The Falcons head back into play against the AFC this week, and they do so across the pond in the second ever NFL game to be played in the Spanish capital of Madrid, at the esteemed Estadio de Santiago Bernebéu. Their opponent in that game will be the Cincinnati Bengals, who have won two games out of every three against the Birds, owning a very aesthetically pleasing 10-5 all time record against Atlanta.
The majority of that damage came before the turn of the millennia, with the Bengals winning seven
out of 10 matchups against the overmatched Falcons through the 1996 season, with games between these teams happening on averaged every three years in that time period.
The Birds pulled back a little bit with three consecutive victories — in 2002, 2006 and 2010 — to pull the series close to even. That was quickly followed with three straight Bengals victories which brings us to where we are today, with two of those coming in the Matt Ryan era, which was also the most successful one in Falcons history. The Bengals caught Atlanta in a down year of that era twice in a row, in 2014 and 2018.
When these teams met last
The Falcons had some confidence about them in year 2 of the Arthur Smith regime, having just pulled back to .500 at 3-3, with a victory against the 49ers after some questionable reffing cost them against Tampa the week before. The Bengals sported the same record, but they proved from the start that they were on another level.
It took exactly two minutes for second year man Joe Burrow to hit Tyler Boyd on a 60-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Then after a Falcon punt, the Bengals punched the ball in again following a longer drive. Then an Atlanta three and out was followed with a Burrow to rookie Ja’Marr Chase touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, before the two connected in the end zone again on the back end of the same quarter.
By halftime the game was effectively over as the Falcon offense spent the second half completely one dimensional and getting terrorized by the Bengal defense, with Burrow putting the finishing touches on with a rushing score to complete his magnificent day.
Up 35-17, one of the most impressive feats by the Bengal offense was getting the ball back via punt at their own 3-yard-line (why the Falcons punted it near midfield down three scores in the fourth quarter I don’t know) with 8:44 left in the game and choking away that entire clock (and all three Atlanta timeouts) with a 17-play drive which went 95 yards and ended in a kneel down.
