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Cincinnati Bengals 2012 season recap

 

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The 2013 Indianapolis 500

The 2013 Indianapolis 500

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  • The season opened with a thud on the road in Baltimore as the Bengals got blown out 44-13 on Monday Night Football. They only trailed 17-13 late in the third quarter, but the Ravens exploded for 24 points in a six-minute span to turn the game into a rout.
  • Adam Jones returned the first punt of the game 81 yards for a touchdown and the Bengals never trailed on the way to a 34-27 victory in their home opener against Cleveland, evening their record at 1-1. Jones would go on to win the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award for his performance, while quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Rookie wide receiver Mohamed Sanu threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green on the first play of the game, setting a big-play theme that produced two other touchdowns of at least 48 yards as the Bengals rolled up a season-high 478 yards to beat host Washington 38-24 to improve to 2-1. The defense also came up big, sacking Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III five times, with Michael Johnson recording a career-high three of them on the way to winning AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
  • After seemingly sleepwalking through the first quarter and a half and falling behind a weak Jacksonville team, the Bengals converted a fake punt on a 48-yard run by Cedric Peerman to spark the offense to a 27-10 road win that moved the team to 3-1. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis dropped the ball twice in the game to snap his NFL record streak of 589 touches without a fumble, but he finished with 82 yards. And the defense forced a pair of turnovers whiling holding the Jaguars to just 212 total yards to extend the winning streak to three.
  • The Bengals saw their three-game winning streak grind to a halt with a head-scratching 17-13 loss to Miami at home to fall to 3-2. After averaging 389 yards in the first four games, the offense managed just 298 against a 1-3 Dolphins team while committing three turnovers. The Bengals still had a chance with a fourth-and-5 at the Miami 23 with 3 minutes to go, but head coach Marvin Lewis elected to try a Mike Nugent field goal. The kick was wide, and the Bengals’ last-ditch drive in the final minute ended with an interception.
  • Looking to get back on track after a disappointing loss to Miami, the Bengals traveled upstate and stumbled again against the winless Cleveland Browns, falling 34-24 to even their record at 3-3. Cincinnati led 14-7 at halftime, but Andy Dalton threw three second-half interceptions, one of which Sheldon Brown returned 19 yards for a touchdown, and also lost a fumble to send the Bengals to a second consecutive loss.
  • After racing out to a 14-3 lead against the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of a nationally televised audience on Sunday night, the Bengals allowed Ben Roethlisberger to hook up with tight end Heath Miller for a 9-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion to tie the game with 24 seconds left before halftime. The Steelers dominated the second half, holding the Bengals to 70 total yards on the way to a 24-17 victory. It was Cincinnati’s third loss in a row and sent the team into the bye week with a 3-4 record.
  • This was arguably the turning point in the season even though the Bengals fell at home to Denver 31-23. Despite it being their fourth consecutive loss, the Bengals played well against one of the NFL’s hottest teams. Terence Newman intercepted Peyton Manning twice, with the second one leading to a BenJarvus Green-Ellis 2-yard touchdown that gave the Bengals a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter. But Manning led the Broncos on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives to pull out the win, dropping the Bengals to 3-5.
  • Led by quarterback Andy Dalton, the Bengals started the second half of the season in impressive fashion with a 31-13 flogging of the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants at PBS. Dalton completed 21 of 30 passes for 199 yards and a career-high four touchdowns and was voted the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. The defense forced four turnovers and didn’t allow the Giants to get into the end zone until the final three minutes. The first of four wins in a row, it raised the Bengals’ record to 4-5.
  • Traveling outside the State of Ohio for the first time in six weeks, the Bengals went to Kansas City and avoided the proverbial trap game, bashing the struggling Chiefs 28-6. BenJarvus Green-Ellis recorded his first 100-yard game with the Bengals, rushing for 101 and a touchdown. A.J. Green and Mohamed Sanu caught touchdown passes, and the offensive turned in its first turnover-free game of the season. The defense recorded a milestone of its own by holding an opponent without a touchdown for the first time since 2008. The Bengals evened their record at 5-5.
  • Former quarterback Carson Palmer’s return to Cincinnati was a case in sensory overload. The Bengals fans let him hear it all day, and the Cincinnati defense made him feel it, sacking Palmer four times and hitting him four others on the way to a 34-10 win. It was the team’s third win in a row, moving them over .500 to 6-5. The game also featured a trio of ejections when Raiders defensive tackle LaMarr Houston hit Bengals Andy Dalton after the whistle, prompting tackle Andrew Whitworth to come to his quarterback’s defense, setting off a fight. Rookie Mohamed Sanu had two TD catches in his final game before suffering a season-ending stress fracture in practice.
  • Heading to the California where they had lost 12 of their last 13 games, the offense struggled for most of the game against San Diego. But the defense kept the Chargers from running away, and Andy Dalton and BenJarvus Green-Ellis fueled a game-winning, 14-play drive that Dalton capped with a 6-yard TD run with 4:11 remaining, lifting the Bengals to a 20-13 triumph, their fourth in a row. Green-Ellis ran for his third straight 100-yard game (118), and Carlos Dunlap earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors with five tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
  • This was the one that got away as Dallas rallied to beat the Bengals 20-19. Cincinnati moved the ball up and down the field for three quarters against visiting Dallas, but the Bengals settled for field goals instead of touchdowns, and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made them pay with one of his patented fourth-quarterback comebacks. A 27-yard TD pass to Dez Bryant got Dallas within two points with 6 minutes to go, and a Dan Bailey 40-yard field goal at the gun won it, dropping Cincinnati to 7-6.
  • This was the weirdest game of the year, with the Bengals playing uninspired in Philadelphia in front of a nationally televised Thursday night audience. They were trailing 13-10 late in the third quarter, but everything changed when the defense forced four turnovers in a span of 3 minutes, 33 seconds and converted them into 24 points on the way to a 34-13 rout. The defense came up with five turnovers in all, including a 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Wallace Gilberry that marked the first defensive score of the year. The win moved the team to 8-6 and kept alive the playoff hopes. <a href=Full game recap" title="Game 14: Bengals vs. Eagles" class="cmGalleryThumbImage" />
  • Bengals kicker Josh Brown, signed just three weeks earlier when Mike Nugent suffered a calf injury, gave Cincinnati fans the ultimate Christmas present with a 43-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to lift the team to a 13-10 win at Pittsburgh. The victory clinched a wildcard berth for the Bengals and eliminated the Steelers. Cincinnati ran for just 14 yards in the game, the second-lowest total in franchise history, but cornerback Leon Hall returned a Ben Roethlisberger interception for a touchdown and the defense bailed out head coach Marvin Lewis after an ill-advised 56-yard field goal try late in the game that put the Steelers in great position to break the tie. The win, which snapped a five-game losing streak against Pittsburgh, was the Bengals’ sixth win in the last seven games, upping their record to 9-6. <a href=Full game recap" title="Game 15: Bengals vs. Steelers" class="cmGalleryThumbImage" />
  • Locked into a Wild Card spot with no chance of winning the division, the Bengals entered the season finale against Baltimore with nothing on the line and pulled most of their offensive starters at halftime. But backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski led the team on a pair of second-half scoring drives, and defensive end Carlos Dunlap returned an interception 14 yards for a touchdown to help Cincinnati post a 23-17 come-from-behind victory that snapped a four-game losing streak against the Ravens and upped the Bengals’ record to 10-6 heading into the playoffs.
 

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