CINCINNATI — David Montgomery ran for a touchdown and threw for one on a trick play in his hometown, Jared Goff passed for three scores and the Detroit Lions rolled to their fourth straight win, 37-24 over the reeling Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Montgomery, a seven-year veteran, had passing and rushing scores in a game for the second time. The bruising rusher played quarterback at Cincinnati Mt. Healthy High School.
Montgomery — who rushed for 64 yards on 18 carries — had more than 20 friends and relatives in attendance, including his older sister Kiki, who was paralyzed in a February 2024 car crash. Montgomery greeted his sister near the Lions’ locker room before he took the field.
Jahmyr Gibbs also scored for the Lions (4-1), marking the 14th time the third-year running back and Montgomery have each had a TD. That tied Dallas’ duo of Emmitt Smith and Daryl Johnston for the most in NFL history.
The Bengals (2-3) have dropped three straight by a combined total of 113-37 since star quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury during the second quarter of a 31-27 victory over Jacksonville on Sept. 14.
Cincinnati trailed 28-3 late in the third quarter before Jake Browning threw a pair of TD passes to Ja’Marr Chase.
Browning was 26 of 40 for 251 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Chase had six receptions for 110 yards.
With Detroit already up by one touchdown, Montgomery lined up at quarterback in a wildcat formation on second-and-goal on the Bengals 3 and threw it to tight end Brock Wright, who was wide open in the end zone with Cincinnati expecting a running play.
Montgomery extended the Lions’ lead to 28-3 with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter with an 8-yard run off left tackle. Two plays earlier, Montgomery looked like he might be gone for a TD up the left sideline before he was caught by Bengals cornerback DJ Turner at the Cincinnati 8 for a 19-yard gain.
Goff completed 19 of 23 passes for 258 yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown had eight receptions for 100 yards and tight end Sam LaPorta added five catches for 92 yards, including his first TD of the season — a 10-yard reception where he flipped over Bengals cornerback Dax Hill before landing in the end zone.
Goff’s other TD passes were a 20-yard screen to Gibbs, who broke four tackles en route to the end zone to make it 21-3 early in the third quarter, and a 12-yarder to Isaac TeSlaa in the fourth quarter.
Long time coming
Chase’s 15-yard catch from Browning in the corner of the end zone early in the fourth quarter was Cincinnati’s first touchdown in 20 possessions, not including kneel-downs.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the pass had a completion probability of 12.5%, the most improbable TD pass of the season. Chase had 0.6 yards of separation on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and was 0.2 yards from the sideline when the ball arrived.
Chase then got the Bengals within 28-17 with 10:22 remaining in the game on a 65-yard touchdown. He made a double move on Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson, hauled it in at the Detroit 22 and was untouched.
Safety, eventually
Detroit had a safety taken off the scoreboard early in the second quarter due to defensive holding but got one late in the fourth when Derrick Barnes sacked Browning in the end zone.
Injuries
Lions: WR Kalif Raymond suffered a neck injury during a punt return in the first quarter and did not return. LT Taylor Decker (shoulder) was inactive.
Up Next
Lions: At Kansas City next Sunday night.
Bengals: At Green Bay next Sunday.