NFL Recap (Denver-Cincinnati)
Posted: Sun November 1, 1998 at 6:21 p.m. EST
DENVER 33, CINCINNATI 26
CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Terrell Davis continued to
run rampant with 149 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning
score with 58 seconds to play, as the Denver Broncos stood as
the NFL's only unbeaten team with a 33-26 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals (2-6) pulled into a 26-26 tie with 2:42 to play. Neil O'Donnell hooked up
with tight end Marco
Battaglia on a nine-yard touchdown pass into the right corner.
O'Donnell then went to Carl
Pickens for the two-point conversion as the 6-2 Pickens boxed out 5-10
cornerback Ray Crockett
on a jump pass.
But Denver (8-0) came right back. Vaughn Hebron returned the
ensuing kickoff to his 47 and John Elway used a
play-action fake before firing a 30-yard pass to Ed McCaffrey to the 23 on
the final play before the two-minute warning. Davis had runs of three and
two yards around a 14-yard completion to McCaffrey before sweeping left and
sneaking into the end zone for his league-leading 14th touchdown.
"I think we needed a game like this, we were down most of the game and
had to settle down," said Davis. "We haven't had a close game like this
all year, maybe Seattle, but it was nothing like this. No one on this team
has a big head and they're not looking at last year, they're looking ahead
to '98."
The Bengals, though, had an excellent chance to tie. Kickoff returner
Tremain Mack found a
crease on the right side and raced 61 yards to the Denver 32 with 48
seconds to go. But defensive end Alfred Williams -- a
former Bengal -- looped inside and sacked O'Donnell for an eight-yard loss.
O'Donnell was able to complete only one more pass, a one-yarder in the
flat, in his next three attempts as the Broncos held on for their 13th
straight victory dating to last season's Super Bowl run.
"We had to find a way to win, and we made the plays," said Broncos
coach Mike Shanahan. "We tried to go to Terrell late in the game all the
time. If I didn't go to him, I'd fire myself. He gets stronger as the
game goes on. After a game like this, we feel fortunate to be 8-0."
Denver became the fifth team to start 8-0 and the first since the 1991
Washington Redskins
since the NFL schedule went to 16 games in 1978. The Minnesota Vikings also
entered play 7-0 but lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Davis, who set a team record with his seventh straight 100-yard game,
has 1,152 yards rushing. Elway completed 15-of-26 passes for 213 yards,
two TDs and one interception. McCaffrey caught seven passes for a
career-high 143 yards.
"I think today was a great lesson for us," said Elway. "We know or
should know that week in and week out, we have to be ready. We showed a lot
of character by making plays."
O'Donnell was 19-of-34 for 256 yards and three touchdowns for
Cincinnati, which struggled in the red zone in the first half, settling for
two short field goals and turning the ball over on another possession. Corey Dillon added 110
rushing yards for the Bengals, who are 6-14 all-time against the Broncos.
"We played as well as we could play, even with the mistakes that were
made," said Bengals coach Bruce Coslet. "It was one of those games where
it had to be that way, you reel from the left hook, then you hit them with
the right cross. Like a prize fight, we fought them toe-to-toe at the
50-yard line and went down swinging."
Cincinnati took the opening kickoff 70 yards in 10 plays, highlighted
by a 38-yard pass from O'Donnell to rookie Damon Gibson to the 8. But a
sweep by Dillon was stuffed and O'Donnell threw two incompletions before Doug Pelfrey kicked a
25-yard field goal.
Denver's Jason
Elam kicked a 33-yard field goal, but the Bengals marched to the Denver
3 on their next possession. However, Dillon fumbled on 2nd-and-goal and
linebacker Bill
Romanowski recovered at the 7.
Cincinnati took a 6-3 lead with 8:37 left in the second quarter on a
23-yard field goal by Pelfrey, but Elam countered with a 37-yarder at the
2:12 mark. O'Donnell, though, marched the Bengals 52 yards in six plays,
capped by a 17-yard strike to Gibson. Cincinnati missed the two-point
conversion and had a 12-6 lead with 57 seconds to go.
The Broncos took the second-half kickoff 74 yards and Elway found Willie Green down the
right sideline for 17 yards and a touchdown for a 13-12 lead. Pelfrey
missed a 52-yard field goal with 2:37 left in the third quarter, but Elway
was picked off by safety Sam Shade at the
Cincinnati 40.
O'Donnell led the Bengals 60 yards in 11 plays, ending with an 11-yard
strike to James Hundon,
who suffered a cracked rib on the play as he was hit. Cincinnati again
missed a two-point conversion and held an 18-13 lead with 12 minutes
remaining.
Elway responded with a nine-play, 68-yard drive, which ended when
Davis bounced off left guard from two yards. Like the Bengals, the Broncos
missed the two-point conversion and held a 19-18 lead with 7:05 to go.
Hebron came up with another huge special-teams play, blocking a punt
that was recovered tight end Dwayne Carswell at the
Cincinnati 25. Two plays later, Elway rolled to his right and hit
McCaffrey in stride for a touchdown and a 26-18 lead with 5:04 left.
"Every team has talent, it took everything we had to beat them," said
McCaffrey. "It may sound strange, but I'm extremely with the way we played
here. They play well here. They mixed up the coverage all day, threw a
lot of different things at us. We would have liked to play better today,
but you can't be perfect every day. We have to make things happen, and it
came down to a couple of close plays."
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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