A couple of trends that emerged in the Bengals’ first three games kept going Sunday in the 23-20 overtime victory.The defense kept coming up big inside the 20. After the Browns got the ball in the red zone in the second half on Bengals wide receiver Andre Caldwell’s fumble on a kickoff (the 18) and Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs’ 50-yard punt return (the 14), the Bengals allowed field goals instead of touchdowns to fall behind 20-14 instead of 28-14.
“We just weren’t going to let them get anything; we played better,” said rookie SAM linebacker Rey Maualuga, who played all the way despite his sprained MCL. “No easy games in the NFL, I guess that’s what I’m finding out.”
It was a bit of an emotional game for Maualuga. Like his fellow Samoans Domata Peko and Jonathan Fanene, he wore a native skirt and a shell necklace during the road trip to show solidarity with his fellow countrymen coping with the devastating earthquake on American Samoa. Maualuga wore the skirt of his late father whom died of cancer while the younger Maualuga was in college.
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