Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw for at least 450 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for a score, something no NFL quarterback had done in 75 years.

Wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins became the second duo in team annals – and sixth in NFL history – to each record at least 140 receiving yards, 10 receptions and a touchdown.

Mike Gesicki became the first tight end in franchise history to catch a TD pass in five consecutive games.

Chase Brown ripped off his first explosive run of the season and topped 100 scrimmage yards for the first time in 2026.

And the Cincinnati offense as a whole put up 510 yards, its most in 67 games.

But maybe the single most important play in Sunday’s 43-36 overtime victory against the Tennessee Titans at Paycor Stadium was a single tackle.

Lawrence, Mafe Each Have Huge Sacks in Bengals' Win vs. Titans

With Tennessee on the edge of game-winning field goal range and just 32 seconds left in regulation, Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence burst into the backfield, chased down Titans quarterback Cam Ward from behind and slammed him to the turf for a game-saving sack.

Asked to put recency bias aside and rank where that one ranks among his 35.5 career sacks in terms of impact, Lawrence didn’t hesitate.

“That was pretty big,” he said. “As of today, No. 1.”

The sack took the Titans from the Cincinnati 45 to the Tennessee 42, forcing the Titans to punt.

The game-saving element obviously was the most important aspect, but Lawrence relished the way it came about, adding an unofficial assist to teammate Boye Mafe.

“Working with Boye has been good for me,” Lawrence said. “We worked together on that play to get that, and then the moment of the of the sack and how I threw him down, it felt pretty good.

“We saw something on the field that we liked, so we just called it and, and it so happened to work.”

Mafe said he and Lawrence didn’t actually call it; they just gave each other a knowing look.

Which is pretty impressive for a pair of guys who have only played seven games together, with Mafe arriving in free agency in March and Lawrence via trade in April.

Mafe was lined up to Lawrence’s left at the snap, but instead of rushing wide to the right tackle’s outside, Mafe cut inside, resulting in a forced double team that freed Lawrence to pursue Ward as he rolled to his right.

“I looked at Dex, Dex looked at me and we kind of have that situation where we look at each other and we know what we mean,” Mafe said. “We wanted to run something, and I looked at him and he agreed, we confirmed.

“We just said, ‘All right, let's run it.’ And that situation worked out perfectly,” he added. “You couldn't write it better.”

Mafe entered the game as the team leader in sacks with 4.5, a half sack more than Lawrence.

The stunt they pulled meant Mafe would have no chance of getting to Ward in that situation, but Lawrence would have an enhanced one.

“It was one of those situations where if I do my thing and then Dex helps me out, covers my back,” Mafe said. “I think the best thing about it is that we're willing and able to play off of one another. There is no selfishness on this D line right now, and it doesn't matter who gets the sack, who gets the glory. We do not care about that.

“At the end of the day, we are just trying to get the man down.”

It was one of two big plays the two hooked up on in the win.

Early in the third quarter with the Bengals clinging to a 14-13 lead, Mafe sacked Ward at the Tennessee 29 and forced a fumble. Lawrence scooped up the ball and had nothing but space between him and the goal line, but Titans right guard Atonio Mafi got a hand on Lawrence’s ankle and brought him down.

“I did think it was gonna happen,” Lawrence grinned. “I didn’t know somebody was that close. I guess I have to have better awareness. Or ask somebody to pick up a block for me or something.”

Mafe was injured on the play, but the vision of Lawrence rumbling gave him some quick pain relief.

“I kind of poked my head up, looked over,” Mafe said. “Once I saw he had the ball in his hands, I went back down. As long as he had the ball, it didn’t matter to me.”

Like Lawrence, Mafe thought the big man was going to score.

“I did for a second. I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “I saw him pick up his feet. One thing y’all don’t know, Dex is actually kind of fast.”

Mafe spent a few minutes in the blue injury tent but returned to the field a short time later.

One play after Mafe’s sack and Lawrence’s recovery, Burrow hit Higgins for a 17-yard touchdown pass, upping the Cincinnati lead to 21-13.

If either one of the Lawrence-Mafe plays doesn’t happen, the Bengals likely lose that game as a 13.5-point favorite, regardless of all of the other offensive fireworks.

The Mafe-Lawrence tandem is becoming every bit as potent as Chase-Higgins on offense, and Sunday was their coming out party.

But the fact remains the Bengals defense gave up 36 points and 440 yards to what had been a stagnant Tennessee offense.

"I think this game was just, you know, showing us that we can be mentally strong through the ups and downs of the game due to change of possessions, change of leads, going into overtime," Lawrence said. "Just allowing us to just understand who we can be.

"Most of the games in the NFL are close," he added. "So to win games like this is big."

Mafe said it's great to not only know Lawrence has his back, but also that Burrow and the offense do as well.

"It's amazing," he said. "This is the first time being on a team where you just never know what's going to happen and just being able to watch and trust in that takes a lot of pressure off the defense, knowing that we can trust our offense to go out there and do what they gotta do.

"As long as we give them a drive, they'll show up," Mafe added. "And that's what our mentality is -- we've just got to give the offense a drive. And as long as we can do that, we can trust them to make sure they do their job."

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