Sunday, as Cincinnati was hosting the Seattle Seahawks at Paycor Stadium, two Bengals players — rookie wide receiver Andrei Iosivas and starting cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt — were celebrating their 24th birthdays.
The pair ended up being big reason the Bengals were able to hold off Seattle for a 17-13 victory. And it’s all because of those presents they got.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow handed out the first gift.
After the initial passing play he had called failed to materialize, Burrow eventually was forced out of the pocket and scrambled left toward the sideline. In the end zone, Iosivas, seeing his quarterback adlibbing, knew he had to make himself a better target.
“My (initial) route already had taken a little longer than normal and when I looked at him, he already was out of the pocket. I just tried to find a hole and when I did, he put the ball right there and I was able to score.”
Although the 3-yard touchdown catch would put the Bengals ahead 14-7 with 12:20 left in the second quarter, Iosivas’ delight — it was his first ever NFL TD catch — evaporated by the time he finished his endzone dance.
“I saw a flag and with the noise of the crowd and everything I couldn’t hear the refs and I thought the penalty was on us,” he said. “I just threw the ball away and was heading back for the next play.”
That’s when Burrow — who knew the flag was on Seattle safety Jamal Adams for holding — sprinted past Iosivas toward the goal line, where he made a quick inquiry with officials. He wanted to know where the football was and then he spotted it lying forgotten in the orange and black striped end zone.
“I had completely forgotten the ball, but Joe knew what it meant, and he got it for me,” Iosivas said.
Burrow trotted back to the rookie, placed the ball into his hands and then patted him on the helmet.
“I was like ‘Oh Bro! Thank you so much!’” Iosivas said. “That was really thoughtful of him. It shows you what kind of guy he is.”
Taylor-Britt had to wait until early in the fourth quarter for his gift.
Seattle was trailing 14-13, but the Seahawks were starting to move down the field and quarterback Geno Smith had just completed an 18-yard pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba as Taylor-Britt covered him.
On the next play the Seahawks decided to come at Taylor-Britt again, this time with DK Metcalf as the intended receiver.
Metcalf is a physical player and in the second quarter he had been flagged for unnecessary roughness when he shoved Taylor-Britt to the ground after an incompletion.
“I just told him good job, stop crying.” Taylor-Britt grinned.
This time the Bengals cornerback sensed the play that was coming. He had seen it on film during the week and knew the receiver was going to make some juke moves near the sideline and then cut back.
“I had a feel for it, so I just waited for him to cut back, and the ball was there,” Taylor-Britt said.
Taylor-Britt made a diving catch to intercept Ford’s pass, and then he ran it back 24 yards. That eventually set up Evan McPherson’s 52-yard field goal that produced the final 17-13 score.
“Yeah, that was a good birthday gift,” a grinning Taylor-Britt said as he stood at his locker in the jubilant Bengals locker room after the game.
His catch was the tougher of the two made by the birthday boys.
“Yeah, it was nasty!” Iosivas agreed.
Although the Bengals offense struggled in the second half — after TD passes to Tyler Boyd and Iosivas in the first 17:40 of the game — there were some real positives to take out of this victory, which evened Cincinnati’s record to 3-3 going into the bye week.
Burrow’s few scrambles showed his ailing calf is getting better and better.
And the Bengals defense rose up time and again in the final minutes to keep Seattle from scoring.
Cincinnati’s defensive front — led by defensive ends Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson — made Geno Smith’s final quarter a bruising nightmare. Hubbard had five quarterback hits and one sack, Hendrickson had a sack and three tackles for a loss.
The Bengals made two goal-line stands in the final six minutes of the game.
" I was nervous watching then, but confident too,” Iosivas said. “Our defense always seems to find a way to make those plays and today they put us on their back.”
After the game there was a party atmosphere in the Bengals quarters. The music was loud and the smiles and laughter were long lasting.
“This is my best birthday ever,” Taylor-Britt said.
Iosivas had to think about that assessment.
“It’s one of my best,” he began. “I know I had some good ones in my elementary (school) days when I was 8, 9 maybe 10 and I was with my boys in the pool and having pizza and cake.”
But then he thought about this celebration. His parents — his mom’s originally from the Philippines and his dad is from Romania — were visiting from Hawaii, where he was raised and became a Honolulu school boy star before a standout career at Princeton.
And now that touchdown ball that Burrow had fetched for him was lying in the locker behind him.
“Those pool birthdays were good,” he said with a laugh. “But today is better.”
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