Film Room: When it matters most, Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals forced the 49ers to play catch-up all day long after scoring on their opening two drives, but at the end of the day, it was the defence that truly put San Francisco on ice.
Although the Bengals had a great offensive start, they were unable to fully take advantage of having the ball to begin the second half. The chance to get two consecutive scores is the real benefit of this.
A mistake by Irv Smith cost the Bengals the chance to tie the score at the end of the first half. All they managed to accomplish instead was a field goal to begin the second half.
In order to force errors and shut out the 49ers in the second half, the defence stepped up.
Naturally, they had to put an end to the San Francisco counter first.
The 49ers offence put together a strong drive following the Bengals’ three-and-out, hitting George Kittle and Brandin Aiyuk for some significant gains.
The 49ers attempted a shuttle pass to Kittle on first and goal, but Hubbard was all over it, forcing Brock Purdy to scurry and try to create. The 49ers were called for an illegal man down the field because the Bengals defence forced Purdy to go off script.
Pratt’s play did not result in Bengals points, even though it might have stopped San Francisco from scoring.
The Bengals defence did what it does best on the opening play of the subsequent drive: set up plays for Joe Burrow.
Logan Wilson was the one who got underneath the dig route this time by reading Purdy.
San Francisco was able to respond on their next drive, but they took nearly five minutes off the clock and still trailed by seven.
Cincinnati would counter with their own scoring drive, taking five more minutes off the field despite not having a third down on the drive.
Joe Mixon’s touchdown run gave the Bengals a 14-point lead with less than three minutes to play,
The 49ers faced a daunting task, but the Cincinnati defence appeared to be playing with greater urgency.
Dax Hill tore at the ball in an attempt to force a turnover as Kittle made a huge gain by crossing into Bengals territory.
Mike Hilton picked off Purdy two plays later, but the play was cancelled due to a penalty.
At last, Trey Hendrickson’s strip sack sealed San Francisco’s doom.
This defence deserves a championship.
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The San Francisco 49ers, who are now 5-3 and ranked second in the NFC West heading into their bye week, suffered their third straight loss on Sunday, falling to the Cincinnati Bengals 31-17.
The 49ers made three offensive blunders in the second half as quarterback Brock Purdy fumbled and was intercepted twice.
For the first time this season, San Francisco’s defence let quarterback Joe Burrow complete 28 of his 32 passes, scoring 30 points.
We talked about the 49ers’ Week 8 loss to the Bengals and their identity following three straight losses in our most recent podcast episode.
The show’s audio can be found below, and the video is embedded above.
Although defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has received a lot of criticism, he is not the only problem. The 49ers are struggling with all aspects of their execution, and their offence has also had difficulty scoring during the current losing run.
After their bye week, the 49ers will face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10 with an opportunity to start fresh.
The Rohan Chakravarthi Show is available for download on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.The best moment to watch every Week 8 game of the 2023 season on NFL+
The Lions led 16–14 at the end of the third quarter, but it felt much closer than that. Detroit’s most thrilling play of the day came from a 27-yard touchdown run by Jimmy Gibbs, which increased the lead. The safety had an angle, but he started his run towards an almost invisible hole inside, barely making it through before bouncing outside and turning on the jets past cornerback Jakorian Bennett. He then beat Isaiah Pola-Mao to the front corner of the end zone. When the handoff occurred, the rookie running back, according to Next Gen Stats, had a 0.4% chance to score. He did, putting the finishing touches on a standout day in which he accumulated 189 yards from scrimmage. If you stay for the action after the play, you’ll also see Gibbs leap into the stands with the aid of a willing spectator and stop to celebrate with the first-row crowd.
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