CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton bounced back from the worst performance of his career with one of his best, and wide receiver A.J. Green looked fully recovered from his toe injury as he returned to Pro Bowl form with his best game since the season opener.

But their rebound performances – Dalton threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 143.9, while Green caught six passes for 127 yards and a score – were only part of the reason for the 27-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday that moved the Bengals back into first place in the AFC North.

Equally as encouraging was the way a number of players grew up and played well in expanded roles as the team continues to deal with numerous injuries.

Running back Jeremy Hill’s performance was the most notable. The rookie second-round pick ran for 152 yards while starting a third consecutive game for Giovani Bernard, who is expected to return to practice this week after missing three games with hip and clavicle injuries.

First-round cornerback Darqueze Dennard played his most important role of the season, while seventh-round wide receiver James Wright and third-round defensive end Will Clarke each logged a career-high number of snaps.

“As you go further through the year and the young guys have been with us, they’ve been around and they see it at some point if they get an opportunity to play,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “They made good on those snaps, which is good. As we go through the year, we’re going to need all these guys to contribute at some point.”

Second-year running back Rex Burkhead and third-year corner Dre Kirkpatrick also had increased roles.

Kirkpatrick, whom Lewis said “played his tail off,” was in for a season-high 43 snaps for injured starter Terence Newman. And when Leon Hall, the other starting corner left with a sore Achilles in the fourth quarter, Dennard stepped in and impressed, finishing with one tackle and one pass defended in addition to forcing a fumble on special teams.

Wright appears to have moved past Brandon Tate as the No. 3 wide receiver based on his 30 snaps. He only caught one pass, but it was a difficult one along the sideline on a third-and-8 play that extended the team’s 12-play touchdown drive on its first series of the game.

Burkhead posted career highs in catches (three) and receiving yards (36) despite playing just six snaps, and Clarke had a tackle and fumble recovery during his 10 plays on defense after being active in only one of the first 10 games.

“These are all young guys who haven’t played much football for us that had significant snaps and made game-altering plays, game-impactful plays,” Lewis said.

REPORT CARD VS. SAINTS

–PASSING OFFENSE: A — QB Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes and, more important, no interceptions to bounce back from the worst game of his career with arguably his best. Dalton’s passer rating of 143.9 was the highest of his career, topping the 136.2 he posted last year against Minnesota when he threw for 363 yards and four scores. Dalton threw for only 220 yards against the Saints, but he also attempted only 22 passes thanks to a dominant run game. The offensive line allowed just one sack. WR A.J. Green’s toe looked 100 percent healed, as he made two fantastic catches on the game-clinching scoring drive — including the 24-yard TD — on the way to a six-catch, 127-yard day.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: A — RB Jeremy Hill ran for 152 yards, and the Bengals gained 186 as a team, which was their third-highest total of the season. Hill became the first Bengals rookie since Paul Robinson in the team’s inaugural season of 1968 to have two games with more than 150 yards. Hill’s early success made it easy for offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to stick with the ground game with 36 attempts, the second most this season, and it helped take the pressure off Dalton and the passing game.

–PASS DEFENSE: B-plus — New Orleans QB Drew Brees had a passer rating of 100.7, but the Bengals limited him to being efficient rather than explosive. Brees completed 33 of 41 passes for 255 yards, but his longest throw of the day was 17 yards. Cincinnati neutralized Pro Bowl TE Jimmy Graham, who was targeted only three times and finished with three catches for 29 yards. The Bengals didn’t have any sacks or interceptions, but the fourth-down pass they stopped at the goal line early in the second quarter was like a turnover.

–RUSH DEFENSE: A — The Bengals held the Saints to 75 rushing yards and 2.9 yards per attempt, including four stops on an impressive, six-play goal-line stand that set the tone early in the second quarter. The 75 yards were the fewest the Bengals allowed all year and were 68 below their season average. New Orleans RB Mark Ingram, who was coming off three straight 100-yard games, had two rushes longer than 6 yards. Eleven of his 23 carries went for 2 yards or less.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: A — P Kevin Huber was only called on twice, and he came up big both times with a 44-yard average and a 42-yard net. His punt after the opening drive of the third quarter stalled was a thing of beauty, hitting at the 1-yard line and bouncing backward for gunners Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard to down at the New Orleans 6. PK Mike Nugent was good on both of his field-goal attempts. After Hill broke off a 62-yard run at the end of the second quarter after it looked as if the Bengals were running out the clock, Nugent raced out with one second left and hit a 42-yarder for some added momentum going into halftime. Adam Jones contributed a 43-yard kickoff return.

–COACHING: A — To go from such a horrific showing against Cleveland to such a dominating road win at the one of the toughest venues in the league doesn’t happen by accident. The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for moving the team past the Browns. Head coach Marvin Lewis admitted it was tough to avoid the temptation of adjusting the schedule and forcing the players to come in on their weekend off to start on corrections. However, he let his players’ minds and bodies heal and then got things right with a tough week of full-pad practice.