Cincinnati Bengals lament undisciplined play in Week 6 tie

The Cincinnati Bengals scored a rare tie in the NFL in a Week 6 home game versus the Carolina Panthers. While it’s easy to blame kicker Mike Nugent for missing a last-second field goal attempt in overtime that would have handed the Bengals the win, a closer look at the team’s effort shows that they had many chances to mitigate their points against and maximize their offense.

Instead the Bengals allowed the Panthers to stick around long enough to keep the game tied after the end of overtime. Now the Bengals know they have no one to blame but themselves for the missed chance at a win.

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“We moved the ball up and down the field offensively,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said per the Cincinnati Enquirer, “but we can’t have the turnovers that we had (two Andy Dalton interceptions), which hurt us, and then the penalties throughout the day were the two things that really set us back. Those are the things that we have to correct and do better. You can’t have those kinds of penalties in a football game like this.”

After tallying a mere 22 penalties in their first four games, the Bengals were assess 13 penalties in Week 6, many of the boneheaded variety, and several of which gave the Panthers offense enough life to later score a touchdown. One of the most damning penalties came late in overtime when linebacker Vontaze Burfict ‘was called for illegal contact on a third-and-10 play from the Carolina 44 that gained nine yards. It gave the Panthers an automatic first down. They would eventually kick a field goal to tie it.’

The Bengals have now played two straight without a win and they have only themselves to blame for the missed opportunities. They’ll have a chance to amend their ways, but it won’t be easy in Week 7 as the team travels to Indianapolis to take on the surging Colts.

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