With Broncos in path, Bengals derive little joy from playoff-clinching win
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Cincinnati Bengals won their first game without Andy Dalton on Sunday and clinched their fifth consecutive playoff berth. Yet when coach Marvin Lewis gathered his team inside the visitors' locker room at Levi’s Stadium after a 24-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, he couldn’t spot a smile.
“They looked at me like I was going to chew their butts,” Lewis said.
That there was little rejoicing after quarterback AJ McCarron’s first start in place of Dalton, who suffered a broken thumb last week, says plenty about the mindset of the Bengals: Simply making the playoffs isn’t good enough, with or without Dalton. Cincinnati has yet to clinch the AFC North, thanks to the Pittsburgh Steelers' win against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. And while the Bengals still hold the No. 2 seed in the AFC, whether or not they get a bye will likely be determined in next week’s game against the Broncos.
The dour faces in the Bengals postgame locker room were the result of a second half in which the defense gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns, while the McCarron-led offense managed just a field goal. Those will be the Bengals’ lingering memories during the flight home Sunday night, not the first half in which the defense forced three turnovers and the offense turned those mistakes into a 21-0 lead.
But perhaps after a little film review Monday, the Bengals will feel better about what they accomplished in McCarron’s first start.
McCarron, a three-time national champion from the University of Alabama, admitted to feeling some butterflies before his first snap but took solace in that, at least this week, he felt prepared. Last week, when he replaced Dalton against the Steelers, he was overcome with nerves.
Cincinnati’s coaches calmed McCarron by designing a game plan meant to aid a young quarterback — heavy on the running game, take just a few deep shots and use only a small dose of trickery, while letting the NFL’s No. 2-ranked scoring defense do much of the work.
The script worked.
The Bengals’ first four plays were runs, including one third-down scramble by McCarron, before he attempted his first throw. He fired a pass deep down the right sideline, perfectly placed into the hands of A.J. Green. After that 37-yard completion, McCarron’s nerves were largely gone, not that his teammates had ever been worried that he might lose his composure.
“Don't put too much stuff on him, don't make him think too much. Put out simple stuff and let the guys make plays around him,” Green said. “He comes from a big program used to winning on big stages, so we had no doubt how he would handle a big game like this.”
It helped, too, McCarron said, that he had Dalton beside him on the sideline, though not so much to offer assistance with reading coverages or diagnosing the 49ers defense. Dalton’s role was jester, telling jokes and poking fun at McCarron to keep him loose.
But it was the Bengals defense that provided the biggest assist.
Cincinnati intercepted San Francisco quarterback Blaine Gabbert twice and forced another fumble in the second quarter, and two of those takeaways gave McCarron very good field position that led to touchdowns. Early in the third quarter, Cincinnati’s lead was 24-0, allowing the Bengals to spend the second half playing conservatively.
Lewis used the word “managed” to describe McCarron’s performance, and it was a fair assessment even if “game manager” can be viewed as an NFL pejorative. Of all of McCarron’s postgame stats (192 passing yards, one touchdown, four sacks) the most important was the fact that he committed zero turnovers.
“When you play in this league with that kind of lead, whatever I do I’m not going to turn the ball over. There’s no reason to take chances,” McCarron said. “You have to know when to take chances and when not to.”
He will adhere to that mindset as he and the Bengals prepare for the Broncos, whose defense should provide a far more significant challenge to McCarron than the Niners did. Win in Denver on a Monday night stage, and maybe the Bengals will finally crack a smile.
“I almost feel bad for them, they didn’t really enjoy this,” Lewis said. “They know what’s ahead.”
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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones
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