I didn’t think that the Falcons were really any good before the game and nothing that happened yesterday changed my opinion. So I’m trying not to read too much into the win.
What I think can be said is that the Bengals firmly and decisively did what they should have done. They did not play down to the level of an inferior opponent, as we’ve seen them do all too many times. Offensively, the mission was to take advantage of Atlanta’s poor pass defense, and defensively the goal was to contain their run game and make Mariota beat them. Mission accomplished on both counts.
The only two real points of criticism are Apple getting beaten on that 75 yard TD and the punt at the end of the half. On the former I can cut Eli some slack. Shit happens. Hell, on Boyd’s first TD the guy covering him just flat out fell down and left Tyler wide open. The punt however was either a total coaching brain fart — it ought to have been booted safely out of bounds — or a failure on Huber’s part to do so.