Perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green, still fuming over his dropped third down pass on Sunday in the fourth quarter against Denver, took over the Thursday night showcase at Paul Brown Stadium before 60,834 with 10 catches for 173 yards and led the Bengals to an ugly but utterly necessary 22-7 victory.
The win lifted them back to 2-2 in front of a 10-day break before they head to Dallas and New England. The night was a celebration of defense as the Bengals rung up five sacks with marauding Pro Bowlers Carlos Dunlap (two) and Geno Atkins (1.5) doing the damage with multiple sacks and holding Miami out of the red zone on two of 11 on third down four days after Denver clicked on half their tries.
Quarterback Andy Dalton survived another brutal night by the running game (2.1 yards per on 37 carries) with a crisp 296-yard passing night built on a 111.8 passer rating on 22 of 31 passes
Left guard Clint Boling (shoulder) and safety Josh Shaw (stinger) went to the locker room during the second half but appeared not to suffer major injuries as Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis gave his players a three-day weekend.
But season-long problems in the red zone and running game continued to plague the offense. After a third down Atkins-Michael Johnson sack of Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill opened the second half (and made Miami 1-for-7 on third down) and continued the rebuilt Dolphins offensive line’s misery, Green went to work again after a 123-yard first half.
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