Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals not only got a much-needed victory in an opener, they got it by winning ugly and a couple of breaks going their way.
Cincinnati's 17-16 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday was a far cry from last season when the Bengals lost four games despite scoring at least 30 points and dropped two games by one point.
“Forget about the stats. Forget about the score. Forget about how it all played out. The best the outcome could have been was 1-0 and we’re proud of that.
We’ll make some corrections and move forward,” coach Zac Taylor said.
It was also a game where Taylor can say all three phases contributed to the win.
Joe Burrow and the offense struggled in the second half, but it found the end zone on two of the first three possessions to put the Bengals up 14-10 at halftime.
The much-maligned defense was able to pick up the slack with a pair of interceptions by Jordan Battle and DJ Turner. Battle's pick helped set up Evan McPherson's go-ahead, 35-yard field goal.
Cincinnati took the lead with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter after Cleveland rookie kicker Andre Szmyt missed an extra point, keeping the Browns advantage at 16-14.
Szmyt also had a potential go-ahead 36-yard field-goal attempt go wide right with 2:22 remaining in the game.
“Everything didn’t go our way on every single play, but I truly believe our guys did nothing to beat ourselves, or to allow us to beat ourselves. We just played disciplined," Taylor said. "You heard me preach it all last year. We got to play with the lead, so we can play the right way in the second half, and this is a great example.”
It is only the second time in Taylor's seven seasons that the Bengals have started the season with a win. The previous time was 2021 when Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl for the third time in franchise history before losing to the Los Angeles Rams.
Taylor and the coaching staff stressed getting off to a good start early. After hosing Jacksonville on Sunday, the Bengals will have five straight games against teams that reached the playoffs last season, with three being on the road.
“We didn’t win any of these games last year. Usually when you can win a game like this, that’s a recipe for success and that means you are going to be a good team if you can find a lot of different ways to win,” Burrow said.
Pass defense. Besides Battle and Turner's interceptions, the Bengals allowed only five completions on 13 attempts thrown 11 yards or more downfield. Last season opponents had a 53.4% completion rate on intermediate and long passes, the third highest in the league. Cleveland's longest completion of the day, a 25-yard reception by Jerry Jeudy, was on the final play of the game.
Run blocking. Chase Brown averaged a league worse -2.8 yards before contact. Six of Brown's 22 carries went for no gain or negative yards.
DT Mike Pennel was in for 22 plays after being signed last Monday to the practice squad. Pennel, cut by the Chiefs at the end of preseason, was promoted to the gameday roster and had one solo tackle, three assists and a quarterback pressure.
WR Andrei Iosvias, fourth on the Bengals with 36 receptions last season, wasn't targeted on any of the 17 routes he ran.
Starting right guard Lucas Patrick goes into the week questionable after suffering a calf injury in the second quarter. Dalton Risner came in and played the remainder of the game.
4: Consecutive wins by the Bengals over their in-state rival. Taylor lost seven of his first nine meetings against the Browns.
6: Years since the Bengals had last won a one-point game before Sunday (Week 4 of the 2018 season at Atlanta).
7: Offensive net yards by the Bengals in the second half, the fewest an NFL team has had in a win since 2000 according to SportRadar. The previous mark was 13 by Tennessee in a 24-17 Week 15 win over Jacksonville in 2006.
The Bengals look to go 2-0 for the first time since 2018 when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0). Cincinnati has won the past three meetings.
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