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Bengals Pounce on Five Lion Turnovers in Win

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From Associated Press

The Detroit Lions lived up to their billing as the NFL’s most generous team Sunday, and Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason gave thanks all afternoon.

Esiason passed for 399 yards and converted two of the Lions’ five turnovers into touchdown passes as the Cincinnati Bengals rolled to a 42-7 victory.

The Bengals (6-5) scored four touchdowns in the second quarter. The Lions set up two of them with fumbles and had a punt blocked into the end zone for another Cincinnati touchdown--the Bengals’ first such score in 11 years.

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“We let them control us out there today,” said safety Bennie Blades, part of a Detroit secondary that gave up 450 yards passing. “Any time the mistakes keep adding up in their favor, that team’s going to win the game.”

Detroit, which led the NFL in turnovers, lost three of six fumbles, had two interceptions and a blocked punt that Barney Bussey recovered for a touchdown.

Esiason erased a 7-0 deficit and put the Bengals on track for just their second victory in six games. Once ahead, Esiason used short, high-percentage passes to protect the lead against a soft zone defense that gave his receivers a lot of room. He completed 30 of 39 for 399 yards, the third-highest yardage of his career.

“I was 30 for 39, but I felt it could have been 35 for 39. It could have been worse than it was for them,” Esiason said. “They played a lot of zone.”

Tim McGee caught 11 passes--a regular-season club record--for a personal-high 194 yards.

Rodney Peete completed five of eight first-half passes for 83 yards before leaving with a sprained knee. Bob Gagliano was unable to get the Lions’ offense moving in the second half.

Detroit, which led the league at the start of the game with 16 lost fumbles and 34 turnovers, fumbled five times in the first half, losing two of them.

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