A.J. Green caught a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds to lift the Bengals to a 37-36 victory over the Falcons in a offensive shootout on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons precariously held to a five-point lead before giving up a 16-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with the game on the line.
Green got open between Falcons rookie Isaiah Oliver and strong safety Brian Poole for the game-winning score.
“We have our own little twist on it, but it’s basically a cover-2,” Oliver said. “So I probably should’ve sank back a little bit more, like 3 or 4 yards. Coach (Marquand) Manuel said that it (hurts) right now, but you’ve just got to take it and learn something from it. It can’t all be negative.”
Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu did his best against his former team. After four seasons with the Bengals, Sanu signed with the Falcons in free agency in 2016. He caught six of nine targets for 111 yards against his old employers. It was Sanu’s first 100-yard receiving game with the Falcons and his first since having five catches for 125 yards for the Bengals in a 27-24 win over the Ravens or Oct. 26, 2014.
The Falcons needed three big sacks from defensive end Takkarist McKinley to help the defense get off the field.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was 29 of 41 for 337 yards and three touchdowns. The Falcons’ Matt Ryan was 29 of 39 for 419 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bengals improved to 3-1, while the Falcons dropped to 1-3.
The Falcons have blown fourth-quarter leads in all of their losses.
“Through the first quarter of the season, our record doesn’t show that we have that part down,” Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said of closing out games. “We’ve got work to do. We are a good team and record doesn’t show it at this point.”
Here are five things we learned from the matchup with the AFC North foe:
1. Sack-A-Takk comes alive: McKinley, who missed last week's game with a groin injury, had three sacks in the second half to infuse some energy into the defense that was getting dragged around the field by Dalton.
“I was just out there competing,” McKinley said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done as a defense. It hurts. You’ve just to flush it and get ready for next week.”
After giving up for straight touchdown drives in the first half, the Falcons started moving McKinley around the line to get favorable matchups.
He took advantage of them and helped stop three second-half drives.
On third-and-6 from Cincinnati’s 29, McKinley, rushing from defensive tackle next to Vic Beasley, overpowered Bengals guard Alex Redmond to get the sack.
Before the stop the Falcons’ defense has given up touchdowns on 8 of its last 9 possessions, with the lone stop being a kneel down by the Saints.
On the Bengals next possession, on third-and-6 from Atlanta’s 29, McKinley dropped Dalton for a 10-yard loss that pushed the Bengals out of field goal range.
After the Falcons took a 33-28 lead on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley, McKinley helped stop the Bengals with another sack on third down. He came over Bengals right tackle Bobby Hart for the sack and near fumble.
The refs ruled the Dalton was down and the Bengals had to settle for a field goal.
2. Third-down blues: The defenses entered the game ranked 31st and 32nd in third-down defense and both continued to play poorly on third downs.
The Falcons converted on 10 of 13 (77 percent) and the Bengals converted 6 of 9 (67 percent).
3. Red zone fire: The Falcons continued their hot streak inside the opposition's 20-yard line. The Falcons entered the game having scored eight straight touchdowns on the last eight red-zone trips. On three trips inside the Bengals' red zone, the Falcons added three more touchdowns in the first half.
The streak ended on the next red zone trip and the Falcons had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Matt Bryant.
4. Eifert's injury: Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert left the game after suffering a horrific lower right leg injury early in the third quarter.
After his fourth catch, Eifert had his leg immobilized and was carted off the field.
Eifert knew he was hurt immediately after being tackled by Falcons linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.
5. Rookies pitch in: Ridley caught two touchdown passes and running back Ito Smith also scored on a 7-yard touchdown run. It was the first time two Falcons rookies scored touchdowns in the same game.
Ridley became the first rookie with six touchdown catches in his team’s first four games in NFL history.
Also, in the revamped secondary, Oliver started at left cornerback. Desmond Trufant slid inside to play nickel. He was called for a key defensive pass interference in the fourth quarter to give the Bengals a first down with 9:16 to play.
Robert Alford moved over to left cornerback and Brian Poole split the strong safety spot with Jordan Richards.
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