Despite the victory, the possibility of rallying for a sixth consecutive playoff berth took a hit when Baltimore and Pittsburgh both won to stay tied atop the AFC North Division at 7-5, two and a half games ahead of the Bengals with four to play.
But the Bengals have been saying for weeks their focus was simply on getting a win, and Sunday it happened as they intercepted Philadelphia rookie quarterback Carson Wentz a career-high three times and sacked him once.
Here are six things to know about the win:
Ogbuehi omitted
After starting the first 11 games this season, struggling right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi was on the bench for the beginning of the game. And he never came off it.
Eric Winston, who has been platooning with Ogbuehi since Oct. 16, got the start and worked on a two series in, two serious out rotation with Jake Fisher.
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and offensive coordinator Ken Zampese both said earlier in the week they thought Ogbuehi, last year’s first-round pick, made progress in last week’s game at Baltimore, but Fisher, last year’s second-round pick, said he was told Wednesday he would be splitting snaps with Winston.
Lewis wasn’t interested in discussing the decision after the win.
“We are going to keep going forward and try to put the best guys out there we can,” he said.
Sunday marked the first time in the last 16 games the Bengals did not allow a sack, and the Eagles registered just one quarterback hit, which was negated by a 15-yard penalty on Brandon Graham for going low at Dalton’s leg.
But while the pass protection was better, the running game continued to struggle, especially when Jeremy Hill ran the ball.
Hill had 33 yards on 23 carries for a 1.4-yard average. Last week at Baltimore Hill has 12 carries for 21 yards (1.8), and dating back to the end of the Buffalo game two weeks ago, his last 39 attempts have netted 52 yards (1.3).
Scoreless start
The Bengals defense started the game with a three-and-out, stopping a streak of four consecutive games and six of eight in which they had allowed the opponent to score a touchdown on the opening drive.
“Any time our defense can go and get a three-and-out to start, it definitely helps to flip the field position,” Dalton said. “It definitely set the tone for the game early.”
The stops continued the entire first half as the Bengals took a 19-0 lead into the break.
It was the first time the Bengals held an opponent scoreless in the first half since Week 15 last year when they built a 21-0 lead at San Francisco.
It also marked just the second time they have not allowed any points in the first quarter (Oct. 23 vs. Cleveland) and second time they held an opponent scoreless in the second quarter (Sept. 29 vs. Miami).
Excellent execution
The last two minutes of the first half have been an adventure in futility for the Bengals this season, except for the Oct. 23 Cleveland game when A.J. Green bailed them out on the final play with a 50-yard Hail Mary touchdown.
But Sunday the Bengals had a little more time to work with, taking over at their own 7 with 3:07 remaining before halftime. Leading 13-0, Dalton directed an 11-play, 93-yard drive that ended with him hitting Tyler Eifert for a 13-yard touchdown with seven seconds left.
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“We knew we had a chance to move the ball down there, and Tyler made a big catch in the end zone,” Dalton said. “That was a big, big play because we knew we were getting the ball coming out of the half, too.”
The Bengals opened the third quarter by going 77 yards in eight plays, with Dalton hitting Brandon LaFell for an 8-yard touchdown to up the lead to 26-0.
“It’s not that often that teams are able to pull that off, but it’s a huge punch in the gut for the other team when you do,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said.
Fourth-down failures
After stopping their opponents on five of the first six fourth-down tries this year, the Bengals have allowed six conversions in nine attempts over the last four games.
The Eagles were 3 of 5, including a fourth-and-5 play that produced a 13-yard touchdown pass from Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz for their first score with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
Wentz also converted a fourth and 1 and fourth and 5 on the same drive in the fourth quarter, completing 8-yard passes to Nelson Agholor both times to set up a Darren Sproles 2-yard touchdown run.
The recent stretch began Nov. 20 in New York when Giants quarterback Eli Manning hit Sterling Shepard for the game-winning touchdown on fourth and goal at the 3.
Buffalo and Baltimore each converted on fourth and 1 in the fourth quarter to end drives that would end in field goals.
Dunlap deflections
Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap added four more passes defended to his team-leading total, one of which resulted in the first of two interceptions by linebacker Vontaze Burfict.
“He was able to get his hands up when they ran some crossing routes,” Lewis said. “When the angle of those throws is lower, Carlos can have an opportunity to disrupt those passing lanes.”
Dunlap’s 14 passes defended are a career high, topping the 10 he had in 2013.
In fact, the four he had against the Eagles equaled or bettered his entire season total for four of his first six years in the league, including last year when he went to the Pro Bowl with just one.
The single-season record for pass deflections in the Marvin Lewis era is 24 by Leon Hall in 2008 and 2009. Since the league began tracking the stat, Eric Thomas holds the franchise record with 32 in 1988.
Dunlap also got credit for a half sack, raising his team-leading total in that category to seven.
Unusual uniforms
The Cincinnati Bengals were scheduled to wear orange jerseys with white pants, but they switched things up and went with the rarest uniform combination they have – orange jerseys and black pants.
It was just the fourth time they’ve worn orange on top of black, and first since 2005.
“I didn’t like them at first,” cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. “Until I put it on. When I put it on, I felt like it was good. It just layed on me, and when you feel good, you play good. I think we need to bring these out a little more often, not ever 10 or 11 years.”
The Bengals are now 22-6-1 when they wear orange jerseys, including 4-0 when they’re paired with black pants. The other three times they wore orange jerseys with black pants were:
Dec. 11, 2005: Cincinnati 23, Cleveland 20
Nov. 28, 2004: Cincinnati 58, Cleveland 48
Nov. 7, 2004: Cincinnati 26, Dallas 3
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