Two games last year also rank among the top 15 greatest comebacks, including the AFC North-clinching win against the Chiefs when Cincinnati rallied from a 14-point deficit to win 34-31 and a Sept. 30, 2021, matchup against Jacksonville that saw the same outcome.
On Sunday, the Bengals took advantage of a botched fake punt by the Bucs to get on the board with a field goal before halftime and four straight takeaways on defense to continue the comeback.
“Just an awesome team effort,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said in his postgame press conference Sunday. “It was probably one of those games we needed to be quite honest with you – you know, kind of smacked [us] in the mouth a little bit in the first half and then responded the right way. That’s a good December win on the road versus a team leading their division. So [I am] really proud of our guys there.”
The Bengals have said many times before that with Joe Burrow as their quarterback, they always have a chance. The defense and special teams deserve much of the credit for Sunday’s win and many of the other ones, but Burrow made sure their efforts weren’t without reward.
Cincinnati had other comebacks just fall short earlier this season after slow starts led to 17-3 deficits against Pittsburgh in the season opener and against Dallas in Week 2. Burrow threw touchdown passes to tie both those games late, including one with two seconds left to tie it up against the Steelers, but the extra point attempt failed and Pittsburgh won in overtime. The Cowboys kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired for that win.
Despite those missed opportunities, Burrow has completed seven game-winning drives over the past two years, including four this season, plus another two in the playoffs last year against Tennessee and Kansas City. Sunday was not Burrow’s favorite win, he said, but it was good enough.
“I mean it was an exciting game but an ugly one that we were able to pull out and that just goes to show you that teams, like we have, they just find ways to win games,” Burrow said in his postgame press conference. “We keep just talking about it and guys just keep stepping up and making big time plays for us.”
The win at Tampa Bay was especially important as the Ravens had lost on Saturday, opening the door for the Bengals to take sole possession of first in the AFC North with three games left. New England, another contender in the AFC which hosts Cincinnati on Saturday, suffered an odd loss to the Raiders on Sunday when an unnecessary lateral led to a turnover and game-winning touchdown for Las Vegas.
Cincinnati took advantage of the opportunity to climb the playoff seedings, despite several injuries that left the defense without both starting defensive ends, Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, as well as nickel cornerback Mike Hilton and cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. Still, the Bengals managed four turnovers and held the Bucs off the board almost the entire second half.
Taylor was pleased to see the team overcome adversity this late in the season.
“We’re going to play good teams from here on out and we always want to possess the lead and be able to play from out in front, but there’s going to be times that things just don’t go your way,” Taylor said. “And for this team to feel that again… because we haven’t had to feel that for a while, that there’s still plenty of time left on the clock, no need to panic just take a deep breath and step up. I saw that from everybody.”
The Bengals now have won six straight and still have a chance to claim the No. 1 seed. Buffalo (11-3) currently owns that spot and the Bengals host the Bills on Jan. 2 on Monday NIght Football. Burrow said the mentality doesn’t change now that Cincinnati leads the AFC North.
“Still gotta win all the games,” Burrow said. “It’s going to come down to that last one. Still gotta take care of business here in the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a short week this week. Gotta go to New England on a Saturday so we gotta get our bodies right and get the work in [that] we need in a short amount of time.”
The Bengals would clinch a playoff berth with a win at New England or a New York Jets loss Thursday vs. Jacksonville.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Patriots, 1 p.m., Ch. 7, 12; 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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