Cincinnati (8-6) moves into first in the AFC North ahead of the Ravens (8-6), who come to Paul Brown Stadium next week. The Bengals are 5-2 on the road.
Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s win:
1. No turnovers
After struggling with six turnovers combined over the last two games, the Bengals didn’t have a turnover for the first time since the Week 4 win over Jacksonville. It was Joe Burrow’s second straight game without an interception.
Burrow said in his postgame press conference, which streamed live on social media, that in a game like this one, where neither defense was giving much, he just needed to take care of the football.
The quarterback stayed poised in a tight game and even though he threw for just 157 yards, he did enough to get the win. In five of the Bengals’ six losses, they lost the turnover battle.
2. Defense wins the day
The defense recorded three sacks, held the Broncos to 292 yards and 10 points and recorded a crucial takeaway in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
With the Broncos at the Cincinnati 9-yard line with less than 11 minutes left, Khalid Kareem popped the ball out of Lock’s hands and recovered the fumble. The Bengals punted on their final two drives and pinned Denver deep in its own territory to start its last two series. The Broncos punted with 3:40 left and got the ball back with 1:04 remaining, only for Lock to get sacked and fail to complete a pass before a turnover on downs to end the game.
Lock had entered the game for Teddy Bridgewater with about five minutes left in the third quarter after he had to be carted off and taken to the hospital for evaluation for a head injury. Lock took over the drive in a first-and-10 from the Denver 36-yard line and led the Broncos down for a touchdown, throwing a 25-yard pass to Patrick for a 10-9 lead.
Germaine Pratt finished with 15 tackles.
3. Third-down conversions
The Bengals weren’t very efficient on third down, converting just four of 13 chances, but Burrow scrambled for first downs three times and another one drew a penalty for a first down. He also threw a third-down pass to Boyd for a 15-yard gain in the final four minutes to extend a drive and run down the clock a bit more before giving the Broncos one last shot.
Burrow rushed five times for 25 yards total and said that wasn’t something he could have done earlier in the year, coming back from the knee injury. It was an unexpected way to get yards while Joe Mixon struggled to move the ball. Mixon finished with 15 carries and 58 yards (3.4 yards per carry).
The Broncos kept Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase in check. Only two others teams this year have been able to hold both players without a touchdown and 100 yards in a game, but Denver joins that list while limiting Higgins to two catches for 23 yards and Chase to one catch for three yards.
But Boyd finished with five catches for 96 yards and the TD.
4. Special teams redemption
After fumbling twice on punt returns last week, the Bengals had no issues on special teams Sunday. Trent Taylor stepped in as the new returnman and cleanly fielded three punts for 22 yards in returns, and he had one kick return for 23 yards.
McPherson also had a solid day, perhaps aided by the thin Rocky Mountain air. He set the franchise record for longest field goal, nailing a 58-yarder with four seconds left in the second quarter, after he had hit a 53-yarder the first quarter. The Bengals gave him a shot at history after Broncos kicker Brandon McManus missed a 51-yard attempt to put them on their own 41-yard line with nine seconds left before halftime. Burrow connected with Boyd on a 19-yard pass, then called timeout to set up McPherson for the field goal and a 6-3 lead going into the locker room.
The rookie kicker was 3-for-3 on the day, also making a 26-yard attempt in the third quarter.
Punter Kevin Huber also had a solid day, averaging 52.6 yards on his seven punts with a long of 61 and three downed inside the 20-yard line.
5. Injury concerns
The Bengals had some changes to their lineup thanks to injuries and illness, but Mixon’s second-half ankle injury is the latest concern. Bengals coach Zac Taylor didn’t have an update after the game but Mixon went down after an awkward tackle on his ankle and tried to get up but crumpled back to the ground in pain.
Strong safety Vonn Bell exited the game twice with apparent injuries, the last time being with four minutes left, shortly before a punt.
Cornerback Trae Waynes made his return to the starting lineup, as he was activated off injured reserve Saturday just in time to step in with Chidobe Awuzie on the Reserve/COVID list. He nearly made a play on the ball to prevent the Lock touchdown to Patrick but Patrick ripped it away, and Waynes also almost made a tackle at the Denver half-yard line. It wasn’t a bad performance for a guy that hasn’t played since Week 5, and Eli Apple had a solid game as the other starting outside corner.
At right tackle, the Bengals were down to the third-string option as Fred Johnson got the start. Riley Reiff was out with an ankle injury, and Isaiah Prince was out ill. Markus Bailey was back at linebacker but this week would be a good time for Logan Wilson (shoulder) to return if able. The Bengals didn’t put him on injured reserve in the hope he would be back within the three weeks he would have needed to miss.
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