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The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-21 without leading a second.
Once again, Evan McPherson gives the Bengals a winning kick.
The Bengals scared the Cincinnati loyalists at halftime with a 14-point deficit. But nonetheless, the Bengals have taken a last-second victory to go 3-1 so far.
So the Bengals are good, right? Not necessarily. The last time the Bengals went 3-1 to start the season, they finished 6-9-1 and Marvin Lewis lost his job.
The Bengals have a test against the Packers next Sunday. Green Bay looked lost on their first start to the Saints, but easily fought off the Lions in their next game. They are currently at the top of their division and will likely secure another victory against the Steelers this week.
Luckily for the Bengals, they have a long week ahead of their toughest opponent. Hopefully Tee Higgins and Chidobe Awuzie can recover from their injuries, and the Bengals can steal a win from the Packers.
How are the Bengals handling their last win? Here is what we learned:
CJ Uzomah has the best season of his career
In two of the Bengals’ three wins, CJ Uzomah made a play to help put the game away. Joe Burrow came to him in a crucial fourth overtime conversion to help defeat the Vikings. On Thursday night, Uzomah not only had two touchdowns, but also the on-screen capture that put the Bengals within shooting range.
In four games, Uzomah has the highest yards per reception, the second highest catch percentage (behind just his rookie year in which he caught his only target), and the highest yards per target. He’s on track for 570 yards which would be a career high of over 100 yards.
Every year under Zac Taylor, Uzomah gets better and better. Whether it’s because Tyler Eifert isn’t ahead of him on the depths board or because Taylor’s offense presents him well, Uzomah has been crucial this season. He might not list the numbers of someone like Travis Kelce, but he’s there when Burrow needs him.
Logan Wilson has a monster season
Linebacker Logan Wilson came in on Thursday night tied for first in the NFL in interceptions and second in total tackles.
While he didn’t have an interception against the Jaguars, he made 11 tackles, the Bengals’ lone sack and the game-changing goal-line tackle.
At the post-match press conference, Burrow called the stoppage a “hidden game.” If Trevor Lawrence gets into the end zone in this game, then the Bengals’ return becomes that much more difficult. Instead of scoring a basket to win, the Bengals should have scored a touchdown to force overtime.
The Bengals haven’t had a good center linebacker in years and probably never had one like Wilson. He’s been one of the keys to defensive improvement this year.
By the way, Larry Ogunjobi also helped in the fourth stop. How poetic it is that he and Wilson have come to a standstill and been two of the Bengals’ best defensemen this year.
Zac Taylor needs to be more consistent
Zac Taylor should have some credit for taking the Bengals out of a 14-0 hole, but he should also have some credit for bringing the Bengals into the 14-0 hole.
It’s a trend this year that the Bengals offense is taking too long to kick in. Not only do the Bengals have a touchdown in the first quarter this year, but they’ve had a touchdown in the first 28 minutes of play of every game combined this year. Of the four touchdowns in the first half this year, three of them came from the two-minute drill.
This tendency to wait 28 minutes to score is infuriating. If the trend continues, Taylor will need to host a lot more comebacks in Q4 and overtime this year.
Once the Bengals start scoring, they can score points. The Bears game is proof of that, after the Bengals scored two touchdowns in just over a minute. 24 points in the second half against the Jaguars would be much more impressive if they hadn’t laid a goose egg in the first half.
If the Bengals wait 28 minutes to score against the Packers, then the game will be over before half-time.
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