FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A forced turnover inside the red zone by the Cincinnati defense helped the Bengals to preserve a 22-18 win over the New England Patriots on a chilly Saturday.
Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes and the Bengals offense piled up nearly 500 yards to win their seventh straight and remain atop the AFC North Division.
Despite holding a commanding 22-0 at halftime, the Bengals still had to hang on in the final minutes to win on Saturday.
Trailing 22-18, Mac Jones and the Patriots drove the ball to the Cincinnati 5 with just over a minute to play.
On first-and-goal, Rhamondre Stevenson was hit in the backfield by Vonn Bell and fumbled, and Josh Tupou's pounced on the ball with 55 seconds left in the game.
There was plenty of controversy on the play as Stevenson was stuffed at the line of scrimmage and pushed backward before fumbling.
The Bengals (11-4) couldn't manage to run the clock out and punted it back four plays later, but the Patriots turned the ball over on downs and Burrow took a knee to run the final seconds out.
Burrow finished 40 of 52 for 375 yards and two interceptions. Receiver Trenton Irwin hauled in two touchdown catches. Tee Higgins recorded eight catches for 128 yards and a score.
The Patriots (7-8), who have lost four of their last five, entered the week one game outside of the final AFC playoff spot.
Mac Jones finished the day going 21 of 33 for 240 yards and two touchdowns. New England played rather sloppily, committing 10 penalties for 82 yards and managed just 285 total yards. Nick Folk also missed two extra points.
The conditions for the game were frigid, as the game-time temperature was 17 degrees and a wind chill of 4.
Cincinnati 12 10 0 0 = 22
New England 0 0 6 12 = 18
First Quarter CIN—Tee Higgins 9 pass from Joe Burrow (kick failed), 12:24. CIN—Trenton Irwin 23 pass from Joe Burrow (run failed), 5:16. Second Quarter CIN—Evan McPherson 28 field goal, 14:51. CIN—Trenton Irwin 4 pass from Joe Burrow (Evan McPherson kick), 0:14. Third Quarter NE—Marcus Jones 69 yard interception return (kick failed), 3:51. Fourth Quarter NE—Kendrick Bourne 5 pass from Mac Jones (pass failed), 12:58. NE—Jakobi Meyers 48 pass from Mac Jones (kick failed), 6:02.
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