The Cincinnati Bengals thrust themselves into the Super Bowl conversation Sunday, scoring 20 unanswered points to rally for a 27-24 NFL overtime triumph over the Seattle Seahawks.
The Bengals took their perfect record to 5-0 with the gritty victory over the two-time defending National Conference champions, who collapsed down the stretch in front of a rollicking sold-out crowd at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium.
It was just one of the thrillers on a day that saw Atlanta pull off a 25-19 overtime win over Washington that boosted the Falcons to 5-0.
The Cleveland Browns edged the Baltimore Ravens 33-30 in overtime, while the Buffalo Bills squeaked out a 14-13 win over the Tennessee Titans and the Chicago Bears also beat the Kansas City Chiefs by the slimmest of margins: 18-17.
In Cincinnati, Mike Nugent’s 42-yard field goal in overtime lifted the Bengals, whose chances of extending their perfect start to the season looked doomed when they trailed 24-7 in the fourth quarter.
Against a Seattle defense allowing only 17.8 points per game this season, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton put together a rally that included a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Eifert as well as a drive capped by his own five-yard touchdown run that pulled the Bengals within 24-21 with 3:38 remaining.
With no timeouts left, the Bengals regained possession on their own 18 yard line with 2:17 to play, and drove for a game-tying 31-yard field goal by Nugent on the final play of regulation.
“In our minds, as bad as it looked and as good as Seattle is, we never stopped playing,” Eifert said. “This is what we expect to do. We expect to win.”
Seattle were forced to punt twice in overtime, giving Cincinnati the chance to seal it with Nugent’s final field goal.
The 17-point collapse matched the biggest in Seahawks’ history.
Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 213 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked four times and intercepted once.
The Bengals improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1988 — when they last reached the Super Bowl.
“That was a hell of a fourth and fifth quarter,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “I’m proud of our guys. It’s a long year against a lot of good teams. Today was a good step toward understanding that we can do that all the time.”
– Alford pick lifts Falcons –
In Atlanta, Falcons cornerback Robert Alford returned an interception 59 yards for the winning touchdown against Washington.
Running back Devonta Freeman rushed for 153 yards and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown that put the Falcons up 19-16 with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.
With 17 seconds left, Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins completed three straight passes to set up Dustin Hopkins’ 52-yard game-tying field goal.
Washington took possession first in overtime and was near midfield when Alford jumped in front of a Cousins pass and rumbled down the sideline for the winning TD.
There was no perfect record on the line in Baltimore, but Cleveland’s overtime victory there was especially sweet for a Browns team that had lost 13 of their prior 14 meetings against their AFC North division rivals and were winless in Baltimore since 2007.
Quarterback Josh McCown rallied the Browns from a 12-point deficit and Travis Coons booted the game-winning 32-yard field goal.