Bengals Beat Falcons 34-17 in Madrid as Burrow Accounts for Four Touchdowns

The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-17 on Sunday in the NFL Madrid Game at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Joe Burrow accounted for four touchdowns, three through the air and one on the ground, and Cincinnati scored on all four of its drives in the first half to build a lead Atlanta never closed.

Atlanta struck first, Cincinnati answered in five plays

Atlanta opened the scoring. Charlie Woerner caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Michael Penix Jr. for 7-0. Cincinnati answered in five plays: Burrow found Ja'Marr Chase for a 47-yard touchdown, 7-7 with 8:49 left in the first quarter, called by Cincinnati.com the Bengals' longest scoring play of the season. Nick Folk's 31-yard field goal put Atlanta back ahead 10-7 with 5:53 left, the last time the Falcons led.

Four drives, four scores before halftime

Burrow ran 1 yard for a touchdown early in the second quarter, at the end of an 11-play, 70-yard drive. The score made it 14-10 and gave Burrow two total touchdowns inside the first 18 minutes. Tee Higgins scored next, on a 4-yard catch from Burrow with 4:03 left in the first half, for 21-10. Evan McPherson kicked a field goal from near midfield in the final seconds of the half, and Cincinnati went in 24-10 up.

Cincinnati had outgained Atlanta 278 yards to 186, and Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow had not punted. Burrow was 18-for-22 passing for 239 yards with three total touchdowns. Chase had eight catches for 142 yards, including the 47-yard touchdown. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said before the game: "He's playing at a really high level. He's seeing the defense as well. He's been in great rhythm."

Atlanta cut it to seven, then Higgins scored again

Atlanta gave itself a chance in the third quarter. Bijan Robinson scored on a 1-yard run with 6:18 left in the quarter, at the end of an 11-play, 76-yard drive, and the lead was down to 24-17. Cincinnati answered in the same quarter. Higgins caught an 8-yard pass from Burrow with 2:05 left in the third for his second touchdown of the game and a 31-17 lead. The drive featured 36 rushing yards from Chase Brown. By then Burrow was 22-for-27 for 258 yards with four combined touchdowns, and Higgins had five receptions for 32 yards and two touchdowns.

McPherson kicked his second field goal with 4:36 left to make it 34-17. A late Bengals interception, logged by VAVEL, held the score. Cincinnati scored 7, 17, 7 and 3 by quarter, Atlanta 10, 0, 7 and 0.

A first win abroad since 2019 for Cincinnati

Kickoff was at 9:30 AM Eastern on NFL Network. Cincinnati came in at 5-2 after an overtime win over Tennessee, and Atlanta at 3-5 after a loss to Tampa Bay. It was Cincinnati's first international game since 2019, with a 0-1-1 record abroad before Sunday, and the second NFL game ever played in Spain, in the home stadium of Real Madrid. Bengals safety Kyle Dugger was out, and Colombian singer Manuel Turizo performed at halftime.