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| With 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries, Giovani Bernard (25) left an impression on the Dolphins and me. |
Cory Puffett
Andy Dalton, often described as a perfectionist, was far
from perfect on Thursday night. But his three-interceptions performance was not
as discouraging as a lot of quarterbacks’ similar performances.
I give a lot of credit to Dimitri Patterson on the first
pick. It wasn’t a bad decision by Dalton, Patterson just made a great break to
the ball. If Dalton had thrown the pass to A.J. Green’s back shoulder,
Patterson might still have gotten there.
On the second interception, again it was not a bad decision
by Dalton, it was just thrown way behind Marvin Jones and Brent Grimes took
advantage.
The third interception is a tough one. Dalton had a man wide
open in the flat but decided to go over the middle for Mohamed Sanu. To
Dalton’s credit, the pass was on the mark, but Sanu couldn’t catch it quickly
and bobbled it to linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.
The mistake Dalton made that stuck out to me came with about
90 seconds left in the second quarter. He targeted Dane Sanzenbacher, who was
interfered with by Patterson. But Dalton’s pass sailed way out of bounds and
the flag was picked up because the ball was uncatchable, forcing fourth down.
Nobody is comparing Dalton to them, but the Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks
know to at least put the ball close to their receiver, just in case of
interference. Hopefully he will learn from it.
The Bengals weren’t the only team to miss opportunities,
though. Lamar Miller fumbled in the red zone early in the second quarter, and
Caleb Sturgis missed a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter that could have
made overtime unnecessary.
Ultimately, the game ended on a safety, just the third time
in NFL history that an overtime game has concluded that way.
The player of the game, to me, came from the losing team,
though. Giovani Bernard is the real deal. He has the perfect combination of
power and nifty footwork. His balance is amazing, his vision even better. It’s
fun to watch this kid play and he can keep the Bengals in any game regardless
of how the rest of the team is playing.
The only thing that makes me nervous about the Bengals
moving forward is that Geno Atkins, who made his presence felt early in the
game, went down with a knee injury and early reports indicate that he likely
tore his right ACL. Cincinnati’s defense is more than just Atkins, but this
loss still hurts with two important division games looming. The good news is
that the Bengals have a long week to prepare for their trip to Baltimore in
Week 10.
The Dolphins get an even longer week as their next contest
is in Tampa on Monday Night Football in Week 10.
Final Score:
Cincinnati Bengals – 20
Miami Dolphins – 22 (OT)
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