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ATLANTA (AP) — Watching from the Cincinnati sideline Color Rush Deshaun Davis Jersey , Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick couldn't stop smiling as he watched Bengals receivers Tyler Boyd and A.J. Green shred the Atlanta Falcons‘ secondary on the game-winning drive."They went crazy," Kirkpatrick said. "Watching them do what they do puts big smiles on everybody's faces. This is what it's about."Andy Dalton threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Green with 7 seconds remaining, lifting Cincinnati to a 37-36 win over the Falcons on Sunday in a game that extends the first-place Bengals' strong start. Dalton completed four passes to Boyd, including two on fourth downs, as he moved the Bengals 75 yards on 16 plays in about four minutes.Green, the former University of Georgia star making his first return to the state of Georgia, made a diving catch in the right side of the end zone to cap the drive. He had four catches for 78 yards.Running back Joe Mixon, who missed his second straight game for Cincinnati while recovering from knee surgery, ran down the sideline to celebrate with Green in the end zone."Every time we were in the huddle we were encouraging each other and saying we've got to find a way," said tight end C.J. Uzomah. "We made it happen."Giovani Bernard ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns for Cincinnati (3-1).Kirkpatrick said the Bengals are "fighting for each other, standing up for each other, believing in each other. In previous years, we haven't had that."Matt Ryan continued his resurgence by throwing three scoring passes Ryan Glasgow Jersey , including two to rookie Calvin Ridley, for the Falcons.As was the case last week, when he had his first career game with five touchdown passes in a 43-37 overtime loss to New Orleans, Ryan had too little support from a defense missing three injured starters, despite three sacks from Takk McKinley .The Falcons (1-3) topped 30 points for the third straight week. Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP, has thrown eight touchdown passes in his past two weeks and has 10 through four games after throwing only 20 in 2017.Falcons coach Dan Quinn said his team lacks the instinct needed "to close the door" with a lead. "We're going to develop that instinct," he said. "We do not have it as we need it right now."The Bengals, protecting at least a share of the AFC North lead, have enjoyed a strong start despite playing three of their first four games on the road. They play six of their next eight at home.Atlanta's Matt Bryant, who kicked three field goals, including a 55-yard field goal in the second quarter, was good from 32 yards to give the Falcons a 36-31 lead with 4:15 remaining.That was too much time for Dalton Cheap Deshaun Davis Jersey , who completed 29 of 41 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns and one interception.Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert had four catches for 38 yards, including a 15-yard scoring catch in the first quarter, before suffering a gruesome lower right leg injury early in the third quarter.Eifert, the team's third-leading receiver entering the game, caught a 2-yard pass and was tackled by De'Vondre Campbell and Jack Crawford. Eifert brought his hands up to his helmet as he was on his back in obvious pain. His leg stabilized by the medical staff, Eifert received encouragement from teammates before he was carted off the field.INJURY REPORTBengals halfback Mark Walton did not return and was being treated for a possible concussion after a helmet-to-helmet penalty hit by Brian Poole near the end of the third. Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett had an ankle injury late in the fourth and did not return.RISING STARKirkpatrick talked during the week about winning bragging rights with fellow former Alabama star Julio Jones, who had nine catches for 173 yards. Kirkpatrick was impressed with Ridley, another former Alabama player who had four catches for 54 yards. Ridley had scoring catches of 11 and 30 yards, giving him five in his past two games and six for the season."That Ridley kid, the boy is about to take the NFL by storm," Kirkpatrick said. "That boy if not this year, if not next year, he's definitely going to be top 10 in the league."PRESIDENTIAL VISITFormer President Jimmy Carter was given a No. 39 Falcons jersey Hardy Nickerson Jersey , as the 39th U.S. president. In a pregame ceremony, Carter was presented a birthday cake by team owner Arthur Blank one day before Carter's 94th birthday.Carter also rang the pregame train horn and yelled "Rise Up" to Falcons fans.MENDINGEach team was without its top running back. Devonta Freeman missed his third straight game for Atlanta with a sore right knee. Mixon was held out for the second straight week for the Bengals after having debris removed from his right knee.LONG TIMEThe Bengals lead the series 9-5 following their first win in Atlanta since a 16-10 victory on Nov. 15, 1987, at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.UP NEXTBengals: host Miami Dolphins next Sunday.Falcons: Visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in first road game since opening season at Philadelphia.The Bengals defense has a third down problem, and so much more Third down is often considered the money down for quarterbacks in the NFL. Even including third and short situations, the pass-to-run ratio was four-to-one in 2017 on third down. The ball is in the quarterback’s hands for the vast majority of the time. The last thing a defense would want to do is make it easier for a quarterback to convert.No defense is making it easier than the Bengals defense.This week, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin addressed his unit’s notable struggles getting off the field on the money down:He’s right. It isn’t just one thing. In fact, it may not even be specifically about third down.The narrative surrounding Austin’s arrival in Cincinnati was that he would run a more aggressive and opportunistic defense. Turnovers and impact plays in general have been far from prevalent in the Bengals defense since Mike Zimmer left for Minnesota, despite the unit still fostering superb talent on all three levels. Through the first two games of the season, it seemed like Austin’s impact was realized. The defense forced five turnovers during the team’s 2-0 start. But they allowed a whopping 54.5% first down percentage on third down, the most in the league. Two games later, that number has increased to 57.4%, still the most in the league. But there’s a bigger picture here:The Bengals third down defense is failing because their first and second down defense is also failing.The average third down distance the Bengals have had to defend is 5.8 yards. No other team is below six yards. This means the Bengals are allowing 4.18 yards on first and second down alone Deshaun Davis Jersey Womens , which is also the most in the league. The average distance to go on third down is 7.21, so the Bengals, on average, have had 1.41 less yards of space between the line of scrimmage and the invisible yellow line.It’s only logical that the team that has to deal with these circumstances would understandably have the highest third down conversion rate allowed. It’s never been easier for offensive coordinators to move the ball down the field, and the league is experiencing a boom in average passer rating as well.So yes, the Bengals defense isn’t getting off the field on third down enough, that’s fair. But they’re also not making it easy on themselves.Yards per carry and yards per attempt are traditional metrics that measure efficiency for running backs and quarterbacks, but they can be misleading. You can throw in completion percentage in there for quarterbacks as well. They tell us on average how much yardage they gain per attempt and the percentage of their attempts that resulted in a completion. But what’s more indicative for team success is play success rate.If you are unfamiliar with success rate, it boils down to this: The Bengals are giving up a lot of ground on first and second down because of two important factors. They stink against the run on first down, and they stink against the pass on second down.Per sharpfootballstats.com, the Bengals defense has the 29th best success rate against the run on first down (53%), and the 29th best success rate against the pass on second down (57%). Lower percentages are better.Translation: teams are successful 53% of the time running on first down and 57% of the time passing on second down against the Bengals defense. That is no bueno. So when their defense is defending on average 5.82 yards, opposing offense’s have a 71% success rate running the ball and 53% success rate passing the ball. The success rate is the same as converting the first down Deshaun Davis Cincinnati Bengals Jersey , and those percentages rank 28th and 32nd in the league.Ultimately, the Bengals defense has been lacking on all three downs. They haven’t been allowing a bunch of long third down conversions, offense’s have simply been chipping away at them. The conventional emphasis on third down has taken the heat, but opposing success rate prior to third down is indeed one of the many things Austin alluded to.The solution to this problem is simple: make more defensive stops early in the series. The pass rushing unit has just four sacks on first and second down, and only five teams have less. The defense overall has made 20 tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage prior to third down, only four teams have less. The unit has been bending on the hopes they don’t break when it counts but sure enough, they’ve been broken many a time.There’s no doubt that the absence of linebacker Vontaze Burfict has negatively effected the defense and his presence usually spurs more impact plays. He himself is typically the primary contributor, and his mental capacity to get others in the proper position to do so was dearly missed. His return today will hopefully improve these numbers, but there’s only so much one man can do.Until further notice, the Bengals still have a third down problem, and that’s because they have a first and second down problem.