The Bengals Scored Fewer Points Than a Single Opposing Defensive Player on Sunday - How Often Has That Happened?

CINCINNATI – Today’s Stat of the Jay was reader inspired, which is a good reminder that all suggestions will be appreciated and, if possible, dug into.

In Sunday’s 48-10 loss at Minnesota, the Cincinnati Bengals were outscored by a single defensive player, with Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers scoring touchdowns on an 87-yard interception return and a 64-yard fumble return.

As Rodgers was wrecking the Bengals, Carolina cornerback Chau Smith-Wade had a 13-yard interception return for a touchdown in his team’s 30-0 win against Atlanta.

Marcus Hartman wanted to know how often multiple teams have been outscored by a single opposing defensive player on the same day

Turns out, it’s a lot.

Overall, there are 44 times where it’s happened on the same day since the 1970 merger.

But if we’re looking for two different teams on the same and not two different instances, that cuts the number in half to 22.

Of the 22 times in which multiple players from the same team outscored the opponent by themselves, one involved the Bengals.

In the 1992 season opener – and the debut of Dave Shula as head coach – the Bengals beat the Seahawks 21-3 and got two of their three touchdowns on defense, with linebacker Ray Bentley returning a fumble 75 yards in the second quarter and safety Fernandus Vinson returning an interception 22 yards in the fourth.

To find the most recent instance of it happened with different teams, you only have to go back to 2023, when the Seahawks Devon Witherspoon scored in a 24-3 win against the Giants, and two Cowboys defenders, Daron Bland and Leighton Vander Esch, did so in a 38-3 trouncing of the Patriots.

The time before that, the Bengals once again were on the wrong end of it.

In a 27-3 loss at Baltimore in 2020 – with rookie Joe Burrow taking seven sacks that turned his uniform more green than white – Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown.

That same day, the Jets’ Brian Poole scored in a 34-3 win against the Raiders.

The craziest day for this anomaly came on Nov. 18, 2021, with multiple teams having multiple players pull it off.

Current Jets coach Aaron Glenn and Victor Glenn – no relation – scored in the Jets’ 24-0 win against the Dolphins.

And the Eagles William Hampton and Jeremiah Trotter both scored in a 36-3 victory against Dallas.

In addition to the two mentioned above, here are the other instances that involved the Bengals, both on the pro and con side:

Bengals defenders outscoring the opponent:

Leon Hall had a 50-yard pick six in a 14-0 victory against the Browns on Dec. 21, 2008

Artrell Hawkins had a franchise record-tying 102-yard interception return in a 38-3 win against the expansion Texans on Nov. 3, 2002

Barney Bussey had a 70-yard fumble return in a 27-3 win against the Steelers on Nov. 18, 1990

Tommy Casanova had a 25-yard fumble return in 21-0 win against the expansion Buccaneers on Oct. 10, 1976

Lemar Parrish had a 22-yard fumble return in a 27-0 victory against the Vikings on Dec. 2, 1973

Al Beauchamp had an 18-yard pick six in a 31-0 shutout of the Chargers on Nov. 28, 1971

Opposing defenders outscoring the Bengals:

The Colts’ Kelvin Hayden had an 85-yard pick six in a 35-3 win on Dec. 7, 2008, which was one week after the next entry on the list

The Ravens’ Jim Leonhard had a 35-yard interception return in a 34-3 victory on Nov. 30, 2008

Minnesota’s Dwayne Rudd had a 62-yard fumble return in a 24-3 win on Nov. 15, 1998

The Dolphins’ Bob Baumhower had a 13-yard fumble return in a 21-0 win on Oct. 9, 1978