CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow shook off a long-term calf injury and threw for 259 yards to help the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Los Angeles Rams 19-16 on Monday night for their first win after two losses to open the season.
Joe Mixon’s 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the defending AFC North champions their first lead of the season.
Meanwhile, Logan Wilson picked off Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford twice and the Bengals sacked him six times.
Stafford threw a 1-yard scoring pass to Tutu Atwell with just over a minute left, and the PAT cut the Rams’ deficit to three, but Mitchell Weir Cox went down on the ensuing side kick, sealing the victory for the Bengals (1 -2).
Burrow seemed to get better and better as the game went on, completing passes to nine different receivers.
It was not known until just before the game whether Burrow would play.
The star quarterback has been dealing with a calf injury, but he participated fully in warmups without any apparent discomfort and played in the Bengals’ first offensive series.
The injury occurred early in training camp and was aggravated late in the Bengals’ loss to Baltimore last week.
Burrow returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday, and the team listed him as questionable on Saturday.
Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase had 12 catches for 141 yards, including a 43-yard rush in the third quarter that was scored by Evan McPherson The third of four shots in the game.
Cincinnati’s defense was outstanding. Stafford was sacked twice by defensive end Trey Hendrickson, and Wilson intercepted him once in each half.
Stafford finished 18 of 39 for 269 yards as the Rams fell to 1-2.
