GLENDALE, Ariz. — Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase hooked up for three touchdowns and the Cincinnati Bengals coasted past the Arizona Cardinals 34-20 on Sunday.
For Burrow, Sunday was a much-needed offensive performance, as he has had an underwhelming start to the season after signing a new contract in the offseason to make him the NFL's richest quarterback. The offense wound up scoring three touchdowns overall on Sunday, matching the unit's total from the first four games combined.
The All-Pro quarterback completed 36 of 46 passes for 317 yards and one interception.
Chase was the recipient of 15 of those passes from Burrow — which set a single-game franchise record. He made several tough catches in traffic by repeatedly finding seams in the Cardinals defense.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor admittedly said he spent a lot of time during the game telling Burrow to stop scrambling and throw the ball away on busted plays. He was glad his quarterback didn't listen.
“The great quarterbacks, you can’t just keep them in the pocket,” Taylor said. "They're going to extend plays, sometimes when you think they shouldn't. They're going to hang onto the ball for a second longer than people feel comfortable with. And usually great things happen."
Cincinnati took their opening offensive possession and drove down the field to finally score a touchdown in the first half for the first time this season.
Burrow completed all seven of his passes on the drive, with the final one being a two-yard scoring pass in the back of the end zone to Chase and give the Bengals an early 7-0 lead.
The Bengals pushed ahead to a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter on Evan McPherson's 40-yard field goal.
The Cardinals (1-4) responded early in the second, as Joshua Dobbs placed a perfectly thrown ball to Marquise Brown, who caught the ball on the run and over his shoulder for a 25-yard touchdown. After Matt Prater's extra point, it was 10-7.
Arizona would go on to take a 14-10 with 8:28 left in the first half when Dobbs found veteran tight end Zach Ertz for a 4-yard touchdown.
Cincinnati would grab a 17-14 lead just before halftime, stealing all the momentum from Arizona when Cam Taylor-Britt picked off Dobbs' pass and ran it back 11 yards for the touchdown.
It was Dobbs' first interception of the season on his 138th pass attempt and it was a costly one at that.
The Bengals got the ball to start the second half and marched down the field again to extend their lead. Burrow threw a 63-yard touchdown strike to Chase on the third play of the third quarter, increasing Cincinnati's lead to 24-14.
Arizona would cut the Bengals' lead to 24-20 later in the third on Emari Demercado's 11-yard touchdown run, which was the first of his pro career.
Cincinnati's defense would make a key fourth down stop, allowing Burrow to lead a 15-play, 83-yard drive to take control of the game. The drive would be capped off by Chase's third touchdown catch of the game to make it 31-20.
The Bengals will return home next Sunday to host the Seattle Seahawks.
Kommentare