Here comes Bengal Claus,
Here comes Bengal Claus,
Right down Who Dey Lane.
They got a big win and are heading to the
Playoffs once again!
Bells are ringing, people cheering,
All is merry and bright.
'Cause the Cincinnati Bengals beat
The Broncos Monday Night!
This season, primetime has been a problem for the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2014, the Bengals played the New England Patriots on a Sunday night in front of a national audience and were totally and utterly manhandled. Later in the season, they had a Thursday night game against their instate and AFC North division rival, the Cleveland Browns. The result was the same as the Sunday night contest in that the Bengals were embarrassed as the Browns easily defeated them as the nation watched. Then came the Monday night battle against the Denver Broncos, the reigning and defending champions of the American Football Conference. All the national analysts predicted a victory for the Broncos. All the local football experts said that the Bengals would not be able to stop Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and his arsenal of offensive weapons. The Bengals had other ideas.
When the dust cleared and the smoke settled, the Bengals,
yes you read that correctly, the Bengals came away with a 37-28 win over the
Broncos in a primetime game in front of a national audience. Not only was this
win monumental in that it was the 100th victory for Marvin Lewis as
the head coach of the Bengals and temporarily stuck a foot in the mouth of
every naysayer who said that the only thing you can count on the Bengals to do
in big time games against big time opponents is wilt under the lights and turn
in a horrendous performance, but it also punched their ticket to the playoffs
for the fourth straight year.
This was a high stakes game for both teams as each squad had
something to play for in regards to the playoffs. The Broncos had already clinched
a postseason spot by virtue of winning the AFC West Championship and were
looking to lock up a first round bye in the playoffs. The Bengals were playing
to clinch a playoff berth and alleviate some of the pressure from next week’s
Sunday night game against the hated Pittsburgh Steelers in what will be an all
out war to determine what team is crowned as AFC North Champions.
This was a wild game in which the scoring started and ended
with pick-sixes and resulted in a great victory for the Bengals and the city of
Cincinnati.
In the first quarter, the Broncos struck first when
cornerback Aqib Talib picked off Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and ran 33
yards to the end zone to give the Broncos the early 7-0 lead. The Bengals were
quick to respond however, as running back Jeremy Hill exploded out of the
backfield for an 85-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game up at 7-7. A scary
moment occurred when it appeared Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green injured his
arm early in the game. It was reported to be a bruise and hopefully it is
healed by Sunday.
In the second quarter, Bengals kicker Mike Nugent gave the
Bengals their first lead of the game when he kicked a 37-yard field goal to
make it 10-7 in favor of the Bengals. Later in the quarter, Dalton connected
with Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham for a 2-yard touchdown pass to put the
Bengals up on the Broncos by a score of 17-7. Nugent kicked another field goal
to give the Bengals a 20-7 lead.
The third quarter saw the Broncos slowly creep back into the
game as a monster return on the opening kickoff of the second half led to a
1-yard touchdown run by Broncos running back C.J. Anderson to bring the Broncos
within six. The Bengals responded with a huge kickoff return of their own which
was capped off by a 22-yard touchdown catch and run by Bengals running back
Giovani Bernard to give the Bengals a 27-14 lead. However, the quarter was far
from over and Manning was able to connect with Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel
Sanders twice for touchdowns to push the Broncos ahead of the Bengals by a
score of 28-27.
Fortunately, football is game composed of four quarters, and
the Bengals played better football than the Broncos in the final quarter of
play. Nugent’s third field goal of the game put the Bengals back on top by a
score of 30-28. Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick picked off Manning and raced
30 yards to the end zone to give the Bengals a 37-28 lead over the Broncos. Kirkpatrick
picked off Manning again on the ensuing drive to ice the game and put the
Bengals into the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
Overall, this was a very good performance by the Bengals.
Their ability to run the ball seemingly at will was a key element to their win
as they not only ran the ball for 207 yards which took pressure off of Dalton
to make passes, but they also won the time of possession battle which helped
keep Manning off the field. The defense also played one of its better games of
the season as they were able to sack Manning a few times and intercept four of
his passes.
Up next for the Bengals is a Sunday night game in Pittsburgh
against the Steelers with the AFC North Division Championship on the line. Both
the Steelers and the Bengals have clinched playoff berths, and the winner of
this game will clinch home field advantage for at least the first round of the
postseason. There is also the possibility that the Bengals can clinch the second
seed in the playoffs should the Oakland Raiders beat the Broncos and the
Bengals beat the Steelers. Until then, enjoy these highlights
of the Bengals defeating the Broncos in primetime and clinching their fourth
consecutive berth in the playoffs.
Who Dey!
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