The Tri-State is fully rolling now, as the Cincinnati Bengals are back! This means all three pro sports organizations are actively in season. On that note, we are announcing that our weekly summary of the Tri-State will only cover professional sports. Sansom Sports Media has weekly pieces on the website breaking down our local teams and do not want to duplicate things if we can avoid it.
Bengals
Cincinnati Football is all the way BACK! The Bengals opened up Week One at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning 33-27.
Let’s go drive-for-drive:
Buccaneers Take a 3-0 Lead:
Solid opening drive for Tampa, no notable plays.
Bengals Punt
Buccaneers Fumble, Bengals Touchdown (7-3):
Quarterback Baker Mayfield was sacked by Myles Murphy and Barrett Carter and fumbled the ball. Demetrius Knight Jr. scooped up the ball and took it 27 yards for the Bengals’ first touchdown of the year.
Buccaneers Fumble:
Running back Bucky Irving caught a seven yard pass, only to be wrapped up by safety Bryan Cook. Cook forced yet another fumble and Boye Mafe recovered the ball at the Tampa 33.
Bengals Touchdown (14-3): The Bengals capped off a short drive with a two-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Joe Burrow to tight end Mike Gesicki. Obviously, Gesicki hit the Griddy after the score.
Buccaneers Fumble: The Buccaneers had driven all the way down to the Cincinnati four-yard line. Once they got there, Barrett Carter forced yet another fumble and Bryan Cook recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Bengals Touchdown (21-3): Cincinnati executed a balanced 80-yard drive down the field, getting the ball to five different players. Chase Brown finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run.
Buccaneers Touchdown (21-10): Tampa Bay responded, with Baker Mayfield leading the Buccaneers down the field. Bucky Irving punched the ball in for a 10-yard touchdown to close out the drive.
Bengals Field Goal (24-10): Mike Gesicki led this team all the way into field goal range, connecting with Joe Burrow for 52 yards on this drive. Evan McPherson closed the drive out with a 20-yard chip shot.
HALF
Bengals Field Goal (27-10):
A 29-yard connection between wide receiver Tee Higgins and Burrow was the core play of this drive, setting up McPherson for a 55-yard field goal, which he drilled.
Buccaneers Field Goal (27-13):
The Buccaneers attempted to stay in the game, pushing down the field with Irving, who had 30 total yards on this drive. Chase McLaughlin drilled a 51-yarder to keep the Bucs within two scores.
Buccaneers Pick-Six (27-20): This was a silencer in Paycor Stadium, as Joe Burrow threw an interception right into the hands of linebacker Josiah Trotter. Trotter ran it back 38 yards for a game-altering touchdown.
Bengals Field Goal (30-20): Evan McPherson was on fire yesterday, he drilled a 58-yard field goal to put Cincinnati up by two scores.
Buccaneers Fumble: Tampa had marched to their own 46 before Boye Mafe got to Mayfield, sacking him and forcing their fourth fumble of the game. Tedarrel Slaton recovered the ball for the Bengals.
Bengals Field Goal (33-20): The running back duo of Chase Brown and Samaje Perine single-handedly marched down the field, setting up Cincinnati for another score. McPherson delivered yet again with a 32-yard field goal.
Buccaneers Field Goal (33-26): Tampa Bay stormed down the field, going 51 yards in two minutes. Baker Mayfield scrambled up the middle for a nine-yard touchdown to finish it up.
Bengals Close it Out: Cincinnati needed to pick up four first downs and they did exactly that. Joe Burrow found wide receiver Dohnte Myers for an 18-yard pass to start. Shortly after, he connected with Samaje Perine for a 14-yard pass for another first down. Tee Higgins made an acrobatic 18-yard catch, putting Cincy one step closer. Joe Burrow closed it out on 3rd and 1 with a quarterback sneak to win the game.
This was a great season opener for the Bengals, with both the defense and offense showing signs of life. That is extremely unfamiliar for a Bengals team that seems to always start slow.
Looking ahead, Cincinnati travels to Houston to face off with the Texans on Sunday at 1 p.m. This is a huge test, as the Texans are a legit squad with a lethal defense.
FC Cincinnati
The Garys had a rough week, picking up one point in two games.
9/9 | Philadelphia beats FC Cincinnati 5-0 | Subaru Park
Obinna Nwobodo picked up a red card in the 16th minute for FCC; it all went downhill from there. Philadelphia put up five goals and absolutely decimated the depleted Cincinnati squad. Bruno Damani put up a hat-trick for Philly.
9/12 | FC Cincinnati draws Charlotte FC 3-3 | TQL Stadium
Pavel Bucha started this one hot, setting the tone with an early goal (2′). Shortly after, Liel Abada scored an equalizer for Charlotte (7′). This was a bit of a shock to the TQL crowd. Just ten minutes after that, Pep Biel drilled a penalty kick for Charlotte, putting them up 2-1. They took this lead into the half. Coming out of the half, Kevin Denkey scored an equalizer, sending the crowd into a frenzy (51′). Just as the momentum was shifting Cincy’s way, Charlotte retook the lead on an Idan Toklomati goal (55′). It was looking like Charlotte was going to escape with a win, until Kevin Denkey came to the rescue in extra time. He scored a massive equalizer, forcing a tie that felt like a win for Cincinnati. Denkey had a brace in the match.
FCC Goals: Pavel Bucha (2′), Kevin Denkey (51′, 90 +1′)
Assists: Tom Barlow (2′), Andrei Chirila (51′), Bryan Ramirez (90 +1′)
Reds
The Reds had a 1-5 week where they were swept by the Dodgers and took one of three against the Brewers.
Cincinnati’s opponents scored a total of 60 runs last week, meaning the Reds let up an average of ten runs per game. On top of that, the Reds only put up 19.
That is all that needs to be said about this past week.
This week, the Reds host both the Dodgers and the Cubs. They opened the week losing to the Dodgers 4-1 on Monday.
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