FOXBOROUGH, Mass. –– In the locker room after the Cincinnati Bengals’ 22-18 win over the New England Patriots on Saturday, Bengals safety Vonn Bell was looking back on the fumble that stopped the Patriots’ comeback and helped the Bengals escape Gillette Stadium with a win.
Bell smiled as he looked back at his biggest play of the season, forcing the ball loose from Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson at the 5-yard line. “That’s Vonn Bell being Vonn Bell,” cornerback Mike Hilton shouted. Bell called the play “championship football.” On the defensive half of the locker room, the Bengals were talking about the “challenge” that Bell won by forcing the turnover that won the Bengals the game.
A few minutes later, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow reflected on the game he played. He completed 40 of his 52 passes for 375 yards with three touchdowns. But for each time he mentioned something he did well, Burrow lamented how he gave the Patriots a chance to come back from a 22-point deficit.
“You try hard to not let it (impact you),” Burrow said. “I’ve played enough football to know it's hard to win in this league. It’s fighting being upset when we get a win and have almost 500 yards of offense. You balance those (emotions).”
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On Saturday, the Bengals stormed out to a 22-0 lead behind the best half Burrow has played this season. For the first 30 minutes, it looked easy for Burrow and his cast of star pass receivers. He opened the game with a routine-looking 39-yard deep ball to wide receiver Tee Higgins. Burrow gave the Bengals a 12-0 lead when he fit a pass between three Patriots defensive backs for a touchdown throw to Trenton Irwin.
The Bengals looked flawless in the first half. Ja’Marr Chase was making toe-tapping catches down the field. Irwin made a diving grab for a first down when he was being double teamed. Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones couldn’t guard Higgins, who finished the game with 128 receiving yards and a touchdown.
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At halftime, Burrow had completed 28 of his 36 passes for 284 yards. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was 5-for-8 for 34 yards. That didn’t last.
“I'm never going to apologize for winning,” Burrow said. “Obviously, a lot of room to improve. First half was about as good as it gets, and then after that, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. But we found a way to do it.”
Beginning in the third quarter, the Bengals made the types of mistakes that separate Super Bowl contenders from average playoff teams. With 4:05 left in the third quarter, Burrow threw his worst interception since Week 1 ‒ a play that opened the door for the Patriots.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase ran a deep route down the right sideline. Burrow clearly didn’t expect Chase to run where he ended up, so Burrow’s throw went right to Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones. The play ended up as a pick six, which gave life to a Patriots team that hadn’t scored yet.
“They put the pressure on us and forced us into situations where we didn't handle it as well as we could have,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “Hats off to them in that regard for getting themselves back in the game.
Second half mistakes kept Patriots in game vs. Bengals
Once the Patriots got a second wind, the Bengals kept giving them chances to win the game. Wide receiver Trenton Irwin dropped a potential touchdown on a deep ball over the middle. Kicker Evan McPherson missed two extra points and a field goal.With 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Patriots down two scores, the Bengals forced New England into 3rd and 29 from midfield. Jones attempted a Hail Mary, and the ball ricocheted in the air right to Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
All of a sudden, it was a 22-18 game. And then Chase fumbled the ball on the next possession.
“We need to be able to knock people out up 22-0,” Taylor said. “We've usually done a pretty nice job of that. Today wasn't that case. Again, in December and January, you've just got to find ways to win the game and end the game.”
Following Chase’s fumble, the Patriots made it to the Bengals’ 5-yard line with 1:05 remaining. Down four points, a touchdown could have put the game away. Taylor started using timeouts, hoping the Patriots would score with enough time left for the Bengals to get the ball back.
“That was a stressful situation,” Burrow said. “Obviously, I feel like we shouldn't have been in that situation if we took care of business, but we made the play when it counts.”
Then Bell forced a fumble on a run up the middle. His game-saving play was a direct payoff of months of conversations and film study.
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Every week, the Bengals’ defense studies the ways their opponents have turned the ball over during the season. During this week, the Bengals noticed a tendency from Stevenson. Sometimes he protects the ball, and sometimes he doesn’t. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals sniffed out an opportunity.
The first time the Bengals went for the forced fumble, on a run in the middle of the fourth quarter, they missed. But they knew they’d get another shot to get Stevenson to fumble.
“We should have had the fumble on the drive before when the ball almost came out,” Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt said. “He was playing around (with the football). We had to go get it. Then Vonn did his thing and went and got it.”
On 1st and 5, when the Patriots lined up under center, the Bengals were expecting the run. Bengals defensive tackle DJ Reader pushed back the interior offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage, forcing Stevenson to stop.
Bell saw the ball, and he made a “stab” at it.
“Vonn is always detailed in everything,” Bengals safety Jessie Bates III said. “His work ethic, it’s no surprise when he makes plays. There are a bunch of guys on our defense who always want to get the ball out. Vonn is one of our leaders who sets that tone.”
The Bengals got the ball back and ran the clock down. New England got one last chance in the final minute to drive all the way down the field with no timeouts, but cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt forced a pass breakup that clinched the win.
“That’s what you can expect from this team, for us to finish,” Taylor-Britt said. “Wherever the ball is, we’re going to get it.”
It was nearly the Bengals’ worst collapse of the year. They nearly fell two games behind the Chiefs and Bills for the No. 1 seed with two games left in the season.
It was an ugly win, but all of the Bengals’ goals for the regular season and the postseason are still in front of them.
“There’s two and a half decades of precedent where (the Patriots) win that game,” Bengals center Ted Karras said. “They’re very dangerous and very scary. That was a gritty win. We made it way harder on ourselves than we needed to.”
Bengals stay on top of AFC North standings heading into Monday Night Football vs. Bills
With the win, the Bengals still are by themselves at the top of the AFC North standings, one game ahead of the Ravens. The Bengals could move up to the No. 2 seed in the conference by beating the Bills next week on Monday Night Football. If the Bengals win out and the Chiefs drop a game, then the Bengals could get home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“At the end of the day, (on) December 24, getting out of here with a win is a big deal,” Taylor said. “So we're going to find a way to correct the negatives and focus on the positives and get ready for Monday night against Buffalo.”
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