CINCINNATI – Joe Burrow and the Bengals needed a win on Sunday Night Football and got it in a different way than he (or the team) has been used to lately.

The defense gave up its fewest points of the season to beat New York 17-7, and Burrow leaned on a career-high 55 rushing yards to buoy a stagnant passing game. Still, he did enough with his arms and legs to earn his best ESPN QBR grade of the young season (87.7 overall).

“We really needed it,” Burrow said of the win. “I don't want to say that if we had lost we would have been eliminated. But we would fight hard for the rest of the year. We still are, but it was good to get a win. “It’s great that our defense has stepped up over the last few weeks, but today they played great.”

Burrow ran the ball four times Sunday, but none were more important than the longest touchdown run by a quarterback in team history: a 47-yard scamper down the left sideline on Cincinnati's opening drive.

“I forgot,” Burrow joked. “Yeah, I just saw an opening, saw it was man coverage and was able to squeeze through there and find the end zone. Other than that, I didn't perform at my level, but we found a way to win.”

Cincinnati faces the Browns in an away game next Sunday.

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