NEW ORLEANS — Joey Franchise may have picked the perfect time and place to return to form. <\/p>\n
Returning to the same venue where he capped a 15-0 national championship season with LSU, Joe Burrow led the Bengals back to a critically needed 30-26 win over the Saints at a raucous Caesars Superdome. <\/p>\n
Throughout much of the game, a Bengals win felt improbable – if not implausible – going up against a shorthanded Saints team that had better execution for the better part of three quarters. The Saints were without their top three receivers and their top cornerback and yet, the Bengals were floundering after a pair of 14-play second-half drives by the Saints.<\/p>\n
But if there’s real reason for hope for the 2022 Bengals it’s how their best two players played in a hostile environment when they needed it the most. <\/p>\n
Joe Burrow finished 28-of-37 for exactly 300 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with a superlative passer rating of 126.0. Ja’Marr Chase had seven catches on 10 targets for 132 yards and two touchdowns. <\/p>\n
This Superdome crowd of 70,004 was not cheering on Burrow and fellow former LSU star Ja’Marr Chase. Most in the stands were pulling for their undermanned Saints to fend off the high-powered Bengals. And they almost did. <\/p>\n
But Burrow made sure that the Bengals didn’t falter when the decibels were reaching jet engine levels. <\/p>\n
He scrambled around 20 yards on third-and-4 at the Bengals 31 to avoid a sure sack when the Bengals were down 26-21. He ran back as far as his own 16 and then cut back to the middle of the field, found Tyler Boyd over the middle at the 38 for what turned into a 10-yard gain. It was the play that symbolized the day more than any other. And maybe the season. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s third down. The game is on the line, basically. I know that I had to make a play,” Burrow said. “In those situations, I know that I can extend plays further than maybe I usually would, so I trusted my training. I knew we needed a play. (Tyler Boyd) did a great job of getting open. It was a great play for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That drive ended with a pair of Joe Burrow sacks and a 52-yard Evan McPherson field goal. <\/p>\n
After the defense came up with their biggest stop of the day at the most crucial time, Burrow got the ball back at the Cincinnati 40. One pass. One catch by Chase at midfield near the Saints sideline and two missed tackles and it was off to the races for a game-winning 60-yard touchdown with 1:57 left. The Bengals and Burrow had finally found the missing ingredient for the big play and the biggest moment. <\/p>\n
\nTiger King.#CINvsNO<\/a> | ? CBS pic.twitter.com\/FWDM0NWpzU<\/a><\/p>\n
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n