FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Joe Burrow wanted to be happier after the Cincinnati Bengals walked off the field with a 22-18 win over the New England Patriots on Saturday.
Burrow threw three touchdown passes and the Bengals had nearly 500 yards on offense. But it took defense, forcing a late turnover in the red zone, to retain the win.
He also knows that this will not be enough for his team to achieve their goal this season.
“We need to be better at eliminating teams on offense,” Burrow said. “Teams that want to win the Super Bowl got them out of the way a little earlier.”
The Bengals (11-4) won their seventh straight win and stayed in the driver’s seat for a second straight AFC North title. They secured a playoff spot as a result of the New York Jets’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday and still have a shot at the conference top spot and a first-round playoff bye.
Despite leading 22-0 at halftime, the Bengals still let it go.
The Patriots had the ball on the Cincinnati 5 with just over a minute to play when Rhamondre Stevenson was hit by Vonn Bell and fumbled, leading to Josh Tupou’s recovery. The Bengals punched it back four games later, but the Patriots turned the ball over on downs.
“I was trying to make an impact,” Stevenson said. “I’ve probably done more than I should have done. He probably should have just gone down, but in the end he took the ball from me and I fumbled.”
Stevenson was stopped at the line of scrimmage and pushed backwards before fumbling. Referee Craig Wrolstad was asked after the game by a pool reporter if there were any considerations of blowing the game dead before the ball came out.
“In order to move forward, the bishop must be controlled by the defense,” Wrolstad said. “He needs to be held and controlled and basically his feet need to be taken away. We felt he still had his feet. So we didn’t feel like he was being held down and controlled by the defense. He was still free to make meters and then of course there was also the possibility that he could fiddle around.”
Burrow finished 40 of 52 for 375 yards and two interceptions. Trenton Irwin had two touchdown catches. Tee Higgins had eight catches for 128 yards and a TD.
The Patriots (7-8) entered the first week’s game outside of the last AFC playoff spot. They lost four out of five.
Mac Jones finished 21 of 33 for 240 yards and two touchdowns. New England had 10 penalties for 82 yards and hauled just 285 total yards. Nick Folk also missed out on two extra points on a day when the game temperature was 17 degrees and wind chill was 4.
Cincinnati was leading 22-18 and was in third place with less than four minutes to go when Ja’Marr Chase caught a short pass from Burrow and was pulled off by Matt Judon. The ball was recovered by Marcus Jones on the New England 43.
A defensive holding penalty against the Bengals and a 15-yard completion from Mac Jones to Marcus Jones put the ball on the Cincinnati 31.
The frigid temperatures did little to slow down the Bengals’ offense early on, who scored on each of their first three possessions.
Cincinnati dominated the first half, scoring more first downs (22) in the first 30 minutes than the Patriots played (17). New England only managed three first downs, 70 total yards and 44 penalty yards.
Things changed in the second half. First, a faulty pass from Burrow was intercepted by Marcus Jones and returned 69 yards for a touchdown.
The Patriots offense, showered with boos at various points in the game, then moved to 22-12 early in the fourth on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mac Jones to Kendrick Bourne.
The Bengals seemed about to react, but kicker Evan McPherson’s field goal attempt from 43 yards went wide to the left.
The Patriots threatened again at the Cincinnati 30 when Jones was called out for a deliberate grounding and put up a third-and-24. It was moved back another 5 yards after a false start.
Facing third and 29th, Jones avoided the Bengals’ passing frenzy, coming off a pass that deflected off the goal line and fell into the hands of Jakobi Meyers for a 48-yard TD. Folk’s extra point wasn’t good, leaving the score 22-18.
Cincinnati won in New England for the first time since 1986.
“We’ll be happy with the win because they’re so hard to come by and seven straight times our lads have confidence that we’re playing good football,” said Bengals coach Zac Taylor.
INJURIES
Bengals: OT La’el Collins limped away in the first quarter with a left knee injury and was ruled out.
Patriots: ST Brendan Schooler retired in the first quarter with a shoulder injury but was able to return. … TE Hunter Henry left the team in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return. … TE Jonnu Smith was checked out early in the fourth quarter with a head injury. … Judon walked away under his own power after being shaken in a game in the fourth and was able to return.
GET DEFENSIVE
Marcus Jones’ pick-6 marked the sixth defensive TD of the season for New England, setting a franchise record. It was also the Patriots’ third straight game with a defensive record, which they haven’t done since 2004.
NEXT
Bengals: Host Bills in Monday night’s matchup on January 2nd
Patriots: Hosting Dolphins on New Year’s Day.
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