It’s hard to classify this as a get-well performance, but the Packers did get back into the win column against the Bengals.
GREEN BAY - It’s hard to classify this as a get-well performance, but the Green Bay Packers did get back into the win column against the battered Cincinnati Bengals.
With newly acquired Joe Flacco playing in his first game with the Bengals and starting in place of injured Joe Burrow, the Bengals started conjuring images of the Cleveland Browns’ upset of the Packers on Sept. 21 with the same player, Flacco, at quarterback.
But this time the Packers put up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to keep the Bengals from having a possession to tie or win the game, and the Packers came away with a 27-18 win at Lambeau Field.
The win improves the Packers to 3-1-1.
Here are some quick highlights from the game:
Matthew Golden picks up Packers offense
For the first time this season, the Packers made a big effort to get the ball to first-round pick Matthew Golden, and he picked up their offense in the second quarter.
Golden made one of the biggest plays of the game in the quarter, on a third-and-10 from the Packers’ 30.
Jordan Love had a clean pocket on the play, and Golden got a step on safety Jordan Battle down the left sideline. Love, who a few plays earlier had a terrible overthrow to wide-open Luke Musgrave for what should have been a chunk gain, put the ball on the money this time, and Golden made the over-the-shoulder catch for a 35-yard gain.
Golden also had a catch-and-run in the first quarter for 20 yards, as well as two runs for 16 yards in the first half. That gave him 71 yards in total offense in the first half.
Golden also had a big catch that helped seal the game when on a third-and-8 he caught a 31-yard pass from Love to put the ball on the Bengals’ 26 with 2:24 left to play.
Golden finished the game with three catches for 86 yards.
Packers can't pull away
This game, though, took on the feel of the Packers’ stunning loss at Cleveland, because the Bengals managed to keep the score close despite being badly outgained, then scored three times in the second half to keep it a one-score game each time.
The Bengals did it by first going on a 10-minute, 14-second drive to start the second half, moving from their 22 into scoring position.
The drive appeared to be on the ropes when Lukas Van Ness sacked Flacco for a 6-yard loss in the deep red zone, putting the Bengals in third-and-goal from the 10. But Flacco hit tight end Tanner Hudson for an 8-yard gain, setting up fourth-and-goal from the 2.
On that play, Flacco had plenty of time to throw and hit Hudson at the back of the end zone against Quay Walker’s coverage for the touchdown. Even if the Bengals hadn’t scored, though, they would have had first-and-goal at the 1, because cornerback Nate Hobbs was called for holding.
Then, after the Packers answered with a touchdown, Flacco led the Bengals on a field-goal drive early in the third quarter that cut the Packers’ lead to 17-10 with 10:43 left in the game.
Flacco made a couple of big throws on that drive, including hitting Tee Higgins for a first down on a third-and-5 with a quick-release throw just as he was being hit by defensive lineman Barryn Sorrell.
On the next play, Flacco then threw a dart against zone coverage to hit Higgins for a 19-yard gain that put the Bengals in scoring position at the Packers’ 29. The Packers, in fact, were fortunate the Bengals didn’t later keep the drive alive, when on a third-and-8 receiver Andrei Iosivas dropped a slant that would have converted a third-and-8.
Evan McPherson’s 45-yard field goal cut the Packers’ lead again to one score at 17-10.
The Bengals cut it to a one-score game yet again when Flacco led a 65-yard touchdown drive that ended with a spectacular back-shoulder catch by Ja’Marr Chase against Keisean Nixon’s tight coverage for a 19-yard touchdown with 4:11 to play.
The Bengals went for 2, and Flacco slid around the pocket until he found running back Chase Brown open, which cut the Packers’ lead to 24-18 with 4:11 to play.
Josh Jacobs comes alive
The Packers’ run offense had struggled the first four games but finally showed signs of life in this game.
Running back Josh Jacobs, who was averaging a career-low 3.3-yards per carry, scored a big touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter that answered the Bengals’ touchdown. It came on a run right up the middle, with Jacobs barreling through the line and plowing his way into the end zone after getting hit at around the 5. That gave the Packers a 17-7 lead.
Jacobs later set up the Packers’ final touchdown with a 16-yard run that set up the Packers at the Bengals’ 19. On the next play, Tucker Kraft took a swing pass, turned upfield and dived through a hit by cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt to score the touchdown. That put the Packers ahead 24-10 with 7:33 to play.
The Packers finished the game with a season-high 153 yards rushing, including Jacobs with 93 yards on 18 carries.
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Fourth-quarter TDs give Packers a 27-18 win over Joe Flacco, Bengals
Category: Football
