Bengals score dramatic win in OT, keep playoff hopes alive

Cincinnati (8-8) squandered a late lead, then missed a chance to win the game earlier in overtime when Cade York hit the upright on a 33-yard field goal attempt with 2:43 remaining in the extra period. The defense then forced a second straight three-and-out in overtime to give Burrow and the offense another chance, and Higgins had a 31-yard catch along the sideline to set up his game-winning grab.

The Bengals have won four straight games, are at .500 for the first time this season and now have a chance to sneak into the playoffs with a victory next week at Pittsburgh and a lot of help elsewhere in the AFC. Denver falls to 9-7 and missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win or a tie.

Higgins’ fumble with just over five minutes remaining in regulation could have cost the game with the score tied at 17, but Pratt picked off Bo Nix as he was being pressured by Joseph Ossai, and Cincinnati’s offense took advantage of the momentum swing. Burrow connected with Ja’Marr Chase on a 38-yard pass the next play and eventually capped the drive himself with a 1-yard scramble that put the Bengals ahead with 1:29 left.

The play calling on that drive came into question, though, as it left too much time for Denver to respond, which it did on Nix’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims with eight seconds left.

Missed opportunities early against the league’s best redzone defense nearly came back to haunt the Bengals, whose defense had started to struggle after holding Denver to just three points in the first half – on Wil Lutz’s 30-yard field goal to cap the opening drive. The Broncos found their groove in the second half, thanks in large part to an emphasis on the running game, and Cincinnati couldn’t shake them.

The Bengals made it inside Denver’s 25-yard line on each of their first five drives but turned it over on downs the first two times, including once from the 2-yard line, and could have had a much bigger lead than 7-3 going into halftime. They managed to score points on each of the next three drives but settled for a 22-yard field goal from York on the first series of the second half, in between a pair of Higgins’ touchdown catches from Burrow.

Denver tied the game twice in the second half on Nix touchdown passes, the first one at the end of a 12-play, 70-yard drive that featured eight runs for 47 yards. Courtland Sutton capped it with a 6-yard catch, and after the Bengals got their second touchdown from Higgins to regain the lead at 17-10, the Broncos leveled it again with Nix’s deep pass up the middle to Mims for a 51-yard touchdown.

Chase had a relatively quiet day until the last drive of regulation but broke the franchise record for most receptions in a single season, surpassing T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s 112 catches in 2007, with his fifth catch of the day early in the fourth quarter. And, he went on to finish with nine catches for 102 yards.

Burrow topped 40 touchdowns in a season for the first time in his career to extend his Bengals’ record on final drive of the first half when he connected with Higgins to take the 7-3 lead into the break. He threw for 412 yards and three touchdowns, marking his second highest passing total for the season.

Higgins led the team with 131 yards and three touchdowns on 11 catches.