Needing a win after an 0-2 start, the Cincinnati Bengals rolled the dice and started an injured QB Joe Burrow Monday night. It wasn’t pretty but the move paid off, the Bengals notching their first win 19-16 against the Los Angeles Rams to wrap up Week Three.
Battling a calf injury that’s hampered him since training camp, Burrow’s status for Monday’s game wasn’t known until shortly before kickoff. He was active and started, doing just enough to win. Really, the credit goes to the Bengals’ defense and front which limited the Rams’ offense, picking off QB Matthew Stafford twice and sacking him six times.
Los Angeles looked sharp early. Stafford led them to a field goal on their opening drive after the refs ruled WR Tutu Atwell stepped out of bounds on a would-be touchdown run. The Bengals’ defense held up and forced a Brett Maher 30-yard field goal.
Cincinnati’s offense spent the first half punting the ball away and kicking the occasional field goal. Burrow looked rusty and injured, missing throws wide while WR Tee Higgins didn’t help with a drop-filled night. Neither side found the end zone in the first half, subsisting touchdowns for a pair of field goals each. Bengals’ kicker Evan McPherson nailed a 53-yarder to close out the half to tie the game at six going into the break.
Field goals continued to open up the third quarter. The Rams regained the lead on a 42-yard attempt by Maher on their opening possession of the second half. Cincinnati finally broke the back-and-forth by finding paydirt, a strong 14-yard run by Joe Mixon to push the Bengals ahead 13-9 and calm a home crowd that relentlessly booed the offense throughout the first half.
From there, the Bengals’ defense took over. On the ensuing possession, former Steelers’ CB Mike Hilton tipped a Stafford pass that landed in LB Logan Wilson’s arms, his second interception of the day. Cincinnati connected on another field goal to extend their lead to 16-9.
The Rams showed life when another ex-Steelers’ corner Ahkello Witherspoon made a nifty one-handed interception off Burrow, wrestling the ball away from WR Tyler Boyd on his way to the ground.
But the Bengals’ defense answered the call, sacking Stafford on back-to-back plays as DE Trey Hendrickson dominated Rams backup left tackle Zach Thomas, replacing an injured Alaric Jackson.
McPherson hit his fourth field goal of the night, another long distance boot from 54 yards, to make it a two-score game, 19-9.
Forced to pass with an immobile quarterback and patchwork line, the Rams couldn’t find enough offense. They made things semi-interesting in the final moment, Stafford completing a 37-yard pass to rookie sensation Puka Nacua down to the Bengals’ three. Two plays later, Stafford hit Atwell wide open on the left side. The extra point made it 19-16 with 1:03 to play. But the Bengals recovered the onside kick to end the game.
With the win, Cincinnati moves to 1-2 on the season. They’ll take on the Tennessee Titans next Sunday. Los Angeles drops to 1-2 and will try to get back to .500 Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
NOTES: Burrow finished the day 26-of-49 for 259 yards, zero touchdowns, and an interception…WR Ja’Marr Chase had a big day, grabbing 12 passes for 141 yards…five different Bengals had a sack…Stafford threw for 269 yards, one touchdown, and a pair of picks…the Rams were just 1-of-11 on third down…the two teams combined for eleven punts and seven field goals.
