Unlikely rally has Bengals at 5- 0
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CINCINNATI — Andy Dalton’s fingerprints were all over one of the Cincinnati Bengals’ greatest comebacks.
Playing like an elite quarterback, Dalton led the Bengals from a 17- point deficit to a victory Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Mike Nugent’s 42- yard field goal in overtime bounced off the left upright and through to give the unbeaten Bengals a 27- 24 victory.
This wasn’t just any victory. It matched the second- biggest comeback in Bengals history and came against the two- time defending NFC champion Seahawks.
‘‘ For us to come back against a really, really good team is huge,’’ Dalton said.
Nobody came up bigger than Dalton did.
With the Bengals ( 5- 0) trailing 24- 7 heading into the fourth quarter, Dalton threw for a touchdown, ran for another and led them on a 69- yard drive with no timeouts to get Nugent’s 31- yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
Dalton is going through a growth spurt in his fifth season, leading the NFL in fourth- quarter passer rating. He went 13- for- 15 for 135 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime against the Seahawks ( 2- 3).
‘‘ We imploded in the third quarter, but we righted ourselves and started putting one play on top of another and kept going,’’ Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.
The Seahawks punted twice in overtime, giving the Bengals a chance to pull out the game. Nugent’s field goal ended it with 3: 36 left in the extra period, leaving the Bengals 5- 0 for the first time since 1988, the last time they went to the Super Bowl.
The 17- point collapse matched the biggest in Seahawks history. The Seahawks also blew such games in 2003 against the Baltimore Ravens and 2004 against the St. Louis Rams.
‘‘ The most frustrating part is we didn’t finish,’’ Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin said. ‘‘ We’re known for that, andwe didn’t do that today.’’
The Seahawks looked to be in good shape after scoring two touchdowns in a two- minute span of the third quarter. Undrafted rookie Thomas Rawls ran 69 yards for a touchdown, part of a careerbest 169- yard game, and linebacker Bobby Wagner returned a fumble 23 yards for another score.
But unlike it did Monday, when safety Kam Chancellor stripped the ball from Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson in the last two minutes to preserve a 13- 10 victory, the Seahawks’ defense couldn’t come up with the big play at the end.