Bengals lose Burrow to injury, fall to Washington

The Cincinnati Bengals were leading against Washington Football Team when quarterback Joe Burrow was carted off with an apparent serious left knee injury in the third quarter. A seemingly dejected Cincinnati fell apart after that.

Washington took the lead on the ensuing drive, and Bengals backup quarterback Ryan Finley struggled in his first significant playing time since replacing Andy Dalton for three games last year. Finley couldn’t get anything going to mount a comeback, and the Bengals left with a 20-9 loss Sunday from FedEx Field.

CBS wouldn’t even show the replay on Jonathan Allen’s hit on Burrow, noting “it wasn’t pretty,” but the injury occurred as the top overall draft pick threw an incomplete pass on a third-and-2. The entire team surrounded Burrow as he was helped to a cart to be taken to the locker room, and he was immediately ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The Bengals (2-7-1) were leading 9-7 at the time, but after the punt, Washington quarterback Alex Smith – recently returned from a horrific leg injury two years ago – led his offense down the field for the go-ahead score on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Steven Sims Jr with 9:04 left in the third quarter.

On Finley’s first full series of the season, Cincinnati went three-and-out, and he finished the game completing just 3 of 10 passes for 30 yards while taking four sacks and throwing a late interception.

Burrow, who was the most hit quarterback in the league through nine games, completed 22 of 34 passes for 203 yards with a first-half touchdown to A.J. Green, his first touchdown reception since 2018. Green grabbed a 5-yard catch with 7:32 left in the second quarter to get Cincinnati on the board after Washington’s Antonio Gibson ran in the first score of the game from the 1-yard line in the first quarter.

Randy Bullock missed the point-after-try following Green’s touchdown, to keep the Bengals behind, but he made a 53-yard field goal with 1:39 left to obtain a lead going into halftime before missing another kick.

The ninth-year player hit the upright on a 58-yard field goal attempt after Jessie Bates picked off Alex Smith to set up an opportunity the final drive before the break. That was his second missed field goal attempt, the other being a 34-yard try at the end of a strong first drive for Burrow and the offense.

Washington (3-7) got a pair of field goals from Dustin Hopkins to seal the win after taking the lead on Smith’s touchdown to Sims in the third quarter. Smith collected his first win in his second start, completing 17 of 25 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown with one interception.

The Bengals, who have yet to win a road game under second-year coach Zac Taylor, are home next week against the New York Giants.

About the Author