Esiason and Bengals Bounce Back, 34-28

Boomer Esiason learned how big a difference there is from top to bottom in the NFC Central Division.

After being benched a week ago for throwing four interceptions against the Chicago Bears, Esiason bounced back to throw three touchdown passes Sunday and lift the Cincinnati Bengals to a 34-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

“Boomer controlled the game,” Bengals Coach Sam Wyche said. “He executed ball control and did the things he does well, including finding open receivers and getting them the ball.”

Esiason, who was replaced by veteran Ken Anderson during last week’s 44-7 loss to the Bears, completed 15 of 24 passes for 207 yards with no interceptions against the Packers (0-5).

James Brooks, who rushed for 94 yards in 20 carries, scored on touchdown runs of 9 and 8 yards for the Bengals (3-2) in the second quarter.

“As a team, we let Boomer take too much of the blame last week,” said wide receiver Chris Collinsworth, who caught two of Esiason’s touchdown passes. “All of this talk about a bad September was nuts. He played real well.”

Packers Coach Forrest Gregg said he thought the defensive line put enough pressure on Esiason, but the pass coverage was poor.

“I’ll tell you that our defense is not doing a good job on coverage,” Gregg said. “We had some good pressure up front today, but they had people wide open.”

However, it was better than last week when the Minnesota Vikings’ Tommy Kramer threw six touchdown passes against Green Bay.

Cincinnati, which trailed, 7-0, after the first quarter, broke the game open with 27 straight points in the second quarter.

Held without a first down in the opening quarter, the Bengals scored touchdowns all four times time they had the ball in the second quarter and had a 27-7 lead at halftime.

Cincinnati built the lead to 34-14 early in the fourth quarter before staving off a rally by the Packers in the final minutes.

Randy Wright hit James Lofton with a 15-yard scoring pass to make it 34-21, and Gary Ellerson scored again for the Packers on a one-yard run with exactly one minute remaining.

The Packers tried an onside kick, but Stanford Jennings recovered for the Bengals, who ran out the clock.

Lofton’s touchdown catch, his sixth reception of the game, broke Don Hutson’s team record of 488 catches. Lofton finished the game with 7 receptions, pushing his career total to 490.

“The catch was a quick slant over the middle,” Lofton said. “The defense went the other way. It was a great feeling having the record come on a touchdown. I’m very happy, I just wish we could have won.”