Written by Geoff Hobson at Bengals.com
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, blistering 21 of his first 27 passes for 311 yards and a 139.4 passer rating, ended the longest winless drought of his six seasons when he staked the Bengals to a 29-0 lead by directing six scores on their first six drives during Sunday’s 32-14 victory over the Eagles at Paul Brown Stadium.
With their first win in 42 days and two presidents, the 4-7-1 Bengals stopped the skid at four games with their most compete effort of the season. As WILL linebacker Vontaze Burfict piled up 15 more tackles and two interceptions (one off yet another Carlos Dunlap deflection), the Eagles didn’t score until 2:30 left in the third quarter. It took a 13-yard touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Carson Wentz on fourth-and-five to wide-open tight end Zach Ertz.
With two completions over 40 yards, Dalton finished 23 of 31 for 332 yards with a 130 passer rating and for the first time in 117 games the Bengals scored on their first six possessions .
After leaping to a 19-0 half-time lead, the Bengals went for the jugular when they took the opening kick of the second half and got another touchdown to go up 26-0 when Dalton threw an eight-yard arrow to wide receiver Brandon LaFell on third-and-five when LaFell ran past safety Malcolm Jenkins for the touchdown. The drive featured another perfect touch over-the-shoulder throw by Dalton, this time down the middle for 44 yards, LaFell’s longest catch since the opener on his way to a season-high 95 yards.
Besides Dalton’s lasers, the bolts of running back Rex Burkhead (38 yards on eight carries), and the defense’s mastery of Wentz, the most interesting issue to emerge Sunday came in the Bengals right tackle rotation. Veteran Eric Winston got his first start of the season in place of Cedric Ogbuehiand rotated with Jake Fisher instead of Ogbuehi.
And when Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworth left with a leg injury late in the third quarter, Fisher moved to left, Winston came back at right and Ogbuehi stayed on the bench. With 6:52 left in the game, Whitworth came back in. Then after Fisher caught his second NFL pass on Dalton’s roll-out, he fumbled after taking a shot to the left knee and had to be helped off the field after the Bengals’ second lost fumble of the second half. Winston replaced him, but the injury was categorized as only a bruise.
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