NFL Week 8 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 31, San Francisco 49ers 17

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ offense and quarterback Joe Burrow finally looked back to being an elite unit. Burrow had a miraculous escape from a would-be sack in the first quarter, shaking his way out of multiple tackles and delivering a first-down strike to wide receiver Tee Higgins. He later picked up a first down on a designed third-and-9 quarterback draw, so the playbook is opened up now with his health as close to 100% as it has been all year.

Burrow was virtually flawless against a San Francisco 49ers defense that has now shown warts the past few weeks, at one point completing 19 straight passes. The Bengals are now above .500 for the first time this season after leaving San Francisco with a 31-17 victory.

Offensive spotlight: Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase hauled in 10 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, routinely veering through defenders and eluding tackles in space. Running back Joe Mixon had one of his most productive games on the ground in a long time, with 89 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. It was consistently successful rushes and not just a few explosives boosting those numbers. Mixon added three receptions for 23 yards.

49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk went over 100 yards again, ending up with 109 on five receptions, and tight end George Kittle was running wild all second half, finishing the game with nine receptions for 149 yards. Running back Christian McCaffrey scored through the air and on the ground, extending his streak to 17 consecutive games with a touchdown. Quarterback Brock Purdy looked healthy upon clearing the concussion protocol in a short turnaround coming off a loss on Monday Night Football, with six scrambles for 57 yards, but had two ugly interceptions in the second half. He threw the ball directly to Bengals linebackers Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson.

Defensive spotlight: Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson was all over the field as a run defender and in coverage, nearly picking off Brock Purdy in the first half and then taking one the other way in the second half on a ball right between his numbers. Wilson secured a game-high nine solo tackles. Cincinnati closed this out with a strip sack from edge defender Trey Hendrickson, who had 1.5 sacks and generated consistent pressure on the day despite tweaking his ankle early.

The 49ers' defense was picked apart for the second straight game, with Joe Burrow completing 28 of his 32 passes at 8.8 yards per attempt and Cincinnati's ground game routinely staying ahead of the chains. Interior defender Arik Armstead had two sacks on Joe Burrow, but for the most part, the 49ers' pass rush was not getting home early.

Rookie spotlight: Bengals rookie wide receiver Andrei Iosivas found paydirt again this week, with a snag near the right end line on a scramble to Joe Burrow’s right. Even with a fully healthy trio at wide receiver for Cincinnati, the rookie finds his way onto the field a decent amount, including down in the red zone.

49ers rookie kicker Jake Moody went one-of-one on field goals with a 36-yarder.

Box Score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving