Winners and losers from Bengals' gigantic Week 13 win vs. Chiefs
Another game against the Kansas City Chiefs, another victory for the Cincinnati Bengals, who now move to 3-0 against them since Joe Burrow joined their franchise. While last year's games don't matter in the grand scheme of things, it's an impressive feat nonetheless.
With the game in the rearview mirror, let's check out the winners and losers. I decided to pick three for each side because otherwise, we'd be here all day with the winners' category.
Winners
Ja'Marr Chase
Welcome back, Chase! The former first-round pick out of LSU returned with a vengence, racking up seven catches for 97 yards and averaging 13.9 yards per catch. The only thing I didn't love from Chase in this game was the flag he drew after a touchdown. I know the emotions were hot in this one, but you can't make those kind of mistakes in these kind of games moving forward. It could have been much costlier.
Samaje Perine
Should the Bengals roll with Perine in the RB1 spot even when Joe Mixon returns? He's been pretty incredible while filling in for Mixon and in this game, had 106 rushing yards and 49 receiving yards. He's sparked life into a run game that didn't have much going for it until recently.
Germaine Pratt
Momentum was entirely on Kansas City's side until Pratt forced the fumble that swung momentum the other way. The Chiefs didn't score again and it was all because of Pratt. Applause all around here.
Losers
Tyler Boyd
While Boyd did finish with 60 yards on the evening, he had what could have been the most-talked about play (or lack thereof) when he dropped what would have been a walk-in touchdown. It was tough to watch and very unlike Boyd but fortunately, it didn't end up costing the team a win.
Run Defense
The Chiefs had success running the ball against the Bengals defense and finished with 138 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Isiah Pacheco had 66 yards rushing with a touchdown, Jerick McKinnon had 51 yards rushing, and Patrick Mahomes had the other rushing touchdown.
After shutting down Derrick Henry in Tennessee, perhaps the Bengals had been reading too many headlines. The team got the win but they need to be better against the run or the playoffs are going to be a difficult journey for them with how often teams lean on running the ball.
Whatever the heck that jet sweep was
I'm not as irritated about this now considering the Bengals won the game but seriously, what the heck was that? With a chance to go up 21-10 at the half, Cincinnati lined up to go for it on 4th-and-1 and the Chiefs' 4-yard line.
First, they tried to draw KC offsides, which didn't work. After that, the offense stayed on the field but instead of attempting a QB sneak (which they had done on 3rd down), Zac Taylor opted to have the team try a jet sweep to Trent Taylor that Carlos Dunlap of all people blew up immediately. Turnover on downs.
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The Bengals went from potentially being up 21-10 at the half to turning the ball back over to KC. The Chiefs didn't score before half time but they did get up by as much as 24-17 after the Bengals' dominant start. This could have really been the turning point but thankfully, it wasn't.