Turnovers key in Lions dominate victory over Bengals
CINCINNATI, OH (FOX 2) - The Bengals pulled to within 28-17 midway through the fourth quarter, after the Lions had built a 28-3 lead on Montgomery's third quarter rushing touchdown. The Lions (4-1) quickly answered back.
With 3:01 remaining to play, Cincinnati (2-3) scored their third touchdown of the fourth quarter, but the Lions held on to win.
Detroit won the game 37-24.
A safety recorded by Derrick Barnes closed out the scoring.
Amon-Ra St. Brown had another 100-yard receiving day for the Lions, Sam LaPorta caught 5 passes for 92-yards and rookie Isaac TeSlaa caught his second touchdown of the season.
Former Cowboys' fullback Daryl Johnston was on the call as David Montgomery scored a touchdown for the Lions. That touchdown, paired with Jahmyr Gibbs having scored earlier in the game gave the combo of Gibbs-Montgomery their 14th game with each scoring a touchdown.
Tying the NFL record held by Johnston and Emmett Smith.
For Montgomery, the game was a homecoming. He was born and raised in Cincinnati, his family still lives in the area.
Montgomery's sister, Kiki, who was left paralyzed following a car crash in 2024, was on hand to see him play in person for the first time since the accident.
Montgomery, a seven-year veteran, had passing and rushing scores in a game for the second time. The bruising rusher played quarterback at Cincinnati Mt. Healthy High School.
Montgomery — who rushed for 64 yards on 18 carries — had more than 20 friends and relatives in attendance, including his older sister Kiki, who was paralyzed in a Feb. 2024 car crash. Montgomery greeted his sister near the Lions’ locker room before he took the field.
The Bengals have dropped three straight by a combined total of 113-37 since star quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury during the second quarter of a 31-27 victory over Jacksonville on Sept. 14.
Cincinnati trailed 28-3 late in the third quarter before Jake Browning threw a pair of TD passes to Ja’Marr Chase.
Browning was 26 of 40 for 251 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Chase had six receptions for 110 yards.
With Detroit already up by one touchdown, Montgomery lined up at quarterback in a wildcat formation on second-and-goal on the Bengals 3 and threw it to tight end Brock Wright, who was wide open in the end zone with Cincinnati expecting a running play.
Montgomery extended the Lions’ lead to 28-3 with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter with an 8-yard run off left tackle. Two plays earlier, Montgomery looked like he might be gone for a TD up the left sideline before he was caught by Bengals cornerback DJ Turner at the Cincinnati 8 for a 19-yard gain.
Goff completed 19 of 23 passes for 258 yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown had eight receptions for 100 yards and tight end Sam LaPorta added five catches for 92 yards, including his first TD of the season — a 10-yard reception where he flipped over Bengals cornerback Dax Hill before landing in the end zone.
Goff’s other TD passes were a 20-yard screen to Gibbs, who broke four tackles en route to the end zone to make it 21-3 early in the third quarter, and a 12-yarder to Isaac TeSlaa in the fourth quarter.
Long time coming
Chase’s 15-yard catch from Browning in the corner of the end zone early in the fourth quarter was Cincinnati’s first touchdown in 20 possessions, not including kneel-downs.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the pass had a completion probability of 12.5%, the most improbable TD pass of the season. Chase had 0.6 yards of separation on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and was 0.2 yards from the sideline when the ball arrived.
Chase then got the Bengals within 28-17 with 10:22 remaining in the game on a 65-yard touchdown. He made a double move on Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson, hauled it in at the Detroit 22 and was untouched.
Safety, eventually
Detroit had a safety taken off the scoreboard early in the second quarter due to defensive holding but got one late in the fourth when Derrick Barnes sacked Browning in the end zone.
Injuries
Lions: WR Kalif Raymond suffered a neck injury during a punt return in the first quarter and did not return. LT Taylor Decker (shoulder) was inactive.
Up Next
Lions: At Kansas City next Sunday night.
Bengals: At Green Bay next Sunday.
That wasn’t a hockey game, that was a temper tantrum by Tampa Bay - Florida knows we’re not sitting back and taking their bullying anymore
“It’s just hockey”.. a phrase that was thrown around regularly during the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season.
Saturday night we saw the ‘Battle of Florida’ serve up a total of 312 penalty minutes, 16 ejections, and 65 total penalties. It started when AHL regular, Scott Sabourin found Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad three minutes in, knocking him to the ice, then following up with multiple punches. Sabourin was the first player to get tossed, and that’s when the game started to boil over.
But to understand Saturday, you have to go back to Thursday night’s preseason game, when midway through the first period, Panthers forward A.J. Greer cross-checked Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, then appeared to high-stick and sucker punch him multiple times in the head. It was clear Hagel wasn’t expecting that kind of hit in a preseason game, especially against a team they’d faced just two days earlier.
Greer received a 10-minute misconduct penalty on the play, and Hagel exited the game with an undisclosed injury. Hagel was not a participant in practice on Friday and Greer was fined $2,213.54.
Hagel has been a fixation for the Panthers since last April, when he received a one-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head on Aleksander Barkov in Game 2 of the first-round. Barkov did not miss a game after the hit.
When Hagel returned from his suspension in Game 4, his postseason quickly ended after Ekblad delivered a direct hit to Hagel's head that caused him to have a concussion.
There was no penalty on the play, and because of that, Ekblad remained in the game and went on to score, with Florida winning 4-2 and taking a 3-1 series lead. The next day, he was suspended for two games as the NHL Department of Player Safety determined the hit was done “with requisite force for supplemental discipline.” Ekblad had just returned from a 20-game suspension for violating the league’s performing enhancing drug program prior to the start of the playoffs.
The hit on Hagel raised several questions — from player safety to officiating accountability. The series between the two teams featured several borderline hits by Florida, some of which were either missed or inconsistently penalized.
"The most frustrating part to me is, I think hockey is the best sport in the entire world, the way it's played and the honesty and the respect for a lot of the players, it's as competitive as it gets on the ice,” Hagel said at the end of the season. “You have those unwritten rules in hockey. I would have answered the bell.”
The constant head shots and questionable hits took away from what the game was supposed to be about in the playoffs.
It wasn’t just Ekblad. Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola was given a misconduct for curb stomping Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons’ head into the boards while he was down on his knees. Mikkola was later fined, but faced no further discipline.
In Game 3, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk skated in from Jake Guentzel’s blind side, staring him down and delivering a hard open-ice hit that leveled him. The incident occurred moments after Guentzel passed the puck, resulting in a five-minute major penalty for interference on Tkachuk. According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the NHL Department of Player Safety believed the hit carried less force than Brandon Hagel’s on Aleksander Barkov in Game 2 — a hit that earned Hagel a one-game suspension. As a result, Tkachuk faced no further discipline or accountability.
In Saturday’s preseason game, the Lightning finally pushed back.
With players like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay is built on skill. They’ll fight when they have to, but they don’t seek it out. But when the hits keep coming, when players like Hagel are getting drilled in the head, what are the Lightning supposed to do? Just turn the other cheek? Thursday night’s target on Hagel made it clear the Panthers were ready to do it again. At some point, you flip the script.
“I think anybody that’s been a part of this rivalry would probably look at this box score and A) probably not be surprised and B) be like, ‘I can’t believe it’s taken this long for something like that to happen.’ So, it’s two extremely proud franchises, and they always play with their heart on their sleeves,” said Jon Cooper.
The Lightning will open the regular season at home against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
