It started in Atlanta on Sept. 30 when Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton hit wide receiver A.J. Green with seven seconds left for a 13-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bengals a 37-36 win.
It continued the next week at Paul Brown Stadium when they steered the Bengals to a nine-play, 67-yard drive that yielded the winning field goal with 3:30 left in a 27-17 victory over Miami.
They did it again the next week against Pittsburgh at PBS when Dalton found Green for two late plays that set up running back Joe Mixon's four-yard TD and a 21-20 lead over the Steelers with 78 seconds left. Pittsburgh wiped out that come-back win with its own comeback, but Sunday at PBS the CPR team of Dalton and Green struck again and held on for a 37-34 win on Randy Bullock's 44-yarder at the gun.
It was set up on a 23-yarder to Green deep over the middle under a deep zone with 17 seconds left at the Bucs 41 and after Dalton spiked the ball to stop the clock, he hit Green on a slant with seven seconds left for 11 more yards. A delay of game on Tampa Bay got Bullock close enough.
Green was shaking his head. Almost disgusted. The Bengals started the second half with four three-and-outs on 12 plays that took just 6:12, didn't get a first down in the half until rookie running back Mark Walton converted a third-and-one with 4:22 left in the game and they didn't get 50 of their 95 second-half yards until those last few snaps.
"You just need to put one minute on the clock every time we're on offense and say we're about to lose the game and come out with a win," said Green, who still managed 76 yards on five catches …
Green said he jammed his toe on that last catch, but said he's fine …
The Bengals defense just finished a historic two days they hope doesn't make the textbooks. After giving up 551 yards last week in Kansas City, they surrendered 576 on Sunday, the second most under head coach Marvin Lewis. The most (595) also came in a win on Nov. 19, 2006 when they survived 510 Drew Brees passing yards in New Orleans. It's also the most yards the Bengals have ever allowed in back-to-back games.
"We gave up nearly 600 yards, but I'd rather do that with a win than give up that and lose," said safety Shawn Williams, who had one of the four interceptions. "And I know its stuff we can correct. It's not a lack of talent or lack of anything or lack of coaches; we've just got to correct (our mistakes)."
And they'll have to do that quickly because after the bye, guess who is here at PBS on Nov. 11? That same Drew Brees and his Saints …
The press box wags are going nuts on the Bengals defense. They're now on pace to give up the most yards of all-time (7,164) after becoming just the second team in the Super Bowl era (the 2012 Bills) to give up at least 551 yards in back-to-back games and the fourth since the 1970 merger to give up at least 480 in three straight …
Middle linebacker Preston Brown, who also had a pick, had the proverbial mixed feelings.
"It's great to get a win, even though we need to get better on defense. We gave up a thousand yards on defense today. We've got to find a way to get more takeaways. It seemed like we had a pick every other series. We need to find ways to get off the field," Brown said. "A win is a win, so you feel good, but this one feels a little weird. We've got to find a way to do it on defense, but luckily our offense helped us out." …
The Bengals have rarely, if ever, traveled their corners under Lewis but they did Sunday and William Jackson responded by holding speedy DeSean Jackson to 68 yards on three catches. He did give DeSean a 60-yard TD bomb on which he appeared to look for help over the top but Will took the blame.
He and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick sound all for traveling, where they follow one guy everywhere and don't stay on a side. Even though Evans finished with six catches for 179 yards, Kirkpatrick loved the idea. One of those was a 72-yard bomb with no one near him on what Kirkpatrick said was blown coverage.
"That was fire," he said of traveling. "I thought it worked out well … it was a great challenge and I was ready for it." …
At the end of his 24th career game-winning drive, Dalton was full service. The Bengals asked Bullock where he wanted the ball. With a healthy wind whipping right to left (there were isolated gales at about 30 miles per hour), Bullock asked for the left hash and Dalton obliged with a few steps left before taking one-yard loss with a knee ….
Rookie tight end Jordan Franks' first NFL play turned into a 32-yard catch off a wheel route in the first quarter when starter C.J. Uzomah left briefly with a shoulder injury.
"I knew it. It's in my playbook," Uzomah said. "When we put it in this week, I starred it. Put an asterisk next to him. I texted him. I thought it was going to be a touchdown." …
