Evan McPherson booted a 29-yard field goal with 3:11 left in overtime to rally the Cincinnati Bengals past the visiting Minnesota Vikings 27-24 on Saturday.
Jake Browning connected with Tyler Boyd for 44 yards on third-and-9 to move the ball to the Vikings 13-yard line to set up the game-winning kick for Cincinnati (8-6).
Tee Higgins caught a pass at the Minnesota 1 and then extended the ball with his right arm and hand over the goal line as he was being tackled by Akayleb Evans for a 21-yard, game-tying touchdown with 39 seconds left in regulation.
Browning finished 29-for-42 passing for 324 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Bengals rallied from deficits of 17-3 and 24-17 in the fourth quarter, scoring 21 points in the 15-minute session to force overtime.
The Bengals stopped Minnesota (7-7) on fourth-and-1 at the Cincinnati 42 with 6:12 left in overtime, giving the Bengals, who had the ball to start the extra period, another chance to win the game.
Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jordan Addison, who finished with six catches for 111 yards, while Ty Chandler set up Minnesota’s go-ahead score in the fourth quarter with a 30-yard rush. Chandler finished with 132 yards and a 1-yard TD run on 23 carries.
Bengals star defensive end Trey Hendrickson was offsides with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter, wiping out a Germaine Pratt pick-6 that would’ve given the Bengals a late lead.
Hendrickson finished with 1.5 sacks and now has 15 for the season, surpassing his official franchise mark of 14 set in 2021.
The Bengals did not have the services of star receiver Ja’Marr Chase on their game-tying drive, as he headed to the locker room with a right shoulder injury. He had four catches for 64 yards.
Before a 13-yard Browning-to-Higgins touchdown connection to open the fourth quarter, the Vikings hadn’t allowed a TD since Courtland Sutton’s game-winning score for the Broncos at the end of a game on Nov. 19 in Denver.
The Bengals started the scoring with a 34-yard McPherson field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The Vikings then marched 75 yards in 12 plays for their first touchdown in two games, with the drive capped by a 1-yard run from Chandler with 2:23 left in the first quarter.
On the drive, the Bengals lost starting nose tackle DJ Reader to a quad injury, as he was carted off with 7:46 left in the first quarter. NFL Network reported that Reader is to miss the rest of the season with a torn quad tendon.
Later in the first quarter, the Bengals lost another defensive player as DJ Ivey was carted to the locker room with a left knee injury while covering a punt.
The Vikings came out of halftime and established a two-score lead when Mullens stood in during a heavy rush and found Addison over the middle. Addison turned it into a 37-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown and a 14-3 Minnesota lead.
–Field Level Media
