The offense scored touchdowns on the first two drives of the game, then relied on the defense to bail the team out in the second half, getting two turnovers and forcing a pair of turnover-on-downs in the redzone on Seattle’s final two drives. But the win was “huge,” Taylor said, no matter how ugly.
Here are five takeaways from the game:
1. Redzone stops were key
The Seahawks made it into the redzone four times in the second half and came away with just one field goal.
Mike Hilton intercepted Geno Smith’s pass intended for Jaxon Smith-Njigba at the 3-yard line on Seattle’s first drive of the second half. Then, Cam Taylor-Britt stepped in front of Tyler Lockett at the last second to break up a pass at the goal line the next possession, forcing Seattle to settle for the field goal to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 14-13.
After the Bengals added a 52-yard field goal from Evan McPherson to widen the gap, Seattle was forced to go for the end zone on its final two drives, in the redzone, but Sam Hubbard sacked Smith to force a turnover-on-downs the first attempt and BJ Hill pressured Smith into a bad pass that fell incomplete on the last one.
“That’s really where we thrive,” Hilton said of the redzone defense. “We’re a bend-don’t-break defense. Today it was really good for us in the red zone. We were able to keep them out the end zone and get turnovers.”
2. Big day for Taylor-Britt
Not only did Taylor-Britt have the big third-down stop to force the Seahawks to go for a field goal in the third quarter, but he also came up with an interception near midfield early in the fourth quarter and was part of a secondary that limited DK Metcalf to four catches and 69 yards on 10 targets.
Taylor-Britt had the first regular-season interception of his career last week, and that was a pick-6.
“We’ve got to keep it going,” he said. “It feels good.”
This is Taylor-Britt’s first full season as a starter, and for most of the game, he was the most experienced of the two outside cornerbacks on the field. Rookie DJ Turner started and played much of the game while Chidobe Awuzie was limited by a back injury that sidelined him last week, and Taylor-Britt stepped up when the Bengals needed him most.
Metcalf, one of the league’s top receivers, had one big catch for 30 yards in the fourth quarter with Taylor-Britt guarding him, but Taylor-Britt said Metcalf had to grab him by the collar to pull him back and get open. The pass he intercepted also was intended for Metcalf, though it was way off target.
As usual, lots of dancing 🕺 pic.twitter.com/MbImCnBmno
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 15, 2023
3. Tale of two halves for offense
The offense got off to a strong start, but after scoring touchdowns the first two drives, the Bengals struggled to move the ball and could only manage three points the rest of the way, following Taylor-Britt’s interception with three incomplete passes and a 52-yard field goal from Evan McPherson.
The Bengals needed help from an offside jump on fourth-and-2 to extend their first drive after Joe Mixon dropped a third-down pass, but they took advantage of the gifted first down. Tyler Boyd eventually got them into the endzone, catching a 5-yard pass from Joe Burrow to tie the game at 7-7.
Cincinnati then scored a touchdown on its second drive as well, following a three-and-out by the defense. On that one, Ja’Marr Chase had catches of 31 yards and 23 yards to help the offense into the redzone, and rookie Andrei Iosivas recorded his first NFL touchdown reception to give the Bengals the 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
Between their next two drives, the Bengals managed just one first down, and they had just 62 net yards of offense in the second half. Burrow had completed 18 of 22 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, including 15 straight completions, but he completed just 6 of 13 passes for 42 yards and an interception in what he called a “horrible” second half.
“You have to give them credit,” Burrow said. “They made some adjustments that worked for them, and we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities in the second half.”
4. Injury factor?
The offense can’t blame its poor performance in the second half on injuries, but the Bengals did have two key players on that side of the ball who weren’t 100 percent.
Wide receiver Tee Higgins was limited because of the rib fracture that sidelined him at halftime of the Week 4 game against Tennessee and caused him to miss last week’s win at Arizona. Then, left tackle Orlando Brown exited late in the third quarter because of a groin injury, which might have been a lingering issue from when he tweaked it at Tennessee.
Brown had been on the injury report briefly after that loss to the Titans but wasn’t listed this past week. When he left the game, Cody Ford came in and played left tackle for the first time since high school. Burrow finished with three sacks. Higgins managed just two catches for 20 yards on four targets.
5. Significant win before bye
Cincinnati now goes into the bye at .500 and many players in the locker room after the game said it feels like a “reset” of sorts, as now players can rest up and get healthy for a challenging part of the schedule coming up.
The Bengals will meet Monday and then take some time off before beginning preparations for the next game Oct. 29 at San Francisco. They now have their first win streak of the season following a Week 5 victory at Arizona and look to build on that to reach goals of another deep postseason run.
“We kind of stubbed our toe starting this race off, and we’re going to continue to pick up steam,” Taylor said. “And again, there’s days where our defense is going to lead the charge and lead us to victory. There’s times where the offense is going to reciprocate that. There’s times special teams can take over. I think good teams just find ways to do it. And right now, we’re at that 3-3 mark going into a bye. We get a chance to get healthy and then hit the surge after the bye (week) starting with San Francisco.”
NEXT GAME
Sunday, Oct. 29
Bengals at 49ers, 4:25 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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