Winners and Losers From Cincinnati Bengals' 34-23 Win Over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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The Bengals rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Buccaneers 34-23 on Sunday. Their sixth-straight win gives them a one game lead in the AFC North.
Here are our winners and losers:
Winners
Eli Apple
The Bengals cornerback probably had his best game of the season. Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton were out and Cam Taylor-Britt left the game with a shoulder injury. Eli Apple made up for the injured secondary by racking up seven tackles and two passes defensed. Apple has been outstanding since Awuzie went down and it’s going to be crucial that he keeps up this high level of play over the next few weeks and in the playoffs.
Tre Flowers
Like Apple, Tre Flowers was asked to step up on Sunday with an injured Bengals secondary, and he did just that. He got a big interception in the second half and played well the entire game. The extent of Taylor-Britt’s injury is unknown, so Flowers could see a bigger role in the coming weeks.
Lou Anarumo
Lou Anarumo is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, and it showed Sunday night. The defense started off rough, but Anarumo made the right adjustments at halftime and the Bengals dominated the second half, outscoring the Buccaneers 31-6.
Germaine Pratt
Germaine Pratt is going to get a big contract from someone in the offseason. He had a nice game against the Bucs, including a dazzling interception that helped Cincinnati maintain their momentum in the second half.
Losers
Bengals' Offense
We know how good the Bengals' offense is, but they just had an off night on Sunday. Scoring 34 points might not seem like a poor performance, but it just wasn’t up to their standards, especially on third downs (5-of-13). On the bright side, they should be getting Hayden Hurst back soon, and it’ll be surprising if they have a game like this again.
La’el Collins
Collins has been pretty decent this season, but he struggled against the Bucs. He got beat multiple times and had Burrow under pressure. Hopefully for the Bengals, this was just an off night for the right tackle.
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