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Trailing 17-3 late in the third quarter behind an offense that had struggled to move the ball, the Bengals needed Jake Browning to be nearly perfect — and he was.
Browning led Cincinnati to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and directed the winning drive in overtime in his latest extraordinary performance since taking over for the injured Joe Burrow, and the Bengals beat the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 on Saturday to improve their position in the playoff race.
Browning won his third straight start and improved to 3-1 since Burrow suffered a season-ending right wrist injury in a loss at Baltimore. This time, he threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime, becoming the fourth QB in the past two years to throw for at least that many yards and two or more scores after three quarters.
“I feel like I need a beer,” said Browning, who beat a team that cut him from its practice squad two years ago.
The Vikings let Browning go from their practice squad in 2021. The Bengals picked him up for their practice squad, and he won the job as Burrow’s backup before this season.
“I think right after we made the field goal and won the game, I screamed at the camera and said, ‘They never should have cut me,’” Browning said.
In fact, Browning played so well that he’s being drug tested, according to Browning himself via Instagram post.
Browning wasn’t Cincinnati’s only hero on Saturday. Tee Higgins went high over a Vikings defender to catch a 16-yard pass from Browning and make a twisting move at the goal line for the tying touchdown with 39 seconds left in regulation.
Then, in overtime, a scrambling Browning found Tyler Boyd for a 44-yard completion that got Cincinnati (8-6) into Vikings territory and set up Evan McPherson’s game-ending 29-yard field goal.
“Jake’s just so steady, you know?” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “He really is. He doesn’t get rattled by a negative play. He doesn’t overreact to it.”
Browning was 29 for 42 for 324 yards with two…
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Publish date : 2023-12-17 01:35:46
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