Cincinnati, which has been known for its slow starts and late comebacks, flipped that script early, scoring on its first four drives and forcing Atlanta (3-4) to punt on its first two possessions. The Falcons made things interesting just before halftime, scoring 10 points in the final minute to cut down a 21-point deficit, but the Bengals shut them out in the second half.
“This season, it’s still in its infancy stages,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Today gives a chance to separate a little bit and that’s what we need but we know what’s on task next week, Monday Night Football at Cleveland, that’s a big game for us and our guys will be amped up ready to go.”
Burrow completed 19 of 21 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns and had a perfect passer rating in the first half. In the third quarter, he topped 400 yards for the fifth time in his NFL career. That broke Dan Marino’s post-merger record (1970) of four 400-yard games in the first three seasons of a career.
Atlanta got on the board on an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ate up more than 10 minutes of clock in the second quarter, but the Bengals regained their three-score cushion on Ja’Marr Chase’s 41-yard touchdown reception with 49 seconds left before halftime.
“It felt good,” Burrow said. “We were rolling in that first half. ... We’re getting our timing down. We’re finding a rhythm, and the defense will keep doing what it does. We’re finding our stride.”
Head Coach Zac Taylor and Bengals players speak to the media. https://t.co/wrmRppQ2wF
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 23, 2022
The Falcons responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to Damien Byrd on the next play from scrimmage, and that still wasn’t the end of the scoring. Cincinnati then punted for the first time, and Avery Williams returned it 56 yards to set up a walk-off field goal going into halftime, as the Falcons trimmed the gap to 11 points.
Cincinnati’s defense bounced back in the second half, though. Atlanta punted on all four of its drives after halftime, as the Bengals forced three-and-outs on the first two possessions. The Falcons were forced to get away from their running game in order to try to come back, but they were unsuccessful.
The Bengals took their foot off the gas offensively in the second half, turning the ball over on downs at the Falcons’ 27-yard line on their first drive of the third quarter, but Burrow capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run the next possession, and that pretty much sealed the win.
“That’s complimentary football,” Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie said. “When you have your offense scoring how (we) were scoring today, that gave us the opportunity to play against passes more. They’re a running team, they want to run the football. Once they are passing they’re uncomfortable. So once they started passing the ball, it’s pretty much over after that. So it was really fun to go out there and kind of make them one dimensional.”
Burrow finished with his 481 yards passing, but his dominant first half had him on pace to break the league’s single-game passing record of 554 yards, which Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin has held for 71 years. That record came on the opening day of the 1951 season with the L.A. Rams.
Tyler Boyd and Chase both topped 100 yards receiving for the game, and Tee Higgins was just shy of that mark with 93 yards on five catches. The Bengals haven’t had three receivers over 100 yards receiving in one game since 1990. Boyd led the way with a career-best 155 yards and one touchdown on eight catches, and Chase had 130 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches.
Atlanta finished with just 214 net yards of offense, including 107 yards on the ground and 124 yards passing for Mariota, who completed eight of 13 passes.
NEXT GAME
Monday, Oct. 31
Bengals at Browns, 8:15 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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