The Sports Xchange

CINCINNATI — Despite trailing the Seattle Seahawks by 17 points in the fourth quarter on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals didn’t flinch.

“In our minds, as bad as it looked and as good as Seattle is, we never stopped playing” said tight end Tyler Eifert. “This is what we expect to do. We expect to win.”

Mike Nugent kicked a tying field goal on the final play of regulation then a 42-yard boot with 3:26 remaining in overtime as Cincinnati improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1988 with a 27-24 victory at Paul Brown Stadium.

The last time the Bengals were 5-0 they reached the Super Bowl.

“That was a hell of a fourth and fifth quarter,” said coach Marvin Lewis. “I’m proud of our guys. It’s a long year against a lot of good teams. Today was a good step toward understanding that we can do that all the time.”

Quarterback Andy Dalton passed for 331 yards and two touchdowns and Eifert had eight catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns as the Bengals equaled the second-largest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history.

“This shows the character and fight in this team,” Dalton said.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked four times and picked off once while passing for 213 yards and a touchdown.

Starting in place of injured Marshawn Lynch, rookie Thomas Rawls rushed for 169 yards and a touchdown for Seattle (2-3), which for three quarters on Sunday looked more like a two-time Super Bowl participant before falling flat.

“I’m baffled a little bit,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “We’re very clear on what we want to do and how to get it done. What’s startling is that it’s not happening.”

Several mistakes seemed destined to haunt Cincinnati on Sunday.

In the first half, the Bengals had a 72-yard TD catch by receiver A.J. Green negated by a holding penalty and Dalton threw an interception with his team in field goal range.

Running back Rex Burkhead’s third-quarter fumble was returned 23 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Bobby Wagner to put Seattle ahead 24-7 in the fourth quarter.

“I think it’s just us having to show up and finish,” said Wagner. “We had a lot of opportunities to close the game out, but we didn’t.”

It was a seemingly insurmountable deficit against a Seattle defense allowing only 17.8 points per game.

But Dalton orchestrated a rally.

He tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Eifert then engineered a methodical five-minute, 49-second drive capped by his five-yard touchdown run to make the score 24-21 with 3:38 left.

With no timeouts remaining, Cincinnati regained possession at its own 18 with 2:17 left and drove for a game-tying 31-yard field goal by Nugent.

“I told our guys ‘This is what we’re built for,'” said Dalton. “We just had to get stops on defense and stay within our offense.”

What we learned about the Seahawks:

1. The Seahawks seemed to take their foot off the gas again with a 24-7 lead in the fourth quarter on Sunday. They’ve struggled in the final quarter in three of five games and had it not been for a fortunate call last week could be staring back to back fourth-quarter collapses in the face. “You have to look right at me for not finishing like we needed to on defense, offense, and special teams,” said coach Pete Carroll.

2. Despite the absence of RB Marshawn Lynch due to a hamstring injury, the Seahawks relied heavily on the running game in Sunday’s overtime loss at Cincinnati. Rookie Thomas Rawls started in Lynch’s place and rushed for 169 yards and a touchdown while averaging 7.3 yards per carry. Rod Smith was signed off the practice squad and Fred Jackson played despite being listed as questionable on Friday to provide some depth. The Seahawks averaged 6.7 yards per carry with “Beast Mode” sidelined. “It was a terrific day of running the football,” said Carroll.

3. Seattle’s offense was shut down in the fourth quarter. The Bengals outgained them 146 to 27 and had 10 first downs to the Seahawks’ one. “We didn’t change anything and we were still mixing it up,” said coach Pete Carroll. “I feel good about how we ran the football. We didn’t leave that. We didn’t curl up and not try to throw it either. We just didn’t convert.” The Seahawks rushed for 200 yards but only 18 in the fourth quarter. Rookie Thomas Rawls rushed for only 18 of his 169 yards in the fourth. “Like we said last week, we’re going to watch film and improve,” Rawls said.

Etc.:

–RB Marshawn Lynch missed his second straight game with a hamstring strain after playing in 60 consecutive regular-season contests. Lynch has 128 yards rushing with no TDs this season. Without Lynch, the Seahawks still managed to rush for 200 yards behind rookie Thomas Rawls’ 169 on 23 carries.

–RB Rod Smith, an Ohio State product, was signed off the practice squad to provide some depth in the absence of Marshawn Lynch who’s out with a strained hamstring. He had two carries for five yards on Sunday.

–RB Thomas Rawls started Sunday’s game in place of Marshawn Lynch who missed his second straight game with a strained hamstring and responded with 169 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry, bolstered by his 69-yard TD run when he shook off several would-be tacklers. “Thomas ran like we hoped he would,” said coach Pete Carroll. “He was pretty solid today.”

–MLB Bobby Wagner left Sunday’s game briefly in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury. His return was listed as questionable but he was back on the field for the next possession. Wagner had five tackles and a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown in Sunday’s game. He is the Seahawks’ leading tackler through five weeks.