Week 7 of the NFL schedule saw a battle of two first place teams, two teams with a good QB and star wide receiver. It was the battle of the cats, the Detroit Lions vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. Fans were rewarded with a great game of back and forth action from start to finish.
The Bengals opened the scoring in the first quarter with an AJ Green 82 Yard TD pass from Andy Dalton, the Lions would answer with a TD of their own in that quarter. In the second the Lions would kick a 36-yard field goal, but the Bengals would answer with a Marvin Jones TD. In the third quarter the Bengals managed to score 10 points will the Lions only mustered 7.
With the score now 24-17 the Lions early in the fourth would score another touchdown thanks to Megatron himself Calvin Johnson. With the game tied at 24, each team almost literally fought tooth and nail until the very end. However, with no time on the clock on a Bengals possession, Mike Nugent would kick the game winning 54-yard field goal and win the game, making the Bengals the dominant cat this time around.
Calvin Johnson factored large in this game, as he would have 9 receptions with 155 yards and two touchdowns. It started out well for Cincy as they were able to hold him down to only 40 yards in the first half. The problem was they were dealing with Megatron, who is just to good to shut down. He managed to wake up in the second half, where he caught both of his TDs.
On the Bengals side, AJ Green was great with 6 receptions and a TD, with 155 yards receiving. His 82-yard touchdown was a beauty.
Both quarterbacks were strong in this game. Neither were intercepted and they each had three TD passes. Matthew Stafford went 28/51 with 357 yards, while Dalton went 24/34 for 372 yards. I think Dalton beats Stafford, albeit by a hair, but both QBs showed they could play big for their respective teams. Dalton’s performance means a lot for a fan bases who sometimes questions his play; this week he definitely quieted his critics.
With the win, Cincinnati is now 5-2 and so far are the only team with a winning record in the AFC North. If they keep up the strong play and that playoff spot could be locked up much sooner than we thought it would be. The Lions are now tied for second with the Chicago Bears in the NFC North while the Packers are in first.
The Bengals will face the Jets in week 8 and it will be an interesting as always. The Jets come into this one after having beaten the Patriots on a last second field goal. For me, they are wild team at best. Given their up and down play, we don’t know which Jets team we’ll see facing the Bengals. Cincy will have to play smart football so they don’t slip up on a wild team like the Jets.
For now the Bengals can go home and celebrate a good win against the Lions. For now they can boast that they were the top cat in the jungle.
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