Cincinnati Bengals: 3 Reasons for win vs. Colts in Week 8

Looking back at the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 8 win over the Indianapolis Colts to determine why they were able to survive with a 24-23 victory.

This game against the Indianapolis Colts was as much of a trap as I feared it to be. nd a supposedly much more talented Cincinnati Bengals team came close to losing against the Andrew Luck-less Colts.

By the end though, Cincinnati was able to hold off the Colts for the final seven minutes of the contest to come away with a one-point win.

Here’s how they managed it.

3. Group Receiving Effort

Usually when there is success by this offense, the immediate place to look would be at A.J. Green. He did end up having a touchdown catch, but despite outpacing everyone else wearing black and orange in targets (8) he was only able to come down with three catches for a mere 27 yards. Whether by design or adaptation to what the defense was showing, it was a pretty egalitarian approach to the passing game.

Six players were targeted in total, all of whom saw at least two passes in their direction. Five players made catches, and those players each made at least two receptions. No player reached 100 yards by themselves, but everyone who caught a ball had at least 27 in what became a 243 yard day through the air for Andy Dalton. It wasn’t a dominant display in totality, but there was a role for each person to play in this attack, and they did so to a successful degree.

Green was a focus for both sides, which not only gave himself opportunities and a touchdown catch but absolutely helped provide openings elsewhere as the game wore on. Brandon LaFell provided sure hands (caught four of his five targets) and had two 17-yard completions on long second down plays. Tyler Kroft was active in every drive (all of his five catches came on different drives) and was a consistent threat over the middle (three of his five catches went for at least 10 yards).

Joe Mixon did fumble once, but his 67-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass was integral to a first-half touchdown drive. Josh Malone’s touchdown catch put the Bengals back in the lead right after halftime, and an earlier 10 yard reception helped kick-start Cincinnati’s opening drive.

Though the game came down to the wire, this approach worked well enough in conjunction with what was happening on the defensive end to overcome some sloppy fumbles by the offense. If the offense can cut those turnover issues out, spread out efforts like this can better shine through.