Bengals' offense chases records in win
Maybe the credit for Sunday’s 31-17 win belongs with the winless Browns. Perhaps facing the sixth Cleveland quarterback of the season when Cody Kessler went out with a concussion turned this Cincinnati task from easy to autopilot. Possibly the Bengals playing with seven healthy scratches against a club with 13 players on injured reserve and its top cornerback out borders on unfair.
Or maybe employing A.J. Green is all that matters certain days.
All these are at least partially true, but the circumstances don’t sap momentum for a Bengals offense sorely in need of positivity coming out of a frustrating first six games of the season.
“It gives us confidence,” said Andy Dalton, whose offense crossed the previous season high of 23 points early in the third quarter. “We know we have the potential to play this way and we need to find a way to do that each week. That’s the biggest thing you can take from this. We made big plays, the running game was great and we just need to feed of that.”
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The flashes of potential turned into a laundry list of production Sunday not seen around these parts in years, in one case even predating the playoff win drought.
The 559 yards gained by the Bengals was the most since October 7, 1990 against the LA Rams. The Rams have literally moved to St. Louis and back over the time frame.
“I’m pleased offensively with our guys protecting the football and doing things the right way,” Marvin Lewis said. “We’ve got to keep that up. It was an impressive job today.”
Green caught eight passes on eight targets for 169 yards and a touchdown on an incredible, juggling Hail Mary reception at the end of the second quarter. He also hauled in a spectacular, one-handed, 48-yard reception in the third quarter.
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With Joe Haden out, the Browns trotted out Briean Boddy-Calhoun to track No. 18, and it rarely went well.
Green becomes the sixth player in the last 30 years to compile three 150-yard games in the first seven games of the season. He’s on pace for 1,775 yards this season. The franchise record is owned by Chad Johnson at 1,440.
Dalton not only found Green at will, but connected for chunk plays throughout the day. Dalton found Brandon LaFell for a 44-yard touchdown, toasting Tramon Williams on a double move for a touchdown.
Dalton ended up with another efficient day, completing 19 of 28 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns. His final passer rating was 128.3.
The quarterback heads to London against the Redskins next week on an unparalleled streak of his career. He’s now run off four consecutive games with a passer rating over 100 for the first time in his career and four consecutive games without a pick for the first time.
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If Dalton can pull off the double next week, he’ll join Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers as the only quarterback since 2011 to do it five games in a row. Nobody has done it more than five straight in that span.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Hill rushed nine times for 168 yards and a 74-yard touchdown run.
His total marked the most rushing yards by a Cincinnati back since Cedric Benson went for 189 on Nov. 5, 2009. It was the first 100-yard rushing day by a Bengals back since the season finale of the 2014 season.
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Having Dalton cross 300 yards, Green over 100 and Hill over 100, that’s the first time the Bengals notched a 300-100-100 offensive day since Sept. 16, 2007.
All those numbers don’t add up to much more than one victory in the standings, with the Bengals now sitting one game out of first place in the AFC North with the Steelers' loss Sunday against the Patriots. The hope is that those gaudy statistics can turn into a run of victories. Whether due to the Browns or the seeds of the early season growing, the first step is still a necessary one in the right direction for this offense.
“We made a lot of big plays, and we’ve been doing that all year,” LaFell said. “But the most important part wasn’t getting the win today. We’ve been struggling the last few weeks, but the more we make plays and me and A.J. always say, this offense goes off our playmakers. The more we get our playmakers involved, the better our offense is.”
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