Bengals notes: Dennard gets first INT, injury update
ORCHARD PARK, New York – Darqueze Dennard almost ran straight off the field following his first career interception, which came in the first quarter of the Cincinnati Bengals’ 34-21 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
He had studied during the week, and when the Bills broke the huddle and lined up, he knew wide receiver Chris Hogan was going to go vertical out of the slot. He played off safety George Iloka deep, and played under Hogan.
The defensive line got pressure, and Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel floated it up.
“The last couple weeks I’ve been in good coverage but haven’t had my eyes around to make the play, but this time I got around and got to see the ball,” Dennard said.
But after he got to the ground and secured the ball, he flashed back to his days at Michigan State. After all, he was wearing green and white the last time he made an interception. And in college, the play is dead once you’re down – so his first thought was to run to the sideline.
“I actually seen people running so it was like ‘oh!,” he said with a smile. “It was get up and run and don’t fumble the ball.”
After a 10-yard return, he finally made it to the sideline – but the ball will keep traveling. He said it will be on its way to Dry Branch, Georgia, and his grandmother, Peggy Curry.
“I was excited,” he said. “It was definitely a blessing.”
Analysis: Why Bengals beat the Bills
Third down a key for Bengals
Through the first half, in which the Bengals went into the break with a 17-14 lead, the Bills had converted five of their nine third downs, or 56 percent.
The bulk of those conversions came on the two scoring drives, measuring 80 and 91 yards.
But between those drives, the Bengals forced three punts and had an interception. And, they forced two more punts to start the third quarter and allow the offense to extend the lead.
When it was all said and done, the Bills didn’t convert another third down play.
Defensive tackle Geno Atkins said the defense “settled” after the Bills’ opening 80-yard drive, playing team defense.
“We didn’t change nothing – it was just doing what we were supposed to do, right,” safety George Iloka said. “We didn’t do what we were supposed to do in that first drive, so we just did what we were supposed to do. We didn’t change anything. It was just focus on doing everything.”
Offensively, the Bengals went 3-for-6 on third down in the first half, and turned in a slightly better performance in the second half, going 4-for-6. They made those conversions count, though, as Mohamed Sanu hauled in a 24-yard pass and A.J. Green came back to the ball on an Andy Dalton improvisation to keep the Bengals’ 78-yard, third-quarter touchdown drive alive.
“I think in the third quarter we just got our tempo going,” Green said. “The first half, we were out of sync a little bit. Got back to the locker room, regrouped, and we got it all settled down and we started our usual tempo, going fast, going no-huddle and it worked out.”
Rey, Johnson leave game early
Linebacker Vinny Rey was first helped off the field and then carted to the Bengals' locker room in the third quarter after injuring an ankle. He came back to the sideline in uniform, but was never going to re-enter.
He finished with eight tackles.
Defensive end Michael Johnson also tweaked his leg in the fourth quarter after making four tackles and one quarterback hit. Also sore after the game, he looked to have escaped serious injury.