Bengals left end Sam Hubbard, the Cincinnati Kid, had just seen one go down in Paycor Stadium lore and like the 66,376 that watched the 27-24 overtime win over the Vikings, he was trying to process all the heroics fit for a season-full of highlights shoehorned into the final 21:49 during their biggest fourth-quarter comeback since 2015.
“Unbelievable play by Tee (Higgins). I don’t know how TB (Tyler Boyd) caught that ball. The rushing attack. The offensive line. Unbelievable,” Hubbard said, still dressed in front of his locker. “It comes down to being resilient and effort and … Wow….Wow.”
What about the stand by the middle of Hubbard’s defensive line with six minutes left in overtime and the Vikings needing just inches on third and fourth down at the Bengals 42? Where the sure conversion would set up a sure winning field goal because Vikings kicker Greg Joseph needed only three more yards or so?
A defensive line that didn’t have its heart-and-soul anchor DJ Reader after the Pro Bowl-worthy nose tackle was carted off on the second snap of the game with a quad injury?
“That’s our leader. That’s my OG. That’s my mentor,” said second-year tackle Zach Carter, who was over the center, instead, and was next to the ubiquitous B.J. Hill. “But we just had to keep playing. We won that for him.”
Hill turned out to be Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens’ worst nightmare on Saturday. Hill robbed the Vikes of another field goal, this one at the end of the half, when Mullens tried to throw it away as Hill was about to sack him. Except he threw it away into Hill’s facemask and while Hill was on his back he made a juggling interception.
Then about two years later in the OT on third and fourth down, Hill said, “We knew what was coming. We knew it was a QB sneak. We knew it was coming.”
Both times, 5-8, 181-pound wide receiver Brandon Powell tried to Brotherly Shove Mullens in the back for those inches. On…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…