CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow turned in his strongest performance of the season and Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd had huge games as the Cincinnati Bengals struck early and ran away from the Atlanta Falcons 35-17 on Sunday.
Burrow turned in his best game of the season, passing for 345 yards in the first half alone as the Bengals scored on their first four possessions. He finished completing 34 of 42 for 481 yards and three touchdowns and added a 1-yard run for a score.
The Bengals got the scoring started early as Burrow hit a streaking Boyd down the middle for a 60-yard score to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game.
Joe Mixon helped extend the Bengals lead with a 1-yard plunge to extend the lead to 14-0 with 4:51 left in the opening quarter.
After another Atlanta punt, Burrow went to work again, completing seven passes in a row, with the last being a 32-yard scoring toss to Chase.
Both Chase and Boyd went over the century mark in receiving in the first half. Boyd finished the game with a career-high 155 yards on eight catches. Chase caught eight passes for 130 yards to go along with his two touchdowns.
Cincinnati (4-3) is now above .500 for the first time this season and remained tied with Baltimore atop the AFC North.
Atlanta (3-4) was held in check for the majority of the game offensively. As quarterback Marcus Mariota completed just eight passes for 124 yards. Overall, Atlanta could only muster 214 yards of offense compared to the Bengals' 537.
Cincinnati's Tee Higgins also had five receptions for 93 yards, including a 22-yard gain that set up Burrow's TD plunge in the third quarter to finish off scoring on the day.
Late in the first half, Chase caught his second touchdown pass, stopping at the far sideline to make the catch and then running past cornerback Darren Hall for the end zone.
Atlanta managed to get a little momentum in the latter part of the first half, scoring 10 points in final 39 seconds of the first half. Mariota hit Damiere Byrd for a 75-yard touchdow strike to cut the deficit to 18.
Then following a Cincinnati three-and out, Younghoe Koo nailed a 43-yard field goal to make the score 28-17 at the half, however the Falcons would never manage to close the gap any further the rest of the game.
The Bengals travel north to face AFC North rival Cleveland on Monday, Oct. 31.
Atlanta 0 17 0 0 — 17
Cincinnati 14 14 7 0 — 35
First Quarter
CIN — Tyler Boyd 60 pass from Joe Burrow (Evan McPherson kick),13:00 CIN — Joe Mixon 1 run (Evan McPherson kick), 4:51 SECOND QUARTER
CIN — Ja'Marr Chase 32 pass from Joe Burrow (Evan McPherson kick), 14:55 ATL — Tyler Allgeier 1 run (Younghoe Koo kick), 4:46 CIN — Ja'Marr Chase 41 pass from Joe Burrow (Evan McPherson kick), :49 ATL — Damiere Byrd 75 pass from Marcus Mariota (Younghoe Koo kick), :39 ATL — Younghoe Koo 43 field goal, :00 Third Quarter
CIN — Joe Burrow 1 run (Evan McPherson kick), 5:20
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