After watching their best player walk to the locker room on the first series and three more starters leave for the rest of the game during the first half, the Bengals dug deep on Bloody Sunday and offered one of the more impressive efforts of the Marvin Lewis Era as they took a 24-10 victory over the Falcons in the Paul Brown Stadium opener before 58,574.
While the defense stoned the NFL’s best offense in what has become a typical PBS suffocation job on three interceptions (two by safety George Iloka), an undermanned offense responded with a punishing running game and another resourceful effort from quarterback Andy Dalton as the offense had no sacks and no turnovers for the second straight week. They went to 2-0 for the first time since 2006 with a franchise-tying 10th straight regular-season victory at home.
By the time left tackle Andrew Whitworth limped off the field with 12:43 left in the game with a lower leg bruise, the Bengals had rolled up 447 yards with 147 coming on the ground from the emerging running back 1-2 punch of Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill.
Whitworth came back, but also declared out at that point was Pro Bowl WILL linebacker Vontaze Burfict with a stinger after he oversaw a defense that kept the Falcons out of the end zone until 8:35 left a week following a 37-point outburst against New Orleans.
The Bengals cooled off a red-hot offense when they took a 10-3 half-time lead by holding Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to 33 yards passing by the time he got the ball with 2:06 left in the half.
But the Bengals, who not only lost three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green on the first series with an injured right toe, saw tight end Alex Smith (bicep) and defensive tackle Brandon Thompson (knee) leave for the rest of the game early in the second quarter.
And when right guard Kevin Zeitler led Bernard into the end zone on a leaping four-yarder with 2:11 left in the first half for a 10-3 half-time lead, Zeitler went into the locker room for good with a calf injury.
Yet the second half belonged to the Bengals.
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