CINCINNATI - Michael Vick sure showed 'em what they've missed. Vick
threw three touchdown passes on Sunday, repeatedly slipping out of
tacklers' grasp, while leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 29-27
victory over a Cincinnati Bengals team that had never seen
anything quite like him.

The mercurial quarterback has led the Falcons (5-2) to consecutive wins
over the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers and the defending AFC
North champion Bengals. Vick has thrown seven touchdown passes in the
last two games, showing he's much more than a runner with a strong arm.

Cincinnati (4-3) couldn't run him down or slow down his passing.

Many of the Bengals' defenders had never faced Vick, who put on quite a
show in his first career visit to Cincinnati. Vick went 20-of-28 for
291 yards and left would-be tacklers scattered all over the field while
running for another 55 yards.

Seen enough, Bengals?

Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson played warm-up act to Vick, who simply
couldn't be caught at the end. Palmer's 55-yard touchdown pass to Chris
Henry cut it to 29-27 with 3:41 to go, but Vick helped the Falcons run
the clock down to 19 seconds before Cincinnati got the ball back.

Palmer then fumbled on a sack, ending a performance that started with
promise but ended poorly. Palmer was 24-of-36 for 266 yards, including
six completions to Johnson.

Johnson and cornerback DeAngelo Hall had kept up their long-distance
trash talking since the Pro Bowl last February. Eight months of dissing
culminated in one last face-to-face exchange before the first play.

The Falcons took the bait.

Hall threw Johnson to the ground emphatically on the first play, and
safety Chris Crocker drew a late-hit penalty for knocking down Johnson
again when he got up.

Johnson was under the Falcons' skin. Now, he had to get into the end
zone.

He'd promised at least two touchdowns. He got one midway through the
first quarter, taking a quick throw from Palmer and putting a move on
Jason Webster to shake free for a 14-6 lead and only his second
touchdown of the season.

Vick took over at that point, letting the Falcons get the final word.

Vick, who threw for a career-high four touchdowns in a 41-38 overtime
victory over Pittsburgh, got rolling with a 16-yard toss to Alge
Crumpler. The tight end had a career-high three touchdowns against the
Steelers.

In one say-it-all play, Vick eluded the rush, rolled left, pulled up
and lobbed a 26-yard touchdown to Adam Jennings that put the Falcons up
20-17 in the third quarter.

Vick's 8-yard touchdown pass to fullback Justin Griffith put the
Falcons ahead to stay at 26-20 - a bad snap scuttled the extra point
- and left the Bengals' defense at a loss for ideas on stopping him.

Archived from group: rec>sport>pro-wrestling