CINCINNATI — Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton guided a two-minute drill in front of a half-empty Paul Brown Stadium with the rest of the fans beating the construction and the traffic in the final minutes.
That drive was for naught. Denver had already put the Bengals away with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Seimian to Demaryius Thomas on the previous drive. That capped a 29-17 win for the Broncos and meant another missed opportunity for the Bengals to prove their worth as a true as an AFC contender.
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“We go up three in the fourth quarter there, and aren’t able to win the game,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “And a couple of times we had field position and came away with field goals.”
Siemian threw four TDs while Dalton had none. The Bengals ran the ball effectively with Jeremy Hill, who had 17 carries for 97 yards and two TDs. What made the difference? Wait for it …
“We killed ourselves with penalties,” Lewis said. “We can’t do that. We can’t let that happen as coaches. We got the penalties that allowed the drives to continue on third down for them, which made a big difference.”
It’s not the Bungles narrative we’re looking for. That’s lazy. It’s not the Dalton narrative or the Lewis narrative or grasping for anything Cincinnati fans don’t already know.
The offense might be better when Tyler Eifert returns and once Ken Zampese settles in. Vontaze Burfict’s three-game suspension is over. The Bengals have a short week before a Thursday home game against the Dolphins, but this team has enough talent to stay in the playoff hunt.
Cincinnati has the fifth-best regular-season record since 2011, behind New England, Denver, Green Bay and Seattle. They are looking for a sixth straight playoff appearance. We know the Bengals are good.
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We don’t know when they will step up and show it against a real contender, and that list is short in the AFC. Since 2011, the Bengals are 6-18 against Denver, Pittsburgh, New England and Houston. That’s come with an equal 3-9 record at home and on the road, including playoffs. That’s the standard Cincinnati is worthy of being measured against.
Yet they missed that opportunity in the fourth quarter after taking a 17-16 lead. Siemian finished 9 of 10 for 159 yards and a pair of TDs in the fourth quarter and had 312 yards and four TDs overall. Denver improved to 3-0, along with New England and Baltimore. Pittsburgh is 2-1.
Cincinnati is 1-2 now with losses to the Steelers and Broncos, and waiting for its next shot. That comes with the Dolphins before a road game against the Cowboys the following week.
From there, we’ll get to see the Bengals get another shot against a heavyweight on Oct. 16 at New England.
“It’s still so early,” Dalton said. “A lot can be accomplished for us, but we need to move on. Luckily for us, we have a short week. It is a quick turnaround, and we must move on.”
