals also had a kneel down to send the game to overtime.
The Bengals led only 7-3 at halftime.
They outgained the Broncos 499 to 329, with only one punt. Burrow was 39-of-49 for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase caught nine passes for 102 yards. Brown had 20 carries for 67 yards before leaving with his injury, and his replacement, Khalil Herbert, had a key 13-yard run in overtime.
Nix was 24-of-31 for 219 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, with Mims catching eight for 103 and two touchdowns. Courtland Sutton added five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
The Broncos had seven sacks of Burrow led by Zach Allen’s 3.5 and Jonathon Cooper’s 1.5.
Germaine Pratt had a key interception for the Bengals late in the fourth quarter.
Read the full article here
