CINCINNATI — Cincinnati's offense had trouble finding the end zone on Sunday.
But that's ok, because the defense made sure the Seahawks didn't either.
The Bengals defense intercepted Geno Smith twice and stopped the Seahawks on fourth down from inside the Cincinnati 10 on two different occassions in the final 2:08 of the game to preserve the 17-13 win.
“It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “That’s the first thing that hit me when I walked off the field. At times it felt ugly, especially on offense, but again our defense stepped up and made some big plays for us that allowed us to get out of there.”
The Bengals halted Seattle on fourth-and-8 from the Bengals 9 when Smith was hit by B.J. Hill and threw incomplete with 35 seconds left.
On the Seahawks' previous drive, Smith was sacked by Sam Hubbard on fourth-and-goal at the Bengals 6, giving the ball back to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati came out hot to start the game, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game but then fizzled out. The Bengals wound up punting six times after those first two drives, giving Seattle the late chances.
Burrow and the offense took the opening possession of the game, driving down the field in 13 plays to get the Bengals the end zone. Tyler Boyd caught an 8-yard scoring pass on the final play of the drive to make it 7-0.
Burrow went 24 for 35 for 185 yards. Ja'Marr Chase had six catches on 13 targets for 80 yards.
Seattle (3-2) scored its only touchdown on their first drive of the game, using up 11-plays and spanning over nearly 6 1/2 minutes. The drive was capped off on a one-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Walker to tie the game up.
After Seattle responded, it was Burrow's turn again.
After a Seahawks punt, Burrow drove the Bengals 73 yards for another score. On first-and-goal from the 3-yard-line, he got great protection and was able to wait for Andrei Iosivas to come open cutting across the middle of the end zone.
Iosivas' touchdown catch was the first of his NFL career, and also happened on his 24th birthday.
Seattle was gifted a scoring opportunity with a short field after a Bengals punt in the third quarter, but the drive stalled on the Cincinnati 5 when Cam Taylor-Britt broke up a pass intended for Tyler Lockett.
The Seahawks were forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Jason Myers 23-yard to cut the Bengals lead to 14-13.
Taylor-Britt picked off Smith in the fourth quarter and returned it to the Seattle 34, giving Cincinnati a chance to put the game away.
But again the Bengals stalled out as Burrow threw three incomplete passes — one hit the defender in the back — and the Bengals settled for a 52-yard field goal from Evan McPherson to make it 17-13.
Smith finished 27 for 41 for 323 and spent much of his time running from the Cincinnati pass rush.
Cincinnati has a bye week this week and will play at San Francisco on Oct. 29.
Comments