Joe Burrow may not be needed for the Cincinnati Bengals to defeat the New York Giants, that is if they can get this kind of explosive play from special teams all game long. It looked like the Giants would impose their will early after scoring on their opening drive, including a 53-yard toss from Daniel Jones to tight end Evan Engram to set up the short end zone scoot by Wayne Gallman, Jr., but not so fast. If you want so fast, look no further than safety Brandon Wilson, who became instant offense for the Bengals following the Giants early touchdown.
Wilson, who also had a key special teams tackle on the initial kickoff, said no sir to a fair catch, instead fielding the kickoff in the end zone before torching New York on a 103-yard touchdown burst -- the longest in franchise history.
.@ItsBWilson_ TOO FAST 💨
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 29, 2020
📺: #NYGvsCIN on FOX pic.twitter.com/sx3DRb1DD6
And with that, it was a tie game and the Giants were forced to get back to work offensively.
With Burrow sidelined for the remainder of the season with catastrophic knee damage, the Bengals are going to have to lean that much more heavily on their defense and special teams unit to put up points. Wilson just gave them something to cheer about and took early pressure off of quarterback Brandon Allen, keeping him from taking the field with a 7-0 deficit. The Bengals would like to order much more of this from Wilson, who just delivered a career-long return -- his previous being a 92-yard run in 2019 -- and just his second TD return since joining the Bengals as a former sixth-round pick in 2017 out of Houston.
With a 4.40-second 40-yard dash speed, he's a blur if untouched, as the Giants found out the hard way in Week 12.
