Bengals edge Bears

Published 11:18 pm Thursday, August 9, 2018

CINCINNATI (AP) — Andy Dalton made a solid debut in Cincinnati’s revamped offense, throwing for a pair of touchdowns as the Bengals beat the Chicago Bears 30-27 on Thursday night.
The Bengals (1-0) were last in the league on offense last season, the worst finish in franchise history. They overhauled their leaky offensive line, and coordinator Bill Lazor injected more diversity into the playbook. It showed the first time out.
Dalton went 6 of 8 for 103 yards, completing four passes of at least 20 yards. He also had an interception that wasn’t his fault — John Ross fell on his route and Kyle Fuller returned the pickoff 47 yards to the end zone.
The Bengals are hoping that Ross and running back Joe Mixon — their top two picks last season — emerge in the redesigned offense during their second seasons. Ross had a 20-yard catch. Mixon — moved into the starring role with Jeremy Hill gone — made the game’s most impressive play. He caught a short pass, stiff-armed one defender and spun away from another for a 24-yard touchdown .
The Bears (0-2) rested most of their starters during a 17-16 loss to the Ravens in the Hall of Fame game, including quarterback Mitchell Trubisky . His preseason debut Thursday didn’t go very well.
Trubisky was in for two series that netted minus-1 yard on eight plays. The Bears’ only first down on those series came on Carlos Dunlap’s penalty for roughing the quarterback, a late hit on Trubisky. He missed on a deep sideline pass to Kevin White on his opening throw and finished 2 of 4 for 4 yards.
PRESEASON TRICKERY
The Bengals pulled off a fake punt in the second quarter, with safety Clayton Fejedelem going 49 yards after a direct snap. He finished as Cincinnati’s leading rusher with the one run.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
There were no protests. Bears players, coaches and staff stood with arms linked for the anthem. Bengals players stood by themselves on the sideline.
HEADS UP
Chicago’s Demarcus Ayers drew a personal foul for lowering his head to tackle Fejedelem on the fake punt. Fejedelem was flagged for the same infraction in the third quarter when he was on defense.
INJURIES
Bears: LB Josh Woods suffered a hand injury in the first half and didn’t return.
Bengals: LB Vincent Rey hurt his right ankle while blocking on a punt return and was helped off the field in the first quarter. He didn’t return.
NEXT UP
Bears: Play at Denver on Saturday, Aug. 18.
Bengals: Play at Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 18.

 

Bengals’ stats
Chicago 7 7 6 7 = 27
Cincinnati 14 9 0 7 = 30
First Quarter
Cin—Mixon 24 pass from Dalton (J.Brown kick), 8:28.
Chi—Fuller 47 interception return (Parkey kick), 6:33.
Cin—T.Boyd 3 pass from Dalton (Bullock kick), 2:16.
Second Quarter
Chi—Mizzell 1 run (Parkey kick), 10:58.
Cin—FG Bullock 28, 8:09.
Cin—FG J.Brown 24, 1:41.
Cin—FG Bullock 29, :00.
Third Quarter
Chi—FG Parkey 39, 6:16.
Chi—FG Parkey 35, 1:11.
Fourth Quarter
Chi—Ayers 3 run (Parkey kick), 9:26.
Cin—Tate 33 pass from Driskel (Bullock kick), 2:04.
A—35,633.
———
Chi Cin
First downs 25 22
Total Net Yards 423 447
Rushes-yards 25-132 28-144
Passing 291 303
Punt Returns 5-3 3-19
Kickoff Returns 2-44 4-91
Interceptions Ret. 1-47 2-0
Comp-Att-Int 28-43-2 21-36-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-8 1-4
Punts 4-41.8 6-40.8
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 8-85 10-98
Time of Possession 30:50 29:10
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Chicago, Nall 9-95, Mizzell 12-27, Daniel 3-7, Ayers 1-3. Cincinnati, Fejedelem 1-49, Carson 6-24, Bernard 4-23, Hill 3-13, Walton 7-13, Mixon 3-9, Flowers 1-6, Dalton 1-4, Lawry 1-2, J.Williams 1-1.
PASSING—Chicago, Trubisky 2-4-0-4, Daniel 8-12-1-76, Bray 18-27-1-219. Cincinnati, Dalton 6-8-1-103, Barkley 5-13-0-64, Driskel 10-15-0-140.
RECEIVING—Chicago, Gentry 6-54, D.Brown 5-90, Shaheen 3-53, Ayers 3-24, Fowler 2-22, Mizzell 2-11, Wims 2-6, Braunecker 1-20, Nall 1-9, Thompson 1-6, T.Burton 1-5, Miller 1-(minus 1). Cincinnati, Malone 3-41, Uzomah 3-32, Green 2-48, Whitfield 2-32, Erickson 2-14, Hill 2-13, Tate 1-33, J.Williams 1-29, Mixon 1-24, J.Ross 1-20, Franks 1-12, Carson 1-6, T.Boyd 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Chicago, Parkey 52.

Email newsletter signup