The Cincinnati Bengals held a 21-7 lead during the third quarter of the game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Miami ran for 69 yards on their second possession of the 2nd half, getting down to the 1-yard line. The Bengals were able to make a stand and held them to just a field goal on the possession.
Let’s take a look at the critical plays that helped them to do so.
The Bengals brought in the beef defensively with the Dolphins starting at the 1-yard line. They had Myles Murphy, BJ Hill, TJ Slaton,
Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and Cedric Johnson all on the line. Even Joe Giles-Harris was up at the line a bit outside of those six guys.
Murphy was able to knife through and get pressure behind the line, forcing Ollie Gordon to try and bounce the run to the outside. Demetrius Knight Jr. was able to come up from his linebacker position and make the tackle for loss.
That play forced a 2-yard loss, moving the Dolphins back to their own 3-yard line.
On 2nd-and-goal, the Dolphins went with play-action. The Bengals were not fooled, specifically Boye Mafe sticking with the tight end until Dax Hill could make his way over to help in coverage. Barrett Carter was another guy who read the play immediately.
Carter did well to stay in front of the mobile quarterback Malik Willis. He didn’t bite on anything, and ultimately was able to sack Willis for an 8-yard loss on the play.
On 3rd down, the Bengals rushed just four, but were still able to generate some pressure from Dexter Lawrence and Boye Mafe. This forced Malik Willis to make a tough throw on the run. DJ Ivey was in good coverage and was able to knock the ball down, holding the Dolphins to just 3 points on the drive.
This allowed the Bengals to maintain a two-score lead at 21-10. The Bengals would go on to add to it with a Burrow-to-Chase touchdown later in the third quarter. They ultimately held on for a 35-28 victory over the Dolphins. A crucial goal-line stop was nice to see out of this Bengals defense.
