Bengals Win 27-24, After Almost Giving It Away

Oct 26, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) celebrates scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Bengals looked like they should easily win the game after taking a 17 to 6 after the two interceptions and two very solid offensive performance right after halftime. It still took until the very end of the game to decide the fate of both teams.

The Bengals offense almost handed the Baltimore Ravens the game after a Andy Dalton fumble and then interception. Just as much as Dalton is to blame for the almost blown game, he is the reason the Bengals turned around and made the game 27-24 with less than a minute remaining. The Cincinnati Bengals offense has had their ups and downs but today showed a resilient group. After a first half that showed a solid defense and an offense that kept hurting itself by penalties. Mohammed Sanu was the star on big plays, Andy Dalton showed he can make up for late mistakes, and Greg Little played his largest roll of the season on short yardage plays. The offensive line gave Andy Dalton time and arguably the best performance of the season.

The defense had a great first half and then almost fell back into their to easy ways. They made two huge interceptions to start the second half and then made the Ravens last series look incredibly hard on Flacco and the Ravens offensive line. Great plays by this Bengals secondary and their ability to stop the big plays kept the Ravens in check all game. They were impressive for 50 of the 60 minutes played but this defense has yet to find a complete game and limit yards gained in every game so far this season. They will need to tighten up if they are going to continue to compete with their difficult schedule that looms ahead.

The Bengals escape today and get to 4-2-1 but they finish October 1-2-1 and they will need to find a way to improve going forward. The Bengals regain first place in the division and it will be on their shoulders to take them to another AFC North title. Bengals fans should celebrate today but it is still a long season and they have still have nine more games and 4 division games before the season is over.