Sep 7, 2014 8 min read

The Cincinnati Bengals gave away a 15-point lead, were still in search of their first touchdown and seemed poised to absorb another devastating defeat in their personal House of Pain.

That’s when receiver A.J. Green got into the huddle and told his teammates, “We got one play. Let’s make this play.”‘

Green did more than just talk. He caught a 77-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton with 4:58 left to provide Cincinnati with a feel-good 23-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens Sunday.

Green got behind cornerback Chykie Brown, who was pressed into a starting role for the injured Lardarius Webb.

Brown got a hand on the ball, which popped from Green’s grasp before he gathered it in. After putting a fake on safety Darian Stewart, Green trotted into the end zone.

The subsequent 2-point conversion made it 23-16, and the Bengals held on.

“It’s big for the team, man,” Green said. “Just taking that next step to being a great team. I think these games right here prepare us for going into the postseason. When we’re not scoring every play, when it comes down to making that play, I think that game will help us.”

Dalton went 25 for 38 for 301 yards to help the Bengals end a four-game losing streak in Baltimore.

“We did exactly what we set out to do there today,” Dalton said. “There are a lot of tough places to play in this league and this is certainly one of the toughest. It was the only place I had not won since joining the Bengals.”

The go-ahead score came just 48 seconds after Baltimore newcomer Steve Smith caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco, who overcame a slow start to finish 35 for 62 for 345 yards and an interception.

It was the longest touchdown throw of Flacco’s career, but the offense as a whole sputtered in its first outing under coordinator Gary Kubiak.

“We played just about as bad as you can in terms of just simple fundamental things,” Flacco said.

Following Green’s score, Flacco took the Ravens to the Cincinnati 16 before he was sacked on third and fourth down, the last with 55 seconds left.

“I knew I had to make a play to make the first down, and I just couldn’t do it,” Flacco said.

Mike Nugent kicked five field goals to give the Bengals a 15-0 halftime lead.

Baltimore cut it to 15-10 before Smith broke his pattern to go deep as Flacco scrambled out of the pocket. Smith hauled in a pass along the left sideline and shook off Adam “Pacman” Jones with his right arm before stepping into the end zone.

“We had a little scramble drill. Joe told me to go so I went,” Smith said. “He threw a great ball.”

Atlanta 37, New Orleans 34: Matt Bryant kicked a 51-yard field goal on the final play of regulation, then booted a 52-yarder in overtime to give the Atlanta Falcons a 37-34 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

In another thriller between the NFC South rivals Sunday, Matt Ryan threw for a franchise-record 448 yards, leading the Falcons to just their fourth victory over the Saints in the last 17 meetings. This one was particularly sweet for Atlanta (1-0) coming off a miserable 4-12 season, its first losing campaign since 2007.

Buffalo 23, Chicago 20, OT: Fred Jackson set up Dan Carpenter’s field goal in overtime with a 38-yard run to the 1, and the Bills stunned the Bears.

The Bears (0-1) had just punted to open the extra period and Buffalo took over on its 22. The Bills (1-0) got to the Chicago 39 when Jackson turned toward the left side and broke off his big run, pushing safety Chris Conte out of the way twice inside the 10 before being knocked out of bounds at the 1.

Miami 33, New England 20: Knowshon Moreno rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, Ryan Tannehill threw for two scores and the Dolphins overpowered New England after halftime.

The Dolphins (1-0) outscored New England 23-0 in the second half.

Tannehill had touchdown throws to Lamar Miller and Mike Wallace as Miami debuted a faster-paced offense. The Dolphins’ defense made four sacks, all in the second half, and recovered two fumbles.

It was New England’s first loss in an opener since 2003, and marks the first time the Patriots (0-1) will not be at least tied for the AFC East lead since Week 3 of 2012.

Philadelphia 34, Jacksonville 17: Nick Foles threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin in the fourth quarter and the Eagles rallied from a 17-0 second-half deficit.

Chad Henne threw two touchdown passes to rookie Allen Hurns in the first quarter and the Jaguars (0-1) dominated the defending NFC East champion Eagles (1-0) in the first two quarters.

Houston 17, Washington 6: Rookie Alfred Blue blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown and J.J. Watt lived up to his massive new contract to help Texans snap a 14-game losing streak.

The Texans led 7-6 after a 76-yard touchdown reception by DeAndre Hopkins in the second quarter. Blue blocked Washington’s punt on the next drive, scooped it up and returned it 5 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 14-6 in Bill O’Brien’s first game as an NFL head coach.

Watt had a sack, blocked an extra point, recovered a fumble and swatted down a pass in his first game since signing a six-year, $100 million contract Monday. First overall pick Jadeveon Clowney had a tackle for a loss in the first half before leaving with a knee injury.

Minnesota 34, St. Louis 6: Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 102 yards on three carries with a 67-yard scoring run off a simple pitchout and the Vikings opened impressively under new coach Mike Zimmer.

The Rams handled Adrian Peterson, limiting the star runner to 75 yards on 21 carries. They had zero luck with Patterson, who had three touchdowns rushing as a rookie.

Tennessee 26, Kansas City 10: Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, while Alex Smith was intercepted three times.

Locker picked apart a defense that lost linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles tendon injuries. Locker was 22 of 33 and found eight targets, including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster.

Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the team that released him last weekend.

N.Y. Jets 19, Oakland 14: Chris Ivory burst through a few tackle attempts for a 71-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, and the Jets’ defense clamped down on Oakland rookie quarterback Derek Carr.

With still a one-score game, Ivory rushed up the middle and appeared stopped, but slipped a few would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone. A 2-point conversion failed, but the Jets held on to win their season opener.

Geno Smith threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson as the Jets sent the Raiders to their 14th straight loss in the Eastern time zone.

Carolina 20, Tampa Bay 14: Derek Anderson filled in nicely for injured Cam Newton, throwing for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite rallying with two late TDs, it was an ugly debut for the Bucs (0-1) under coach Lovie Smith. The defense applied little pressure on Anderson, and an offense that was among the worst in the NFL in 2013 showed few signs of improvement until midway through the fourth quarter.

With Newton cheering from the sideline after being held out because of a rib injury suffered in preseason, Anderson completed 24 of 34 passes with no interceptions and one sack. The 10th-year pro tossed threw for TDs of 5 yards to Greg Olsen and 26 yards to rookie Kelvin Benjamin for defending NFC South champion Carolina (1-0).

San Francisco 28, Dallas 17: Colin Kaepernick threw two touchdown passes to Vernon Davis, one right after the first of three interceptions of Tony Romo.

The 49ers (1-0) also got a 35-yard fumble return on the second play of the game when Chris Culliver picked up a loose ball stripped from DeMarco Murray. They led 21-3 after the first quarter despite running just four offensive plays.

Coming off a spotty preseason for his offense, Kaepernick was efficient if not prolific, going 16 of 23 for 201 yards.

Romo was playing his first meaningful game for the Cowboys (0-1) since back surgery in December.