On Nov. 4, 2012, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos came to Paul Brown Stadium. Denver was 4-3, the Bengals 3-4. Cincinnati fought to a 20-17 lead early in the fourth quarter on a BenJarvus Green-Ellis score, but two Manning touchdown tosses later in the period led the Broncos to a 31-23 victory.
That was the second of an 11-game winning streak for Denver to finish 13-3. But it left Cincinnati at 3-5. They were three games behind the 6-2 Ravens for the top spot in the division, two behind Pittsburgh for second.
What followed was an enormous run for the Bengals, starting in week 10 against the Giants.