The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens 34-17 this evening to ensure that they finished the regular season with a perfect home record.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton made a shaky start to the match, throwing two interceptions in the opening quarter, both of which resulted in field goals for the Ravens to give them a six-point lead.
He atoned for these errors before the end of the first quarter, however, throwing a 53-yard touchdown pass to AJ Green, who had escaped his man and had a simple jog into the endzone.
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Mike Nugent extended his side's lead with a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter before Marvin Jones did well to hold on to a 16-yard Dalton pass in the endzone, collecting it with one hand to give the Bengals an 11-point advantage at half time.
Justin Tucker kicked his third field goal of the match in the third quarter to reduce the deficit to eight, and the game was level again not long afterwards as Joe Flacco found Marlon Brown at the back of the endzone for an eight-yard score.
The Ravens opted to go for a two-point conversion, and Ray Rice made it a worthwhile decision by crossing the line to make it 17-17.
Dalton's eventful game continued at the start of the second quarter as he sold the Baltimore defence a dummy to run in for a one-yard score of his own.
Having seen Dalton throw four interceptions in the match, Flacco threw one of his own to gift the ball back to the Bengals shortly after they had regained the lead. The hosts went on to set up a field goal opportunity, which Nugent scored from 38 yards.
Any hopes of another Ravens comeback was ended when Flacco threw another interception, this time giving the ball to Dre Kirkpatrick, who returned it 21 yards for a touchdown that extended the Bengals' lead to 17 points.
That was how it finished as the Ravens saw their slim playoff hopes fade away, while the Bengals will now be hoping that the New England Patriots lose against the Buffalo Bills later today, which would give them a first-round bye.
Barney Corkhill
