SANTA CLARA, Calif. _ Two franchises that played against each other in two Super Bowl classics offered up a mid-season dream here at Levi’s Stadium as the Bengals rode Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow’s Montana-like performance to their third straight victory with a 31-17 win over NFC power San Francisco
Burrow sifted a 49ers defense ranked No. 1 in a couple of categories for a career-high completion percentage of 87.5 on 28 of 32 for 283 yards and touchdown passes to three different receivers.
Running back Joe Mixon fittingly sealed it when he danced in the end zone at the end of a five-yard touchdown run with 2:54 left as the product of nearby Oakley, Calif., capped off a season-high 87 yards on 16 carries.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had his third 100-day of the season with 100 on 10 catches, Burrow rambled for 43 yards, and Pro Bowl right end Trey Hendrickson, gutting out an ankle injury he received in the second quarter, ended it with a sack strip.
The Bengals linebackers, lost in the din of the national acclaim for the 49ers’ brilliant tandem, made quite a stand on the home field of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw when Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt picked off 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy on two straight throws late in the second half. Though Purdy finished with 365 passing yards, a chunk of it came in the closing seconds. By then, Cincinnati had made the timely defensive plays to stifle Purdy in his first home loss in nine career NFL starts.
The second interception came with the Bengals leading, 17-10, early in the fourth quarter when Purdy tried to go over the middle to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. But waiting was Wilson with his 10th career interception, the most of any NFL linebacker in the 2020s.
And on the next play, Burrow made it hurt when he lofted a 17-yard beauty over Chase’s shoulder for 24-10 lead on a play Chase capped with a backward flip as the clock ticked to 13 minutes left.
Burrow’s longest…
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