Walk-Off Thoughts Following Cincinnati Bengals' 35-17 Win Over Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati has won four of their past five games.

James Rapien | Oct 23, 2022

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Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI — The Bengals beat the Falcons 35-17 on Sunday to improve to 4-3 on the season. Cincinnati never trailed in the victory.

Here are my walk-off thoughts following a dominant performance by the home team:

Joey Franchise

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had his best performance of the season and one of the best games of his career.

Burrow completed 34-of-42 passes for 481 yards and three touchdowns. His 481 passing yards are third in Bengals' history. He has the franchise record after throwing for 525 yards against the Ravens last season. Boomer Esiason threw for 490 yards in 1990.

Burrow also ran for a touchdown. He has a rushing touchdown in each of the past three games.

"The guy is very special," Tyler Boyd said. "Anytime you’ve got a guy like him on your team—any time we line up, I expect to win.”

The offensive line deserves credit, too. They neutralized Falcons' star Grady Jarrett and gave Burrow plenty of time to throw.

Tyler Boyd Sets Tone

Boyd was a game-changer for the Bengals for a second-straight week, finishing with eight receptions for 155 yards and one touchdown.

He got things started with a 60-yard score on the Bengals' first possession. It set the tone for the rest of the game.

Boyd made multiple catches over the middle, but also had a nice one-handed grab on the sidelines. Sometimes he gets overshadowed and is the forgotten man in Cincinnati's wide receiver room, but he's a great player and their offense is different when he's involved.

"He was lights out for us," Burrow said.

Chasin Chase

The Falcons' defense tried to stop Chase, but they couldn't keep up with him.

The 22-year-old finished with eight receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Chase praised Burrow following his first score—a 32-yard "dime" according to the star receiver.

His second score was a 41-yard catch and run. Chase outran everyone, but admitted he could've ran faster.

I wasn't even running honestly, I wasn't even running foreal," Chase said with a smirk. "I don't know how I didn't get tackled."

The Bengals scored touchdowns on their first four possessions.

"It’s fun, man. Just coming out there, having a good game, dominating in all three phases, the defense giving us the ball back so we can score more points," Ja'Marr Chase said with a smile. "That’s what we want and what we’re looking for.”

Shorthanded Defensive Steps Up

The Bengals' defense didn't have DJ Reader, Logan Wilson or Josh Tupou on Sunday, but it didn't matter.

The Falcons were probably hoping to pound the ball against a shorthanded front 7, but it didn't happen.

Atlanta finished with just 107 rushing yards and only averaged 3.7 yards-per-carry. Quarterback Marcus Mariota was the only Falcon to average more than four yards per attempt.

Jay Tufele was a difference maker on the interior of the Bengals' defense alongside BJ Hill, finishing with six tackles and one tackle-for-loss.

Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard also made game-changing plays in crucial moments. Both guys finished with sacks.

Joseph Ossai had a sack and a quarterback hit.

Cincinnati might've been shorthanded, but they accepted the challenge and embraced it.

The Bengals haven't given up a touchdown in the second half this season. The 7-game stretch is the longest since the Chiefs did it in 1997.

Zac Taylor and the Bounce Back

Taylor and the Bengals preached patience when Cincinnati started the season 0-2. Since then they've won four of their last five games and the offense appears to be hitting its stride.

“I hope you all listened to me when I got up here at 0-2 and said, ‘Just be patient, this season is very young, we know what type of team we have, I know the faith that I have in these players and coaches,'" Taylor said with a smile. "This season is still in its infancy stages. Today gave us a chance to separate a little bit, and that’s what we need, but we know what’s on task next week: Monday Night Football at Cleveland—that’s a big game for us. Guys will be amped up and ready to go. It gives us an extra day to get healthy, and our guys are ready for the challenge.”

The Bengals are tied with the Ravens for first place in the AFC North. They've bounced back from an ugly start, now they need to keep the momentum going if they're going to get their first AFC North win of the season next week.

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Published Oct 23, 2022

JAMES RAPIEN

James Rapien is the publisher of Bengals On SI. He's also the host of the Locked on Bengals podcast and Cincinnati Bengals Talk on YouTube. The Cincinnati native also wrote a book about the history of the Cincinnati Bengals called Enter The Jungle. Prior to joining Bengals On SI, Rapien worked at 700 WLW and ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati