The Cincinnati Bengals rallied from their loss to the Cleveland Browns last week with a dominant display to defeat the New Orleans Saints 27-10 in their NFL clash.
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The Saints were able to have early success moving the ball downfield as Drew Brees managed to get into a good passing rhythm, but their momentum was halted in the redzone. Shayne Graham was brought onto the field to kick a 31-yard field goal, which handed his side the lead.
Cincinnati hit back and managed to take the lead on their next drive when Andy Dalton fired a pass to Jermaine Gresham at the two-yard line. The tight end lost control of the ball, but recovered his fumble in the endzone to register the touchdown.
The Bengals pulled further ahead late in the second quarter when Dalton drove them downfield once more. The home side put up a defensive stand on third and goal to force a field goal from Mike Nugent, which the kicker dispatched from 22 yards.
The visitors notched a score just before the break when Jeremy Hill ran 62 yards from deep inside his own half to set up another field goal from Nugent, who fired his effort between the posts.
In the second half, the Bengals extended their advantage to 17 points when Dalton led another solid drive, which culminated in a play-action pass to Gresham, who made the six-yard catch in the endzone for his second score of the game.
Sean Payton's side took their time to respond as Brees methodically drove his side into a scoring position, and at the start of the fourth quarter they took their took their chance as the quarterback found Kenny Stills for the nine-yard score.
However, the Saints' work was all undone when Dalton found AJ Green three times during their next possession, and the final catch proved to be fatal when the receiver hauled in a 24-yard strike for the touchdown, which secured the win for Marvin Lewis's men.
Simon Sinclair
