On the flip side, the Bengals’ record in prime-time games drops to 8-18 since 2003. – Indianapolis punter Pat McAfee on Adam Vinatieri, the oldest player in the league at 42 who kicked a 43-yard field goal with 52 seconds remaining to lift Indianapolis over Atlanta 24-21.
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The Cardinals defeated the Bengals 34-31 on Sunday night. Arizona also lost cornerback Patrick Peterson to an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, but in stepped Justin Bethel with help from do-everything player Deone Bucannon, who also lined up at corner late in the game. During that stretch, he posted a 14:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio while the Bengals ascended to the ranks of the undefeated.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – The matchup between two of the best in the National Football League lived up to the hype – with a weird twist at the end for good measure.
The Bengals were flagged seven times for 73 yards in the first half alone, but despite all the penalties they still managed to take a 14-7 lead by the intermission.
“I don’t think I have ever seen that call, ever since I have been in the NFL”. But for the most part, we blocked some things and some of the layups [wide-open deep passes Dalton missed] we’re talking about, if you hit some of those maybe the pressure slows down. That was the name of the game.
Lewis said it was a “phantom call”.
“It’s kind of ridiculous”, he said.
[Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images]In the loss to Arizona, Bernard shined for the Bengals each time he touched the ball.
“I trust what our player did and said”, Lewis said.
It was an obvious situation where the Cardinals wanted to spike the ball, but Peko said he was just communicating with his teammates after the opposing offense quickly got set following a kneel on the play prior.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (22 of 39 for 315 yards, 2 touchdowns and no picks) didn’t have a great game, but he had a good enough game that had the Cards defense worrying from time to time. San Francisco closed the gap to 10 points midway through the third quarter, but Seattle put the game away with a 31-yard touchdown Thomas Rawls catch from Russell Wilson early in the fourth. They blinded Andy Dalton’s field vision, even landing timely sacks.
“There were a couple of things that can happen on that call, but I knew as soon as they lined up the way they did, I knew where the ball was going”, Jackson said.
Dalton bounced back from a shaky start to the second half to engineer the Bengals’ comeback.
Jameis Winston threw five touchdown passes, and Doug Martin ran for 235 yards for Tampa Bay.
First, Palmer hit rookie wide receiver J.J. Nelson (four receptions, 142 yards) with a touchdown pass that covered 64 yards.
Dalton has received a bad rap in the past for his performances under the bright lights, primarily in prime-time games and in the postseason, but if he can deliver this type of performance in the playoffs, the Bengals will undoubtedly be considered legit title contenders. The Bengals need to get their defensive backs healthy and regroup on defense as a whole.
Indeed, all’s well that ends well, but had Palmer thrown his third interception of the game or the Cardinals made some other devastating mistake, Arians’ decision to try and push the ball down the field in the final minute would have come into question.
The Cardinals trailed at halftime in what was a largely disappointing display from a typically explosive offense. Giovani Bernard had 128 receiving yards and just 18 on the ground.
Cincinnati closed out the first half with 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The Bengals have the second-best record and potentially the No. 2 seed, with Denver and ailing quarterback Peyton Manning third at 7-2.
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Led by quarterback Carson Palmer, the Cardinals outlasted the Bengals in a tough contest at home to improve to 8-2 this season.
