Gutsy play call in OT lifts Bengals to season-opening win

“We hit them with a QB sneak early in the game, so they put a guy on the center and then two guys inside shade on the guards, so it was gonna be tough to run the ball up the middle,” Burrow said. “So we had the second play call, that’s what I got to. We’ve run that play multiple times over the last couple of years, and don’t think we’ve thrown it to CJ one time, but credit to him he was ready for it. And now I think the last few years, we’ve hit everybody on that play so I think it’s a good play for us.”

Cincinnati had lost its last two openers by a combined four points but managed to give Zac Taylor a win to begin his third season, despite needing overtime to do it after Burrow guided the team to 21 straight points and a 14-point lead in the third quarter.

The Vikings, whose last-second 53-yard field goal sent the game to overtime, appeared headed for the win in overtime before Jessie Bates forced a fumble and Germaine Pratt recovered at the Cincinnati 39-yard line with 1:48 left on the clock. That was the only turnover of the game.

Burrow had come off limping late in the fourth quarter after taking one of five sacks for the day and appeared to be playing for a tie until Joe Mixon’s third-down run came up one inch short of the first down. Burrow’s play-action throw to Uzomah for a 32-yard gain was especially unexpected, and Burrow finished with 261 yards passing and two touchdowns. Mixon, who missed the final 10 games of 2020 with a foot injury, was big in his return as well, finishing with 128 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries.

“I was a little surprised when the ball was in the air, but yeah, honestly, was the perfect look for it,” Uzomah said. “… That was a beautiful ball. He was dropping dimes today.”

The Bengals took a conservative approach to start the game, seemingly giving Burrow time to ease in after playing just three snaps in the preseason, but it was his connection to former LSU teammate and No. 5 overall draft pick Ja’Marr Chase that broke the seal on the offense.

After the Vikings took a 7-0 lead with 6:39 left in the second quarter, Burrow found Chase on a pair of third-down passes on the next drive, and a defensive pass interference call on a deep pass intended for Tee Higgins set the Bengals up for a game-tying score.

Higgins caught a 2-yard touchdown pass up the middle to get Cincinnati on the board with 1:47 left in the half, and a three-and-out for the defense ensured time for an aggressive approach at a lead. Burrow showed the arm strength he worked to build in the offseason, going deep to find Chase open down the right sideline for a 50-yard touchdown and 14-7 lead going into halftime.

Chase, who quieted concerns about preseason drops by catching his first four passes for 95 yards, celebrated with the Griddy dance that Burrow says he started at LSU before Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson made it popular last year.

“I knew I was going to do it,” Chase said when asked about overcoming struggles in preseason. “It was just a matter of time.”

The Bengals offense produced just 14 yards in the first quarter, but Burrow completed his last eight passes in the half for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and he picked up where he left off to open the second half with a scoring drive.

Burrow’s 28-yard pass to Higgins moved the Bengals into Minnesota territory, and Vikings cornerback Mackensie Alexander muffed an interception that Tyler Boyd picked up off his helmet to extend the drive. Mixon eventually capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 lead with 9:15 remaining in the third quarter.

Cincinnati had all the momentum going until the next drive when Taylor elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the team’s own 30 and Mixon slipped and got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. The Vikings took advantage of the short field with Kirk Cousins finding Adam Thielen for a 24-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to make it a seven-point game with 2:24 left in the third quarter. That’s where Minnesota was able to get back in it.

Thielen had scored Minnesota’s first touchdown on a 5-yard pass in the second quarter with Eli Apple covering. Apple, starting in place of injured cornerback Trae Waynes, had missed a tackle on third-and-24 and then was called for defensive holding to negate a sack before the touchdown play.

The Bengals answered the Vikings’ second score with a 53-yard field goal from rookie kicker Evan McPherson to make it a 10-point game, and that proved to be critical. Minnesota drove 75 yards on 10 plays the next drive to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 24-21, then tied the game with a 53-yard field goal by Greg Joseph as time expired to send it to overtime.

Cincinnati’s defense had gotten off the field on the second to last drive with a sack by B.J. Hill with Mike Hilton blitzing but couldn’t get a stop to keep Minnesota from field goal range at the end of the game. The Bengals finished with three sacks, including two from the interior line that rarely applied pressure in 2020.

SUNDAY’S GAME

Bengals at Bears, 1 p.m., Fox, 1530, 102.7, 104.76