Mohamed Sanu comes up big in crunch time vs Seattle

The Bengals offense looks about as good as it ever has since andy Dalton and A.J. Green took over the reigns in 2011.

While the improved play of Dalton is a big reason why, so too is the production Cincinnati is getting from receivers not named Green. Mohamed Sanu was among them, as he helped lead the Bengals from down 17 points to an improbable 27-24 win over Seattle in overtime.

Even as his team was down by such a large margin as the fourth quarter began, Sanu knew his team could come back if they remained patient and took it one play at a time.

"I was just saying, ‘We can’t score 20-something points at one time. We just had to stay even-keeled and drive that train straight, and that’s what we did," Sanu said after the win. "We took it one play at a time, one drive at a time, and we were able to put points on the board."

After catching four passes for 84 yards in the Bengals' shootout win over Kansas City last week, Sanu again stepped up when his number was called. He finished this game with five catches on as many targets for 69 yards, but what made it so important was that Sanu made four of those grabs for 48 yards on the final touchdown drive cutting Seattle's lead to 24-21 with 3:38 left.

"Mo (Sanu) was able to get open, and get loose, and hit a couple big ones to him too," Dalton said of Sanu's performance. "It’s one of those things if they’re going to take away A.J., there are other guys that are going to be getting open."

From there, the Bengals would tack on two more field goals, one as regulation expired and one in overtime, to pull out a hard-fought win. Sanu didn't get targeted after his big drive as Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert then stepped up for the final drive and in overtime. While guys like Green, Dalton and Eifert will get much of the credit for this win, and deservedly so, one cannot overlook how big Sanu was when the Bengals turned to him.