by Andrew Healy

Sunday's game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens was the usual back-and-forth contest between the two AFC North rivals, with the lead changing hands four times in the final seven minutes. (The win expectancy chart for the game turned out to be pretty exciting.) And while the Bengals won with a pair of go-ahead touchdowns, it was actually a Baltimore touchdown that might have marked the most critical point of their season.

With seven minutes left in Sunday's game against the Ravens, the classic Andy Dalton play happened. On a five-man blitz, Dalton held the ball a beat too long, Elvis Dumervil overpowered Tyler Eifert to force a sack and a fumble, and C.J. Mosley scooped up the ball to put the Ravens in the lead, 17-14. That Eifert had to handle Dumervil alone when the Bengals also kept Giovani Bernard in to block was the first breakdown for the Bengals, but the indecisive second that preceded the fumble stood out more. It was so Daltonesque that it might as well have been wild card weekend.

Seeming to scheme towards Dalton's perceived weakness against the blitz, the Ravens continued to bring the heat on the Bengals' next two drives. They sent four more blitzes after Dalton, increasing their total to 18 on the day. On those plays, however, Dalton lit them up.