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Cincinnati
Bengals
Bengals hold
serve in win over Philly
PHILADELPHIA — After his NFL Network televised Thursday night's
less-than-artistic 34-13 Bengals victory over the Eagles, Pro Football
Hall of Famer Deion Sanders came into the Cincinnati locker room
looking for wide receiver A.J. Green.
"Hey Superman," Sanders said.
But the offense of Green and quarterback Andy Dalton looked all too
human and needed a Herculean effort by the defense to generate a
season-high five turnovers—four in a stunning span of 6:25 linking the
third and fourth quarters—to erase a 13-10 deficit with 24 points in
3:23.
It was a lesson in playoff football. With a good defense—a solid top 10
defense that may rise from its No. 6 ranking in the NFL—a team can
survive almost anything. Even a season-high 11 penalties, six sacks,
two sacks-and-strips inside the Bengals 29, and quarterback Andy Dalton
completing just 48 percent of his passes.
And even surviving prime-time, where the Bengals hadn't won in five
years and nine games.
While the Bengals jacked their record to 8-6 (the seventh time in his
eight seasons head coach Marvin Lewis has won at least eight games),
the Eagles kept imploding to 4-10.
"It was bad. I don't think I've ever seen that happen on the other side
or have it happen to my team; it was bad," said safety Chris Crocker,
who hopped on one of the miscues at the Eagles 13 after safety Reggie
Nelson dislodged a completed pass. "Sometimes it's just dumb luck.
"That was pretty bad. The first half we were killing ourselves. It
seemed like we were doing everything possible to kill ourselves. Then
we got all those turnovers in five minutes."
The defense let Green and quarterback Andy Dalton connect for a
touchdown for the first time since Nov. 18, a five-yard fade with 12:47
left that closed the scoring, but the Bengals know it all means nothing
unless they beat the AFC North elite in the last two games now that the
Bengals have nosed ahead of the Steelers by a half-game for the final
wild card spot.
Read the rest of the article at the Cincinnati Bengals
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