The Cincinnati Bengals started hot and never looked back against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday afternoon. The Bengals have trailed at the half in every game except two this season. Now, make that three.
Joe Burrow connected on a 60-yard touchdown to Tyler Boyd to start the scoring then the offense followed that up with a rushing touchdown and two Ja'Marr Chase receiving touchdowns, all in the 1st half of the game. Both Boyd and Chase went well over 100 yards on the day, while Higgins was just on the cusp with 93.
Today's MVP @JoeyB pic.twitter.com/3fINaFQ113
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
Cincinnati led 28-17 at the half after a few defensive lapses, but the defense continued there dominance in the second half as they are still yet to let up a touchdown in the second half this year which is an astonishing stat through seven weeks.
FINAL: Joe Burrow's 501 total yards and 4 total TDs lead the @Bengals to victory! #ATLvsCIN #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/iAhBRJgQlM
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
Burrow threw for 481 yards in the game and surpassed 450 yards through the air for the second time in his career. And had a four-touchdown game for the second consecutive week. This is by far the best the Bengals' offense has looked this season, and it wasn't even close.
Bengals Top Offensive Weapons
Joe Burrow - 34/42, 481 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, 20 rushing yards.
Joe Mixon - 17 rushes, 58 yards, one touchdown, three receptions, 33 receiving yards.
Tyler Boyd - 8 receptions, 155 yards, one touchdown
Ja'Marr Chase - 8 receptions, 130 yards, two touchdowns
Tee Higgins - 5 receptions, 93 yards.
Burrow and company set the scene, and he spread the ball around perfectly to execute the offense that Zac Taylor and Brian Callahan designed in the scheme to leave Sunday as a 4-3 team.
Cincinnati heads to Cleveland next week but will have an extra day of rest as they take on the division rival Browns on Monday Night. The Browns will enter as 2-5, but they have been competitive in just about every game this year outside of the loss to the Patriots.
With the struggles the Bengals' run defense has had the last two weeks, this could be a sore spot in the matchup that Cincinnati will need to key in on to earn their first division victory of the season.