Game Recap: Bengals Fall 22-25 (OT) to Packers

Every week in the NFL, during the recap of the early slate of games, there’s a main story and character. This week, the main story is unquestionably how the game between the Bengals and Packers was cut short three minutes early, replaced by a high-budget comedy production about kicking footballs anywhere except between the goalposts. By the grace of a game-winning 49-yard field goal, Packers kicker Mason Crosby avoided being this week’s main character. He and Evan McPherson combined to finish 5 of the last 7 drives in the game with missed kicks.

This is the fourth game of the Bengals’ season to end with 3 points deciding the winning team, bringing them to a 2-2 record in such games. Their Week 3 victory over the Steelers – by a whole touchdown – keeps them at 3-2 and in possession of the best divisional record in the AFC North. They’ll know where they stand in the division by the time the Ravens and Colts finish their game on Monday night.

Notes

Offense

• If you didn’t know the Packers were missing Jaire Alexander before the game, you wouldn’t have noticed from the Bengals’ first several plays on offense. Each of their first two drives ended after three plays, with only 10 yards gained between them. Their third drive – which ended in a touchdown – nearly ended in similar fashion, going to 4th down after Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase failed to connect on a pair of right-sideline passes with rookie cornerback Eric Stokes in coverage. The player who moved the sticks on 4th-and-3 – and, later, scored the touchdown – was Samaje Perine. None of the players who accounted for positive yards on that 10-play, 51-yard drive were wide receivers. Tee Higgins contributed key catches on 3rd-and-6 and the 2-point conversion to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but dropped two passes in critical moments. Tyler Boyd was a non-factor.

• Few things in the NFL feel as reliable as Burrow, in any given two-minute drill, piercing the sky with a dragon that flies gracefully into the hands of Chase before being carried to the end zone. Chase caught six of his ten targets and turned them into 159 yards and a touchdown that came in the final minutes of the first half.

• Perine filled in competently as the Bengals’ lead back with Joe Mixon still working through an ankle injury, totaling 83 yards and a touchdown on 15 touches. Mixon, by comparison, totaled 35 yards on his own 11 touches. Still, the lead back showed on an 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that he was healthy enough to play well if Perine hadn’t been up to it.

• It takes too much effort to see what Burrow was trying to do on either of his interceptions. They’re black marks against an otherwise solid performance.

Defense

• The Packers’ second drive ended with a pass intended for Davante Adams deep down the right sideline landing in the hands of the Bengals’ Chidobe Awuzie, who’d stuck with Adams throughout the play despite a double move and Aaron Rodgers taking seven-plus seconds to throw the ball. It was a great play by Awuzie – who had a stellar first half overall – but one of few battles that the Bengals defense won against Adams throughout the game. By the end of the first half alone, Adams hauled in six of nine targets for 117 yards and a touchdown. Adams hauled in two of his catches against solo coverage from Eli Apple and Trae Waynes near the end of the first half while Awuzie was sidelined, but many more against zone defenses where the nearest Bengals player was a linebacker or safety. It didn’t appear that the Bengals had any special plan in place to stop Adams until the second half.

• It’s not worth much in light of Adams’ performance, but the Bengals did a good job containing the rest of the Packers’ passing game. The pass rush consistently got after Rodgers, and Trey Hendrickson added a pair of sacks to bring his season total up to 4.5 through 5 games. The only other wide receivers to record a catch for the Packers – Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard – combined to haul in 4 of their 5 targets for 36 yards.

• On the other hand, the Bengals gave up a combined 222 yards on 32 touches to Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, and Marcedes Lewis. Jones nearly killed the Bengals with a 57-yard run in the 4th quarter, but Dillon turned 4 catches into 49 yards and a touchdown.

– Andy Hammel is the Managing Editor for the Bengals at Full Press Coverage. Follow @Andy_Hammel