Excellent day for the Cincinnati sports fan

It was an excellent day for the Cincinnati sports fan. The Reds and Bengals both won. And to top the day, it was a beautiful day here in Cincinnati. Temperature was in the high seventies. Low humidity. Brilliant sunshine.

First, let's talk about the Bengals. The Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-27. The first quarter looked like a typical Bengals game of old. Best defensive play. Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson sacks Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden by accidentally tripping him. Best offensive play by the Bengals? A penalty. But Pac-Man happens. Cornerback Adam "Pac-Man" Jones returned a punt eighty one yards for a touchdown.

The Bengals defense is still a concern. They didn't get enough pressure on Weeden. And Browns running back Trent Richardson made some big plays, scoring two touchdowns. So not everything was sunshine for the Bengals. I will note that the Browns are a better team than last year. Rookies Weeden and Richardson look like good draft picks. Still, the Bengals defense must play better.

WHERE DID ANDREW HAWKINS COME FROM? The bright spots of the Bengals game was the offense. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw for three touchdowns. He hit multiple targets. That's a good sign. Because if a team wants to focus on Bengals receiver A.J. Green, they're going to get burned by Dalton going to Bengals receivers, Armon Binns and Brandon Tate. Then there's this guy named Andrew Hawkins. When I first noticed Bengals receiver Hawkins, it was on special teams. He would come out of nowhere to make a tackle. That's a metaphor for Hawkins who was not drafted by a NFL team. He comes from the Canadian Football League. Out of nowhere. Well, Hawkins caught a short pass and ran for fifty yards for an important touchdown in the fourth quarter. He was quick and made excellent cuts to score. Wow, it was a hell of a run

The Bengals held on. First round of the Battle of Ohio goes to Cincinnati. They go one and one. Here is the story with the video highlights.


Meanwhile in Miami, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Miami Marlins, 5-4. It took eleven innings. Guess who drove in the winning run? Outfielder Ryan Ludwick. The Magic Number for the Reds is now five games without taking count of Los Angeles Dodgers-St. Louis Cardinals game. Here's the story with video.