Thursday morning Andy Dalton was named AFC’s offensive player of the month, and who could argue? Through the first 30 days of the month Dalton led the Cincinnati Bengals to 4 wins while he threw for 1,246 yards, 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Unfortunately Dalton’s magic month of October came to a screeching halt on Halloween in Miami.
The Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals needed overtime to find a winner on the final night of October, and with both offenses struggle to gain traction Miami defensive end Cameron Wake decided to take things into his own hands. With 6:38 remaining in overtime and the Bengals backed inside their own 10-yard line, Wake slipped by an offensive lineman and sacked Dalton for a safety to end the game. The safety marked only the third time in NFL history that a team has won a game in overtime on a safety.
The Dolphins defense had five sacks on the night, three of which were recorded by Wake, and forced four Cincinnati turnovers.
The Bengals (6-3) still hold a two-game lead in the AFC North, but had their four-game winning streak snapped. The Dolphins (4-4) snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory, and moved into a tie for the time being with the New York Jets for second place in the AFC East.
The Bengals took a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter, but trailed at the half 10-3 due to a Ryan Tannehill quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 36-yard Caleb Sturgis field goal.
Halfway through the third quarter, Dalton threw an interception to Brent Grimes who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that put the Dolphins up 17-3. Dalton finished the night completing 32 of 53 passes for 338 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Dolphins saw their 14-point second half lead vanish for the second time in less than a week. Last week Miami surrendered 24 points in 24 minutes in their loss to Tom Brady and the Patriots. This week Giovani Bernard led the charge for the Bengals, as the rookie running back ran for two second-half touchdowns. The second of which might have been the most impressive touchdown run of the season as Bernard started right, cut back to the left sideline then back across the field and into the end zone. Mike Nugent added the game tying field goal with 1:24 left in the game.
Dolphins’ rookie kicker Caleb Sturgis had missed four of his last five field goal attempts coming into Thursday night’s game against the Bengals, but he drilled home a 44-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
In overtime both offenses stalled and couldn’t gain much ground. Then on third-and-ten, on their own 8-yard line the Bengals dropped back to pass and Cameron Wake came through with the sack for a safety to end the game. The play was ruled a safety on the field by the referees and then confirmed after review.
The Bengals biggest loss of the night came when star defensive tackle Geno Atkins left the game reportedly with an ACL tear, which would effectively end his season. Next week the Bengals travel to AFC North rival Baltimore, and the Miami Dolphins will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the winless Buccaneers.
