Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bengals get first victory, knock off bungling Jets 22-6
CINCINNATI — Back from a three-week exile, Andy Dalton had more of a swagger in practice, as though he was out to prove something.
“He had a chip on his shoulder all week,” running back Joe Mixon said.
Dalton returned from one of the lowest points of his nine-year career and got a long-awaited victory Sunday for the coach who benched him, throwing a touchdown pass during a 22-6 victory over the New York Jets.
The Bengals (1-11) ended the longest losing streak in their history and finally shed their distinction as the NFL’s lone winless team. He got coach Zac Taylor his first win and set two franchise career passing records along the way.
The only thing he wouldn’t do is gloat.
“This one’s very satisfying, with everything I’ve gone through this year,” Dalton said. “To be the record-breaker today, being the first one after not playing the last three weeks, this one means a lot.”
Taylor benched Dalton after the eighth loss, deciding it was time to look toward next year and see if Ryan Finley fit in their plans. With the rookie struggling and the season careening toward 0-16, Taylor reversed course and went back to Dalton, who made the difference in front of the smallest crowd in Paul Brown Stadium’s 20-year history.
“He did a great job pumping everybody up,” said Tyler Boyd, who caught the touchdown pass. “He won the game for us.”
Carlos Dunlap and Sam Hubbard dunked Taylor with ice water in the final seconds on a cold, gray, December day when he got the inaugural win, courtesy of the quarterback he’d benched. Dalton got a game ball as a thank you.
“For him to come back and lead us and get this win, it says a lot about his character,” Taylor said.
Dalton also set a couple of franchise passing marks in front of 39,804 fans, the smallest home crowd since the final game of the 1995 season at Cinergy Field.
Dalton put Cincinnati ahead to stay with a 17-yard pass to Boyd that made him the Bengals’ career leader in touchdown passes, moving ahead of Ken Anderson with 198. He also passed Anderson for the franchise’s career completion mark. Dalton finished 22 of 37 for 243 yards with no interceptions and one sack.
STEELERS 20, BROWNS 13
PITTSBURGH — The Steelers and Browns kept things civil in their highly anticipated rematch, which ended the way they always seem to end at Heinz Field: the Steelers walking off in triumph.
Devlin “Duck” Hodges threw for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his second career start. Rookie Benny Snell ran for 63 yards and his first NFL touchdown, and the banged-up Steelers exacted revenge for their whipping at the hands of the Browns two weeks ago with a 20-13 victory on Sunday.
Pittsburgh (7-5) boosted its postseason chances by rallying from 10 points down thanks in large part to Hodges, a rookie undrafted free agent who happens to be a champion duck caller in his down time. He was aided by the emergence of wide receiver James Washington, who caught four passes for 111 yards and a juggling 30-yard score late in the first half.
The Browns (5-7) saw their three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt when they failed to handle a Pittsburgh offense riddled with injuries and inexperience at the skill positions. Baker Mayfield completed 18 of 32 passes for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception; he played the entire second half with his right hand in a protective glove after smacking it against the face mask of Pittsburgh linebacker Bud Dupree.
Cleveland failed to pull even with the Steelers in the standings and sweep the season series from its rival for the first time in 31 years.
The teams’ first meeting on Nov. 14 ended with an ugly altercation between Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph that ended with Garrett hitting Rudolph in the head with Rudolph’s helmet. The ensuing fallout — which included Garrett being suspended indefinitely; Rudolph fending off Garrett’s allegation that he used a racial slur shortly before things got out of hand; suspensions for Browns defensive end Larry Ogunjobi and Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey; and more than $700,000 in fines.
That reignited a rivalry that’s been dominated by the Steelers since Cleveland returned to the NFL a generation ago.
RAMS 34, CARDINALS 7
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jared Goff threw for 424 yards and two touchdowns, and Robert Woods had 172 yards receiving.
The Rams (7-5) bounced back from an embarrassing 45-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night by embarrassing the Cardinals and stayed in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Goff methodically picked apart the Cardinals defense, which was the NFL’s worst against the pass coming into the game. He had thrown no touchdowns passes and five interceptions over his previous three games, but responded with 323 yards passing in the first half as the Rams built a 20-0 lead.
Woods finished with a game-high 13 catches, Tyler Higbee caught seven balls for a career-high 107 yards and a touchdown, and Cooper Kupp had six catches for 65 yards and another score. Todd Gurley II ran for 95 yards and a touchdown.
The Cardinals (3-8-1) had a week to rest and prepare for the Rams after coming off their bye week but looked rusty instead of refreshed. They’ve lost five straight games.
TITANS 31, COLTS 17
INDIANAPOLIS — Tye Smith returned a blocked field goal 63 yards for the goahead touchdown with 5:02 left to play.
The Titans (7-5) snapped a three-game losing streak in the series, winning for only the third time in the past 17 meetings. It also allowed Tennessee to leapfrog the Colts in the AFC South.
Adam Vinatieri missed three field goals for Indy (66), with two being blocked, including the decisive kick that Dane Cruikshank got his hand on. Vinatieri has missed 14 kicks this season: eight field goals and six extra points.
But Vinatieri’s misses weren’t the Colts’ only problem.
Jacoby Brissett was picked off twice, the first resulting in a 31-yard field goal that tied the score at 17 late in the third quarter, the second resulting in Ryan Tannehill’s 40-yard TD pass to Kalif Raymond with 3:02 left that sealed the victory.
Indy also lost a fumble deep in Tennessee territory with two minutes left when the Titans won a challenge.
Derrick Henry carried 26 times for 149 yards and one touchdown, becoming the first runner to top the 100-yard mark against Indy in 30 games. Tannehill was 17 of 22 with 182 yards and two TD passes as he improved to 5-1 as Tennessee’s starter.
PACKERS 31, GIANTS 13
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes in the snow and the Packers rebounded from a dismal West Coast performance.
The Packers sent the Giants to their eighth straight loss, their worst skid since 2004.
Rodgers finished 21 of 33 for 243 yards with no interceptions on a slippery, snowy day at MetLife Stadium. Rodgers hit Davante Adams on touchdown passes of 8 and 17 yards, found a wide-open Allen Lazard for 37 yards and capped the performance with a 1-yarder to Marcedes Lewis.
The Packers (9-3) also intercepted Giants rookie Daniel Jones three times, with the picks setting up 10 points.
Jones, who had not thrown an interception in the last two games, finished 20 of 37 for 240 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard. Aldrick Rosas added field goals of 27 and 45 yards for New York (2-10), which has a 7-21 mark since Pat Shurmur took over last season.
REDSKINS 29, PANTHERS 21
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Derrius Guice ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns and the Redskins made a late goal-line stand. Adrian Peterson added 99 yards and a score as the Redskins (39) piled up 248 yards on the ground and scored their most points this season.
The Panthers’ (5-7) fourth straight loss could put coach Ron Rivera’s job in jeopardy.
The Redskins spotted the Panthers a 14-0 lead after quarterback Kyle Allen opened the game 8 of 8 for 106 yards with touchdown passes to Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore on Carolina’s first two possessions.
But what looked like a Carolina rout quickly turned.
The Redskins upped the pressure on Allen and the Panthers, forcing eight punts and an interception on the next nine possessions. Washington limited the Panthers to 65 yards on those nine drives and neutralized Christian McCaffrey, holding the NFL’s leader in yards from scrimmage to 102 total yards, well below his season average.
Redskins linebacker Ryan Anderson was ejected after delivering a helmet-to-helmet hit on tight end Greg Olsen.
BUCCANEERS 28, JAGUARS 11
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nick Foles ended his first
three drives with turnovers that Tampa Bay turned into touchdowns. It was Jacksonville’s fourth consecutive loss by at least 17 points and could mean the end of coach Doug Marrone’s tenure with the team. At the very least, the skid will have owner Shad Khan considering changes over the final month of the season.
Marrone, meanwhile, has to decide what to do at quarterback. He benched Foles at halftime, switching back to rookie sensation Gardner Minshew.
Minshew rallied the Jags (4-8) and had a chance to make it a seven-point game in the fourth quarter. But his hot pass slipped through Dede Westbrook’s hands and into Sean Murphy-Bunting’s arms for Jacksonville’s fourth turnover of the day.
The Buccaneers (5-7) have won two straight for the first time in coach Bruce Arians’ first season. Jameis Winston was 21 of 33 for 268 yards and didn’t throw an interception for the first time in a month.
BRONCOS 23, CHARGERS 20
DENVER — Brandon McManus’ 53-yard field goal as time expired, set up by a long interference call, capped a furious final 14 seconds and
gave the Broncos a 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Rookie quarterback Drew Lock’s debut win for Denver came a month after Brandon Allen beat Cleveland. It made the Broncos the first team in league history to have two quarterbacks start and win their NFL debuts in the same season.
The winner by McManus, who stormed off the field just before halftime when coach Vic Fangio changed his mind about letting him attempt a record 65-yard field goal, was set up by a 38-yard pass interference call on Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward Jr.
Diontae Spencer returned the kickoff 26 yards to the Denver 28 after the Chargers tied the game at 20 on Michael Badgley’s 46-yard field goal with 14 seconds remaining. With 9 seconds left, Lock threw deep down the right sideline to Sutton, who caught his two first-quarter touchdown passes.
Sutton collided with Hayward and the yellow flag came out. The Chargers argued vehemently about the defensive pass interference, giving the Broncos the ball at the Chargers 35-yard line with 3 seconds remaining.