Sanu to Dalton? Cincinnati Bengals Manhandle Tennessee Titans
By Adam Hughes
If you thought Mohamed Sanu unfurled his best trick with a 50-yard pass last week against the Atlanta Falcons, think again. In the midst of the Cincinnati Bengals’ 33-7 trouncing of the Tennessee Titans this afternoon at Paul Brown Stadium, Sanu shocked just about everyone by connecting on an 18-yard touchdown pass … to quarterback Andy Dalton!
Stepping aside from those theatrics for a moment, the game’s box score reveals a mediocre (at best) passing game for Dalton, who went 15-23 for 169 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception. The Bengals’ running game wasn’t much better, as they racked up just 116 yards on 31 carries.
So with the offense generally taking a breather, how did the Bengals manage to annihilate the Titans? Marvin Lewis’s crew performed their magic through a combination of surprise plays (see above), unusual scoring opportunities and their customary strong defense.
The Bengals sacked Titans QB Jake Locker twice for a total loss of eight yards, and they also picked him off twice.
With a little over six minutes left in the first half, a penalty on Tennessee’s Quentin Groves in the end zone gave Cincy a safety.
Running back Giovani Bernard gained only 47 yards on the ground, but two of his carries resulted in grind-it-out touchdowns.
The Bengals did little things right all across the board, and delivered the big early knockout punch in the form of Sanu-to Dalton. The Titans never seemed to recover from that sucker punch, and their seven points came on a mop-up run by Shonn Greene with six minutes left in the game.
These Bengals are a hoot to watch, and you just never know what they’re going to come up with next. You almost get the feeling, sometimes, that they’re just toying with the opposition.
Could that playfulness be construed as taunting and come back to bite Cincinnati somewhere down the line? Maybe, but for now we should just enjoy the show.