I have never been happier after a Bengals win than I was Sunday. There are so many things that can be taken away from this win and so many things I can say about it and this team.
The biggest takeaway for me is this team’s resiliency, particularly in the second half. The third quarter could not have started any worse; Tyler Eifert goes down with a likely devastating season-ending injury, Andy Dalton gets sacked on the next play and Kevin Huber’s punt gets blocked inside the 10-yard line. I tweeted on my Twitter account, @alexcincy, that the game had literally just turned with the snap of a finger.
In years past, the Bengals would have likely folded and the opposition would have taken over the game. Sunday, though, was different. The defense made a subsequent pivotal goal-line stand and forced the Falcons to settle for a field goal. That was the first resilient moment.
Still trailing 33-31 late, the Bengals defense was getting gashed once again by the Falcons passing attack. Two times they had Atlanta in third-and-long, and both times they couldn’t get off the field. First-and-goal at the nine, I thought for sure the Falcons were finishing that drive in the end zone. But the Bengals defense stood strong once again in holding Atlanta to another field goal and giving the offense a chance to go down and score a potential game-winning touchdown. Two resilient red-zone stops set up one of the best Bengals game-winning drives that I have ever seen. Seventy-five yards in 16 plays, converting two fourth-downs, and taking enough time off the clock so that the Falcons offense couldn’t drive down the field; that’s resiliency.
I’ve said it on my sports show, Sports; “Any Way You Want It!” that this season is different, and this win exemplifies that. When was the last time the Bengals won a shootout game on the road? The win at Pittsburgh in 2005? You could even say the game at Green Bay in 2009. It’s definitely been a long time, though. This is definitely the first such win in the Andy Dalton era.
Speaking of Andy Dalton, I’m really proud of him today. His leadership and his toughness have been extremely impressive through the Bengals first four games. He looks so confident out on the field, and to watch him just battle on that final drive was incredible. This was his 22nd game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime and, to me, undeniably his best one. What’s more impressive is the Bengals offensive line really wasn’t all that great in the fourth quarter. Three times Dalton could have fumbled in the final 15 minutes, but he just stood strong and was ultimately the last man standing.
I go back to a play he made in Indianapolis as a quarterback turned defender. Remember when he was picked off on a really horrible pass attempt on the Bengals first possession? And how he was the only player who could make a touchdown-saving tackle? And how he got hurt making a tackle that ended his impressive 2015 season? I literally thought about that as I saw him rush in to make the tackle. Sure enough, though, he made the tackle to save the touchdown and Preston Brown intercepted Andrew Luck on the Colts ensuing possession. No points off the interception.
My point here is that Dalton could have easily not tried to make that tackle because of what happened in 2015. Instead he did, and I think that set the tone for the toughness that he is going to bring in every game this season. No matter how many mistakes he makes in a certain game, he’s going to give his best for 60 minutes and give the Bengals a chance to win.
Another takeaway from this game for me is the fact the Bengals were able to put up 37 points on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. That’s a credit to Bill Lazor spending the whole off season installing his offense. The first 20 minutes or so of this game reminded me of the game at Pittsburgh last year where the Bengals matched two Steelers touchdowns but were then virtually nonexistent the rest of the game. That happened because even though Lazor was the offensive coordinator at that point, he was still working with a Ken Zampese playbook. Just saying Zampese’s name makes me want to puke.
So as the score kept rising from 7-7, 14-14 and 21-21, I asked myself if the Bengals offense could keep pace with that of the Falcons? The answer was yes. Lazor called a great game, especially on the final drive. I thought Dalton should go to Tyler Boyd on both fourth down attempts and he did. Navigating 75 yards was impressive enough, but managing the clock where Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense had no chance to orchestrate a game-winning drive was amazing. That’s clock-management at its finest. Andy Reid, take notes.
When the schedule came out in April, the back-to-back road trips to Carolina and Atlanta really stood out to me because I thought they would serve as measuring sticks for the early-season status of this team. Before the Carolina game, I wasn’t even concerned about that game as I was about Atlanta. I thought they would win at Carolina and then I wouldn’t be too worried about the game at Atlanta.
Then they lose at Carolina, and the game at Atlanta becomes really important. I’ll admit I wasn’t confident at the beginning of the week in the Bengals chances of going down to Hotlanta and winning. I felt better when A.J. Green and Preston Brown came off the injury report, but to not get my hopes up I picked them to lose 34-27 even though in the back of mind I thought the Bengals would win.
In the end, all the hat throws, hand smacks on the couch, F-bombs dropped and an almost wall punch were all worth it. This is a character-building win. Without Joe Mixon and Billy Price and then sadly Tyler Eifert on offense combined without Vontaze Burfict on defense, this team found a way to win.
This team is fun to watch, and the best part about it is they’re still kind of under-the-radar. I know we all as fans want a Super Bowl championship, but understand that this season is all about enjoying the journey with this team. I thought after the game that even winning one playoff game, which after today I think is a very distinct possibility, I think would constitute a successful season. I’m not saying winning the Super Bowl won’t happen this year, but I’d be happy with just one playoff win. We all as fans should not only feel happy but encouraged if that’s this season’s end result.
I know it’s still early in the season, but 3-1 with a shootout-win at Atlanta through the first four games of the season is something I think we can all be happy about as fans. I love watching this team, and I truly believe this season is different.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 