Cincinnati Bengals vs Denver Broncos – Week 3 Recap

Week 3 is in the books for the Cincinnati Bengals, and the team (and its fans) are happy to close this chapter. Why? For starters, it was a second straight loss to an AFC opponent – this time, 29-17 to the Denver Broncos. Also for the second consecutive game, the Bengals were the victim of bad officiating (as if last week wasn’t enough to make us reach for the Pepto-Bismol).

There were some positive things to come out of Sunday’s Cincinnati Bengals game.  But honestly, we’d be just fine if we were left with a W and another week to sort out any issues.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Bengals’ running game got out of the gutter, with Jeremy Hill rushing for 2 touchdowns and 97 yards. Quarterback Andy Dalton, however, didn’t have a Dalton-esque outing (206 yards, no TDs.) Neither of those stats really mattered, though. Denver QB Trevor Siemian was unstoppable, going for 312 yards and 4 scores on 23-35 passing.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ momentum was also killed as a result of 3 questionable penalties. The first involved illegal contact on DB Dre Kirkpatrick in the 1st quarter. Then Adam Jones “fumbled” the ball on a punt return even though his knee was down. Finally, O-lineman Kevin Zeitler got hit with a holding call that even announcer Dan Fouts expressed doubts over.

Even with all that, the Bengals found themselves leading 17-16 in the 3rd quarter. But the Broncos put together a 14-play drive that drained the defense, and receiver AJ Green had a rare drop that would’ve given the offense a first down and kept the D off the field to rest.

When Jones got banged up and had to leave the game, backup DB Chris Lewis-Harris was brought in … and then burned down for a 55-yard TD by the Broncos’ Demaryius Thomas.

Dalton had a pass tipped and intercepted soon after, and that was it. This week’s silver lining is that there isn’t much time to mourn over this one. That’s because there’s a Thursday night showdown against the Miami Dolphins right around the corner.