The Cincinnati Bengals might be out of the playoff race, but they clearly aren’t done putting up a fight.
Joe Burrow’s Bengals put an exclamation point on that idea on Sunday in a tale of two franchises: One still fighting for momentum and silver linings and another that has thrown in the towel and limping home.
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Cincinnati’s 45-21 win says it all on that front.
And as Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com revealed after the game, star cornerback DJ Turner fought through an illness to give the team nearly 30 snaps:
“And on Sunday, they didn’t have their best player in that third quarter. Flu-ridden cornerback DJ Turner II could only give them 27 snaps and was out by halftime. But Josh Newton came off the bench to play his most snaps since September (32) and ignite the carnage with a flying pass defensed that tipped the ball to rookie middle linebacker Barrett Carter for his first career interception on the first drive of the second half.”
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Talk about a silver lining: Turner is flirting with Pro Bowl-level play and obviously the most improved player on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a building block for the future going into an offseason of likely change for the unit.
And clearly, Turner’s taking the Burrow approach and leading by example. The Bengals forced three turnovers on the day and played perhaps the most complete game of the season.
It’s not going to change the overall outlook of this season, but Turner continues to provide a bright spot, even when not 100 percent.
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals star fought through flu in beatdown of Dolphins