Bengals, Dalton Overcome Terrible 1st Half, Keep Hold of AFC North's Top Spot

For the first half of the Cincinnati Bengals' eventual 14-13 defeat of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it seemed as though a Bengals victory would be nearly impossible.

Against the two-win Buccaneers, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had his second-worst performance of the season. His struggles were especially evident during the first half

He attempted just 11 first-half passes, completing seven for 62 yards and three interceptions. While he did add a rushing touchdown to the Bengals' total in the second quarter, it was their only points of the half. Running the ball worked to the tune of 91 combined yards on 15 team attempts, but it didn't matter—Dalton's picks stymied the offense.

Dalton's first interception came on his first pass attempt of the game. His second came in the red zone. His third came after Bengals cornerback Terence Newman picked off Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown, only for Buccaneers cornerback Alterraun Verner to pick him off right before halftime.

	Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	Pass TD	INT	Sack	Rating
1st Half	11	7	63.6%	62	0	3	1	39.0
Final	27	19	70.4%	176	1	3	2	60.6

Luckily for the Bengals, the Tampa Bay offense was just as inept. Those three picks yielded only three points for the Buccaneers.

It wasn't Dalton's only three-interception game this season. That came in Week 10 against the Cleveland Browns, a 24-3 loss that saw Dalton complete just 10 of his 33 pass attempts for 86 yards and three turnovers. 

The difference here was that the Bengals won with the help of Dalton bouncing back in the second half. 

Ultimately, Dalton completed 19 of 27 pass attempts for 176 yards, one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown and those three picks. His 70.4 completion percentage was his fourth-best on the season. Though it wasn't a perfect second half of football nor a very convincing win, the Bengals will take an ugly victory over a loss any day of the week.

So what could have contributed to Dalton's struggles? From all accounts, illness played a part. 

According to head coach Marvin Lewis, via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, Dalton spent the night throwing up.

Offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth confirmed this to Hobson, saying that Dalton was puking in a garbage can during pregame warm-ups, while receiver Mohamed Sanu noted to Fox 19's Joe Danneman that he saw Dalton throw up just before the game.

For what it's worth, Dalton refused to use his sickness as an excuse after the game. But nonetheless, it had to have an effect. Being awake all night with an illness—one that carried well into his game preparation on Sunday morning and required an IV to treat dehydration—will affect any quarterback's performance.

That fact also makes it more impressive that Dalton could have a much better second half than his first. But it wasn't just an improved Dalton who helped the Bengals eke out a narrow win. It was, of course, the Buccaneers committing an ill-timed penalty.

After the Bengals' final drive ended with an incomplete pass, it then became the defense's responsibility to hold on to the team's one-point lead. It had two minutes to make the stop and earn the win.

For most of the Buccaneers' final drive, it appeared that the Cincinnati defense wouldn't hold. After a series of short passes gained Tampa Bay a new set of downs, another to running back Bobby Rainey went 29 yards thanks to poor Bengals tackling.

A five-yard encroachment penalty by defensive end Wallace Gilberry moved the Buccaneers to the Bengals' 31-yard line. Luckily for the Bengals, however, inexperienced Buccaneers guard Garrett Gilkey committed yet another holding penalty, pushing them back 10 yards.

Louis Murphy then gained 21 yards on the pass play that followed. With 32 seconds remaining, the Buccaneers only had to kick a field goal to win the game. That is, if it wasn't for the eagle-eyed Lewis.

Lewis decided to gamble—he threw the challenge flag, seeing that the Buccaneers had 12 men on the field during Murphy's catch. There's just one thing: Within two minutes, a coach cannot challenge. The Bengals were charged a timeout.

This wasn't a mental lapse on Lewis' part, however. Lewis is part of the competition committee that developed and approved that challenge rule. All the illegal challenge did was cost the Bengals a timeout and alert the officials to review the play, which was then called back because of the penalty. 

McCown then threw two incompletions and one fourth-down pass short of the line to gain, and the Bengals got the ball back, took a knee and sealed the one-point victory.

But ugly wins like that—ones that take certain lucky breaks or perfectly timed penalties—will happen in the NFL. The Bengals managed to be on the good side of the ugly win this week after a first half of football that was just plain ugly.

Team	Record	Div. Record
Cincinnati Bengals*	8-3-1	2-1
Baltimore Ravens	7-5	2-3
Pittsburgh Steelers	7-5	2-2
Cleveland Browns	7-5	2-2

Best of all, the Bengals increased their lead in the AFC North, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens all losing in Week 13. Those three all stand at 7-5; the Bengals are 8-3-1.

That lead is important. The Bengals have a very difficult schedule remaining—two meetings with the Steelers, the first coming next week, an away game against the Browns after that, a home contest against the Denver Broncos in Week 16 and then a trip to Pittsburgh to end the season.

Falling to the Buccaneers on Sunday would have put the Bengals in a bad position with four games remaining. The win, though not the biggest confidence-builder heading into this rough stretch, sets the Bengals up well.

As long as they beat Cleveland and at least split their series with Pittsburgh, a second straight AFC North title should be theirs. That's the biggest takeaway from the Bengals' hard-fought win on Sunday. Dalton struggled, sure. The defense could have made a few more crucial tackles. But what matters most is that the Bengals won.