CINCINNATI — David Montgomery had to wait nearly 10 years to play another football game in his hometown.
He certainly made up for lost time.
Montgomery ran for a touchdown and threw for one on a trick play as the Detroit Lions rolled to their fourth straight win, 37-24 over the reeling Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
It was the second time Montgomery has had passing and rushing scores in an NFL game. The seven-year veteran played quarterback at Cincinnati Mt. Healthy High School and was the Division III Ohio Player of the Year in 2015.
“It’s super meaningful to come back home where it all started for me and being able to show my arm. It was a super special moment," Montgomery said.
Montgomery had more than 20 friends and relatives in attendance, including his older sister Kiki, who was paralyzed in a Feb. 2024 car crash. Montgomery greeted his sister near the Lions' locker room before he took the field.
“My sister hadn't seen me play in person since here accident. But to be able to get her here was a very special moment for me,” said Montgomery, who rushed for 64 yards on 18 carries. “I really appreciate the Cincinnati Bengals helping to make sure that she got on the field.”
Montgomery had only 9 yards on 12 carries in last week's win over Cleveland. Coach Dan Campbell said a focus this week was making sure Montgomery had a better effort.
“We wanted to get him going because I knew this was going to be special for him,” Campbell said. “He started to break it open in the second half and started wearing down on the defense.”
Jahmyr Gibbs also scored for the Lions (4-1), marking the 14th time the third-year running back and Montgomery — nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles — have each had a TD. That tied Dallas' duo of Emmitt Smith and Daryl Johnston for the most in NFL history.
The Bengals (2-3) had a seven-game winning streak snapped against the Lions and lost to them for the first time since 1992. They have dropped three straight by a combined total of 113-37 since star quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury during the second quarter of a 31-27 victory over Jacksonville on Sept. 14.
Cincinnati trailed 28-3 after three quarters before scoring three touchdowns in the final 15 minutes. Jake Browning threw a pair of TD passes to Ja'Marr Chase.
Browning was 26 of 40 for 251 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Chase had six receptions for 110 yards.
“We hung the defense out to dry a couple times in the first half a couple games in a row. That’s my job. I call the plays on offense. I put that on myself. It just hasn’t been good enough,” coach Zac Taylor said. “I’ve got to keep us out of danger. That’s on me.”
With Detroit already up by one touchdown, Montgomery lined up at quarterback in a wildcat formation on second-and-goal on the Bengals 3 and threw it to tight end Brock Wright, who was wide open in the end zone with Cincinnati expecting a running play.
Montgomery extended the Lions' lead to 28-3 with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter with an 8-yard run off left tackle. Two plays earlier, Montgomery looked like he might be gone for a TD up the left sideline before he was caught by Bengals cornerback DJ Turner at the Cincinnati 8 for a 19-yard gain.
“I think it was cool for him to be back here. You could see the emotion he was dealing with, playing in front of some family,” Jared Goff, who completed 19 of 23 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns. “The touchdown he threw was cool, but I wanted him to get into the end zone himself. When he finally got in there at the end, it was fun.”
Amon-Ra St. Brown had eight receptions for 100 yards and tight end Sam LaPorta added five catches for 92 yards, including his first TD of the season — a 10-yard reception where he flipped over Bengals cornerback Dax Hill before landing in the end zone.
Goff’s other TD passes were a 20-yard screen to Gibbs, who broke four tackles en route to the end zone to make it 21-3 early in the third quarter, and a 12-yarder to Isaac TeSlaa in the fourth quarter.
Long time coming
Chase's 15-yard catch from Browning in the corner of the end zone early in the fourth quarter was Cincinnati's first touchdown in 20 possessions, not including kneel-downs.
According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, the pass had a completion probability of 12.5%, the most improbable TD pass of the season. Chase had 0.6 yards of separation on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and was 0.2 yards from the sideline when the ball arrived.
Chase then got the Bengals within 28-17 with 10:22 remaining in the game on a 65-yard touchdown.
Safety, eventually
Detroit had a safety taken off the scoreboard early in the second quarter due to defensive holding but got one late in the fourth when Derrick Barnes sacked Browning in the end zone.
