Falcons Have an Easy Time With Overmatched Bengals

The Atlanta Falcons had the perfect opponent after two heartbreaking losses.

The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t come close to beating anybody. They were out of it by halftime Sunday night, losing to the Falcons, 30-3, as Michael Vick threw a pair of touchdown passes to Brian Finneran.

“We needed this game,” Atlanta’s Patrick Kerney said. “We didn’t even want it to be a close game. They’re struggling and we needed to send a message that we’re a great team.”

The Falcons (1-2) can’t make a claim of greatness by beating Cincinnati, however. If the NFL had relegation, the Bengals (0-3) would be in the Canadian Football League by now.

Cincinnati has been outscored, 84-16, and already given up on quarterback Gus Frerotte, who was benched midway through the second quarter when he missed his first seven passes.

“We were defeated very decisively and this is a very tough time,” said Coach Dick LeBeau, who already is facing questions about how long he’ll be on the job.

“I will do my best at this position as long as I am in this position,” he said. “Right now, I want to get us out of this hole that we are in.”

Vick outgained the Bengals all by himself. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 174 yards and pulled off several scintillating runs, finishing with 56 yards rushing.

“I felt I could basically take over the game,” Vick said.

The Bengals? Playing in prime time for the first time in four years, they drove inside the Atlanta 40 once.

Cincinnati did have one breakthrough of sorts: For the first time this season, the Bengals actually scored in the first half.

Neil Rackers kicked a 24-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half, but all that did was cut Atlanta’s lead to 20-3.

The Falcons began the season with an overtime loss at Green Bay, followed by a one-point loss to Chicago when they missed a field goal in the final minute.

This time, Atlanta didn’t have to worry about losing one at the end.

“Finally,” Coach Dan Reeves said. “The guys have really been close the last two weeks.”

After field goals by Jay Feely on their first two possessions, the Falcons turned Vick loose and blew the game open.

The speedy quarterback scrambled for seven yards to convert a third-and-six situation. He turned a broken play into a 14-yard gain. Finally, on third and one at the Cincinnati 20, Vick play-faked the Bengals and threw a touchdown to Finneran over the middle.

“It was like being back in high school again,” Finneran said. “You can run around and pretty much do whatever you want.”