In the second half of Sunday’s game, the Cincinnati defense made sure the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t score when Joe Burrow was unable to place the ball in the end zone.
Geno Smith was twice intercepted by the Bengals’ defense. In the last 2:08 of the game, they twice stopped the Seahawks on fourth down from inside the Cincinnati 10 to maintain a 17-13 victory.
The Bengals climbed to 3-3 heading into their bye week after winning two straight games for the first time this year.
“It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “That’s the first thing that hit me when I walked off the field. At times it felt ugly, especially on offense, but again our defense stepped up and made some big plays for us that allowed us to get out of there.”
With 35 seconds left, B.J. Hill’s hit on Smith caused him to throw an incomplete pass, which forced the Bengals to stop Seattle on fourth-and-8 from the Bengals 9.
Sam Hubbard’s sack of Seahawks quarterback Alex Smith on the previous drive’s fourth-and-goal situation at the Bengals’ 6-yard line resulted in a turnover to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati began the game by scoring touchdowns on its opening two possessions, then punted six times, allowing Seattle to score late.
Tre Brown picked off Burrow to open the third quarter, and Cincinnati could only muster a 52-yard field goal from Evan McPherson the rest of the way.
Kenneth Walker’s 1-yard TD run on the opening drive of the game was Seattle’s (3-2) lone touchdown. In the second half, Smith was intercepted twice. He completed 27 of 41 passes for 323 total yards while evading Cincinnati’s pass pressure.
185 yards on 24 of 35 attempts by Burrow. Ja’Marr Chase caught six passes for 80 yards on 13 attempts.
Walker’s touchdown run gave Smith the lead on an 11-play drive that lasted nearly 6 1/2 minutes before Burrow took over.
The quarterback for Cincinnati needed 13 plays to reach the end zone, and Tyler Boyd caught the 8-yard touchdown throw.
Burrow led the Bengals 73 yards for another score following a punt by the Seahawks. He received excellent protection while running from the 3-yard line and was able to wait for Andrei Iosivas to become available before cutting through the middle of the end zone.
Third-quarter Bengals punt gave Seattle a short field, but the subsequent drive was stopped on the Cincinnati 5 when Cam Taylor-Britt intercepted a ball meant for Tyler Lockett. A 23-yard field goal by Jason Myers made the Bengals‘ lead 14-13.
In the fourth quarter, Taylor-Britt intercepted Smith and returned the ball to the Seattle 34, where the Bengals once more struggled. Before McPherson’s 52-yard field goal to make it 17-13, Burrow completed three incomplete passes, one of which hit a defender in the back.
