A Valuable Lesson Learned On Christmas Eve For Bengals, Even In Heart-Stopping Win

FOXBORO — Ted Karras knew well enough from his time in New England that if you give the Patriots any life at all, you’re asking for trouble, big trouble.

The Bengals almost learned this is the most painful way possible on Christmas Eve.

They nearly blew a 22-0 halftime lead.

But because two players on defense made a play at the last possible moment, the Bengals escaped with a 22-18 win over the Patriots, a realistic chance of a top seed in the AFC and perhaps most importantly, control of a second straight AFC North title in their control.

The Patriot fans inside Gillette Stadium had seen enough by halftime. They had completely given up. The Bengals and Joe Burrow were rolling them. Burrow had a career-best 28 first half completions on 36 attempts, three touchdowns and 284 yards.

But the lesson of this Christmas Eve is play to the finish. The Bengals nearly didn’t.

They started making uncharacteristic mistakes. Burrow threw a 69-yard pick-6 to Marcus Jones on an apparent miscommunication with Ja’Marr Chase. Chase would later fumble a reception that led to what seemed destined to be New England’s game-winning drive.

Evan McPherson couldn’t make two of his extra points and missed a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, all into the south end zone.

The offense couldn’t finish a pair of drives in the second half. All the while Ted Karras, the former Patriot offensive lineman, was thinking trouble was brewing.

“There’s two and a half decades of precedent where they win that game,” Karras said. “Very dangerous and very scary. Very glad we got the win. It’s my first win as a visitor here in Gillette. We could see them again. They’re a very dangerous team that is well coached, well prepared and plays really hard. That was a gritty win and we made it way harder on ourselves than we needed to.”

Burrow had a different take.

“It was up and down to say the least. I’m never going to apologize for winning. Obviously, a lot of room to improve. First half was about as good as it gets, and then after that we kind of shot ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. But found a way to do it.”

Karras knew Belichick would make adjustments at halftime. The Bengals helped their cause by not finishing the chances the Patriots kept giving them. And then the Bengals made it worse by giving the Patriots better chances, chances they nearly capitalized on.

“We gave them the ball too much,” Karras said. “We didn’t capitalize. It felt like we could get anything we wanted in the first half. That’s what Bill [Belichick] does. He makes halftime adjustments that cause problems. We overcame enough today. What a fantastic finish by our defense on the five-yard line bowing up. That’s what it’s going to take from here on out. We get a little rest, get to enjoy Christmas and we got Monday night with the Bills.

“We’re winning tough games. I wish we didn’t make it so hard on ourselves all the time, but we did today and we won. A win is a win. Glad to be in Gillette and see all my old friends. I have a ton of love and admiration for the people in this organization. I have so many life-long friends. I’m glad we bested them today, but we have to keep rolling.”

But this game could be viewed as the Bengals finding a way to win a game that seemed to be slipping away. Make one play and win the game.

Germaine Pratt made that play against Travis Kelce and the Chiefs on Dec. 4. Three weeks later, with the Patriots inside the Bengals 10, they needed one more and it took two players this time to make it.

Rhamondre Stevenson bulled ahead on first and goal. But he stood up just enough for Vonn Bell to come in from the side and punch the ball free. BJ Hill was in the right place at the right time on the ground.

Bengals ball with 59 seconds left.

“I was going for the ball on the first play before that and I’m always attacking the ball,” Bell said. “That’s the mindset. You can’t really see it, he was running the ball, and all you do is attack the football and punch it out.

“We are playing championship football and adversity happens during the games. Great teams always find a way to win, especially in unkind conditions, like it’s cold, it’s an away game, momentum shifts, and adversity, like I said. We just find a way to win and play team football.”

Bell is right about that. Adversity does happen. And so far, the Bengals have overcome adversity, even self-inflicted.

“Answer the bell when your number is called, I feel like I could have made a couple of more plays, but I made this one,” Bell said. “God make things work out for a reason, and everything happens for reason, so I am just going out there and play with my guys and play championship football.”

BJ Hill wasn’t making apologies either. Yes, the defense gave up a Hail Mary on third-and-29 at midfield that wound up in Jakobi Meyers hands for a touchdown that made it 22-18. But those were the final points, thanks to Hill being in the right place at the right time at the bottom of the pile.

“I had the ball kind of early, and I was trying to get up with it and people were holding me, I think. I couldn’t tell what the heck was going on and I knew I had it and knew we were going to get it. It was big play by Vonn,” Hill said.

“It’s hard to win in the NFL. Each and every week is tough. We found a way to win and that’s all that matters. We won and it’s time to move on to the next game.”

“It wasn’t perfect at all times,” said coach Zac Taylor. “There were some really good moments and some moments we’ve got to improve on. But at the end of the day, December 24, getting out of here with a win is a big deal. So we’re going to find a way to correct the negatives and focus on the positives and get ready for Monday night against Buffalo.

“We had the two turnovers that hurt us. Again, they did a nice job mixing some things in there. They made some plays when they needed to. We had some opportunities. We just didn’t capitalize on all of them. We had a big drop, lost seven points there, and had two turnovers as well. Just got to be better taking advantage of those opportunities.”

But for now, just enjoy Christmas and an 11-4 record.