Andy Dalton beats the blitz to hit Mohamed Sanu for game-breaker (GIF)

The play of the game Sunday came on a 3rd-and-6 at the 10:58 mark of the third quarter with the Bengals holding a 10-3 lead over the Falcons.

Andy Dalton saw a safety creep up to the line of scrimmage, and with the Falcons' also showing 'blitz', Dalton knew Atlanta was going to bring an all-out blitz.

"I knew they were bringing all-out pressure there, so one guy is going to be unblocked," Dalton said. "We had a good check on and Mo ran a really good route."

That meant if a receiver could get past his defender, he could take it to the house. On the play, eight Falcons rushed the passer and Mohamed Sanu, Dane Sanzenbacher and Brandon Tate all were in single coverage with no help from safeties.

The blitz helped free up defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux to get right in Dalton's face, who held the ball as long as possible and delivered a throw to Sanu on a slant against cornerback Robert Alford that broke the game open.

"It was a big play — a huge play in the ballgame," Marvin Lewis said.

Here it is from Dalton's view in slow motion.

And there's also this:

Per @ESPNStatsInfo, Andy Dalton was 6-for-9 with 163 yds and a TD against the blitz today. He averaged 18.1 yds per attempt vs. blitz

— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) September 14, 2014

One of Dalton's biggest weaknesses coming into the season was his ability to beat the blitz. This play shows that he has  improved in that area.