CINCINNATI — Atlanta quarterback Marcus Mariota and the Falcons couldn’t keep up with counterpart Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Atlanta’s 35-17 loss Sunday erased the momentum it gained from last week’s surprisingly comfortable home win against the San Francisco 49ers, although the Falcons (3-4) are still tied with the slumping Tampa Bay Buccaneers atop the standings in the unimpressive NFC South.
The Falcons’ chance to take control of the division ended early at Cincinnati, where they fell behind 21-0 by the second quarter and never got closer than 11 points.
“We’ve got to be able to get out on the road against a team like that and start better,” second-year Atlanta coach Arthur Smith said. “Thankful it only counts as one. It’s a long season. We need to get back to work.”
While Burrow passed for a season-high 481 yards on 42 attempts (34 completions), Mariota had a season-low 13 attempts and completed eight for 124 yards, 75 of which came on a touchdown to Damiere Byrd just before halftime.