Phillip Lindsay ran for 157 yards and two scores, fellow rookie Courtland Sutton caught a touchdown pass, and the Denver Broncos beat the host Cincinnati Bengals 24-10 on Sunday.
Quarterback Case Keenum had just 151 yards passing but led Denver (6-6) to its third straight win and kept the team's playoff hopes alive.
Jeff Driskel passed for 236 yards, one touchdown and an interception in his first NFL start. Driskel stepped in for Andy Dalton, who suffered a season-ending thumb injury last week.
Cincinnati (5-7) has lost four in a row and six of its last seven.
Driskel lost his biggest weapon when A.J. Green suffered a right foot injury in the first half. Green had missed the last three games with a right toe injury and was hurt on a non-contact play before being carted to the locker room.
Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict left the game in the second half with a concussion and did not return.
Denver lost a big part of its defense when cornerback Chris Harris Jr. went down with a lower leg injury in the first half and did not return. Multiple reports said Harris fractured his right fibula.
The game was scoreless until late in the second quarter when Lindsay ran it in from the 6 to give Denver a 7-0 lead.
Driskel countered by leading a 12-play, 58-yard drive in 1 minute, 44 seconds, capped by Randy Bullock's 35-yard field goal just before halftime
The Broncos took command in the third quarter. Keenum connected with Sutton on a 30-yard touchdown pass two plays after Denver recovered a muffed punt. Safety Justin Simmons intercepted Driskel inside the Broncos 10 on the next drive, and Lindsay scored on a 65-yard run to put the Broncos ahead 21-3.
Lindsay, who was undrafted out of the University of Colorado, now has 937 yards rushing this season. He came into the day second among rookies in rushing to New York's Saquon Barkley.
Driskel threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Cody Core late in the third quarter. The Bengals got the ball back on a fumble on Denver's next drive but had two punts and a fumble on their last three drives.
--Field Level Media
Denver | Cincinnati | |
Phillip Lindsay | Player | Joe Mixon |
19 | Attempts | 12 |
157 | Yards | 82 |
8.3 | Avg Yards | 6.8 |
2 | Touchdowns | 0 |
65 | Long | 23 |
Denver | Cincinnati | |
Courtland Sutton | Player | Tyler Boyd |
4 | Receptions | 6 |
85 | Yards | 97 |
21.2 | Avg Yards | 16.2 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
30 | Long | 23 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Denver | 361 | 218 | 143 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 1 |
Cincinnati | 313 | 111 | 202 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 |