Bengals Save Best for Last : AFC: Esiason passes for three touchdowns as Cincinnati scores a 29-7 victory over the Patriots.

The Cincinnati Bengals ended their worst season with their best performance.

Boomer Esiason passed for a season-high three touchdowns and the Bengals gave up a season-low seven points Sunday in a 29-7 victory over the New England Patriots.

“What today does is make you angry,” said Esiason, who completed 20 of 40 passes for 333 yards and did not throw an interception. “You go away thinking of what might have been. It’s a sad ending, really.”

The Bengals’ 3-13 record is the worst in the franchise’s 24-year history. Coach Sam Wyche, who has two years left on his contract valued at $1 million, is expected to meet with General Manager Mike Brown later this week.

“There are no deadlines here,” Wyche said. “That’s one of the things that’s comforting about the end of the season. You don’t have to have a game plan ready by 9 o’clock Wednesday morning. We’re celebrating this game. We’re going to enjoy this one right now.”

First-year Coach Dick MacPherson led New England (6-10) to the second-best turnaround in the AFC, leading a team that won one game last year.

“I was hoping this game could give us three in a row and a tremendous amount of credibility,” MacPherson said. “I don’t think that happened. We lost a little bit of luster at the end of the season.”

Esiason entered the game as the conference’s lowest-ranked passer with 16 interceptions and 10 touchdowns. But he threw touchdown passes of 21 yards to Rodney Holman, 12 yards to Tim McGee and 36 yards to James Brooks to give the Bengals a 21-7 halftime lead.

Jim Breech kicked field goals of 49 and 25 yards during the fourth quarter, and Hugh Millen was sacked for a safety to give the Bengals a season-high point total.

The Patriots scored on their first possession on a 60-yard touchdown pass play from Millen to Michael Timpson.