The Cincinnati Bengals held off an attempted fourth-quarter comeback from the Baltimore Ravens to record their first victory of the NFL season.
The Bengals started well as quarterback Andy Dalton moved his team into a scoring position, finding tight end Tyler Eifert and Giovani Bernard 40 yards between them. The drive resulted in a 49-yard field goal from Mike Nugent.
Cincinnati went further ahead as Dalton fired downfield for Eifert, who hurt himself in making the catch to put his side in the redzone. The Bengals couldn't get in for the touchdown but scored another field goal from the boot of Nugent.
The Bengals continued to have their way with the Ravens' offense as they struggled, and Nugent was able to add three more field goals before the break to hand the visitors a 15-point advantage.
Baltimore finally got their offense moving in the third quarter and Justin Forsett scored their first points of the season as he ran in over the right side of the line for a 13-yard run.
In the fourth quarter, the game sprang to life as Justin Tucker nailed a field goal to bring his side within five points. Then the Ravens took the lead as Joe Flacco fired a pass to wide receiver Steve Smith, who ran all the way for an 80-yard touchdown, torching the Bengals defense.
However, Cincinnati were not done as Dalton fired a deep ball down the right sideline for AJ Green, who managed to corral the ball on the rebound and stride into the endzone for the 78-yard touchdown.
Simon Sinclair
