The Cincinnati Bengals came out firing against the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve, running up a 22-0 halftime lead before faltering wildly, then winning in the final moments, 22-18.
An ugly second half followed a dominant first, but either way, that makes the Bengals winners of seven in a row, the latest a strong showing against a team that didn’t look ready to play.
Along the way, there was at least one notable injury, as expected for a December game in freezing conditions. But a road win in the AFC is hard to complain about, especially as it keeps the team on pace for the conference’s top seed.
Here’s a look at the initial notes and numbers to know.
Quick Hits
— Joe Burrow on the team’s first drive of the game: 4/4, 73 yards, 1 TD. One deep pass to Tee Higgins for nearly 40 yards, one more for the touchdown. Way too easy.
— Evan McPherson missed the extra point after the first TD. Concerning, as pregame reports suggested he looked off in warmups.
— Second offensive drive, Burrow hits Trenton Irwin for a touchdown on a four verts look that diced the defense.
— McPherson missed again. So, 12-0 instead of 14-0 and sudden major concerns about the kicker in late December. Is it the below-freezing temperatures or something else?
— La’el Collins suffered a very serious-looking injury.
— McPherson got back on track with a 28-yarder to make it 15-0.
— Burrow’s lone first-half mistake was an interception in which it looked like Tyler Boyd just stopped his route, the likely culprit a misread coverage.
— Three touchdowns for Burrow in the first half. The third came with a handful of seconds left, a contested catch and second touchdown for Irwin.
— The second interception for Burrow actually went back for a touchdown. This one was another weird miscommunication, this time with Chase. Weird to see from either guy. Burrow was involved in a collision trying make the tackle, too, that appeared to injure teammate Samaje Perine.
— Cam Taylor-Britt got beat badly on a touchdown in the fourth. About what anyone should have expected from him — learning on the fly in coverage, very good against the run.
— McPherson missed a field goal in the fourth quarter with the game 22-12, adding to the concerns.
— Brutal sequence of events in the fourth. Refs decided on a Cincinnati challenge that what probably should have been a game-deciding defensive touchdown wasn’t. Patriots then got a flukey touchdown before a missed PAT to make it 22-18.
— Burrow then suddenly had to pull off another clutch drive without about six minutes left and it looked like it might go that way — until Chase fumbled while trying to break a tackle.
— New England ran down the clock in the redzone, then had an and-short conversion to make on the way to winning the game and fumbled as DJ Reader made the stop and Vonn Bell punched the ball out.
— Bengals ran the ball to make Patriots use all of their timeouts, then punted and held as Taylor-Britt made the game-ending pass breakup.
Key Stat
78-53: Total plays run by each team, heavily favoring the Bengals. Cincinnati dominated this game throughout and drummed up a huge advantage in this area in the first half. The offense stayed on the field and the defense quickly got off of it all day.
Game Balls
QB Joe Burrow: We’ll need more insight into the miscommunications on the interceptions. But Burrow was otherwise surgical, throwing for 375 yards and three touchdowns, helping three targets to 43 or more receiving yards.
The DL: Why call out one guy? Trey Hendrickson played on critical downs with his broken wrist but otherwise guys like Cam Sample, Joseph Ossai and Zach Carter stepped up big to shut down Mac Jones.
Top Takeaway
Seven: Missed kicks, turnovers and a turnover that went back for a score. Very, very hard to win a game when those things happen. Still, that’s seven in a row for the Bengals. Unlike last week when they struggled in the first half against the Bucs, the team was dominant at the start, then flopped. The offense will need to iron a few things out and think about life without a right tackle, but the defense is again in Super Bowl form. The AFC North and No. 1 seed in the AFC remains on the table.
