Bengals Ride Burrow To A Classic 31-17 Victory Against 49ers
SANTA CLARA, California — Here at Levi’s Stadium, two teams that faced off in two Super Bowl classics presented a mid-season fantasy as the Bengals defeated NFC powerhouse San Francisco 31-17 to win their third straight game behind Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow’s Montana-like performance.
With a career-high completion percentage of 87.5 on 28 of 32 throws for 283 yards and touchdown strikes to three different receivers, Burrow filtered through a 49ers defense that was ranked No. 1 in a few categories.
With 2:54 remaining, running back Joe Mixon, who is from neighboring Oakley, California, completed a touchdown run of five yards to secure the victory. With 16 touches, Mixon finished with a season-high 87 yards.
Burrow ran amok for forty-three yards, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase recorded his third 100-yard day of the season with ten catches, and Pro Bowl right end Trey Hendrickson, nursing back an ankle injury sustained in the second quarter, completed it with a strip of sacks.
Late in the second half, Bengals defenders Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt picked off 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy on two consecutive throws, making quite a stand on the home turf of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. However, they were overshadowed by the national adulation for the 49ers’ great combination. Purdy finished with 365 passing yards, although he had a lot of passing yardage in the last few seconds. Cincinnati had by that point made the smart defensive moves to contain Purdy in
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Bengals ahead 17–10, Purdy attempted to go over the middle to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, which resulted in the second interception. The most of any NFL linebacker in the decade of the 2020s, Wilson was there waiting with his tenth interception of his career.
And as the clock approached the final 13 minutes, Burrow made it hurt with a 17-yard beautiful pass over Chase’s shoulder that gave the team a 24-10 lead. Chase finished the play with a reverse flip.
On the first series of the second half, Burrow’s longest rush of the year—a 20-yard Gumby Saturday Night Live special up the middle—paved the way for Evan McPherson’s 56-yard field goal, which gave the Bengals a 17–10 lead.
On one of the final plays of the third quarter, with the 49ers facing a first down from the Bengals 8, the Bengals’ red-zone defense suddenly proved to be invaluable once more. The Bengals allowed no points on a series inside the 20 for the sixth time this season. Purdy attempted to pass it to running back Elijah Mitchell while he was scurrying to his right sideline. However, Germaine Pratt, a linebacker for the Bengals, corralled it with one hand before he went out of bounds.
Burrow appeared to be a lot like 49ers Hall of Famer Joe Montana after embracing him during the pregame, as he led the Bengals to a 14-10 halftime lead. With his final 19 passes, he connected on 21 of 23 for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
After Burrow regained possession of the ball with 2:54 remaining in the half, the Bengals had a first down against the 49ers with 30 seconds remaining after he scored on a pass to Mixon. However, tight end Irv Smith threw the ball away after Burrow hit him on a screen at the 5, ending a commanding 236-yard half.
They went under center four times out of ten plays in the first series, which was nearly what they had done the entire season. They also led for the fifth, but Nick Bosa was caught in the neutral zone by the edge. During one of those snaps, Chase made a 15-yard catch over the middle, and Burrow found Tyler for a seven-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory.
However, Burrow was at his most impressive during the driving play, squirming out of perhaps three sacks on third-and-ten. On the last one, he played a trick on everyone, making them believe that Arik Armstead had fired him. Instead, reappeared in time to see All-Pro defender Fred Warner blow up Burrow, and he found wide receiver Tee Higgins for the first down with a sideline ball.
Burrow completed seven of nine passes for sixty yards. The sole touchdown of the drive came from Mixon, who broke free for 20 yards between left guard Cordell Volson and center Ted Karras. Mixon scored ten of his points after forcing All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga to miss. In the first half, Mixon gained 55 yards on seven carries.
Following running back Trayveon Williams’ 41-yard kick return, which was the team’s longest of the season, the Bengals repeated the feat on the following series, gaining almost 50 yards on first down. The first three snaps they had were all under center, earning them two first downs. When they shotgun, Burrow found Boyd wide open over the middle for 22 yards.
It nearly seemed like a rerun of rookie wide receiver Andrei Iosivas’s first NFL touchdown two weeks ago when they scored to go up 14–7. Burrow pretended to have a free play after two flags were thrown. He slid to his right with the ball down and waited for Iosivas to emerge for what felt like five seconds.
A few plays later, Armstead eventually got him for the 49ers’ only sack of the half on a third-down play that forced a very strong wind to stretch Evan McPherson’s 43-yard from goal attempt to 50 yards. It broke his string of eight consecutive, but it missed by a wide margin.
The Bengals defense had an excellent first series, stopping fullback Kyle Juszczyk on a third-and-one play after a strong line drive led by nose tackle DJ Reader and completed by a tackle from cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt.
However, they cleared Purdy in the following series. Unable to locate a receiver, he scrambled for fifteen yards, slipping untouched to his left, on third-and-long. Then, as wide receiver Brandon was being pursued out of the pocket to his left, he discovered
But aside from a field goal, the Bengals’ outstanding performance against the formidable 49ers in the first half was limited to that. They restricted McCaffrey to 31 yards on six carries, while Purdy only had 114 yards, 34 of which came in the final frantic series.
NFL football right end Due to an ankle injury, Trey Hendrickson left the game in the second quarter but returned before the half was out.
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