Coming off of their second win of the season, the Bengals were looking to build on it by getting their first divisional win of the season. Facing a depleted Browns team, the Bengals were the better team on paper. But given the struggles against Cleveland in recent years, it is a matchup that still had some people nervous, leading up to the game.
Well, the Bengals couldn’t have started off much better if they wanted to ease those concerns. Receiving the opening kickoff, Charlie Jones was able to get loose down the right sideline and outrun the rest of the kick coverage to the end zone. The return went for 100 yards, and is the second return TD of Jones’ career, after he returned a punt for a TD last season. 7-0 Bengals.
The first action of the game saw a TD go up on the board, but if you thought that it meant we would see a shootout, you were wrong. Both teams were unable to get much offence generated in the first half. Both sides had their punter busy. The Browns, meanwhile, did miss a field goal, while the Bengals turned it over on downs in opponent territory.
After a series of punts from both sides, the Browns finally got on the board. It was a 78 yard drive, where Watson was able to spread the ball around, including to Akins, who made a 21 yard catch. Cleveland had 1st & goal from the 1 yard line, but three quick stops left them in a 4th down situation. They left the offence on the field, tossing the ball out to Nick Chubb. It was Chubb’s first game back since injuring his knee last year. The star RB was able to punch it in. The missed extra point from Hopkins left the score at 7-6 for the Bengals, which is how it remained as they entered the half.
An Achilles injury to Watson meant that Thompson-Robinson had to take over. But the Cleveland offence went from bad to worse. Trey Hendrickson was having a field day, and the interior guys like Rankins and Hill made him uncomfortable.
The Bengals got the ball after Cleveland punted. Chase Brown ripped off a 22 yard run on the first play. Burrow then completed a pass to Moss for 19 yards. Chunk gains was the theme of this drive. Brown added an 18 yard run to the stat sheet, before Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for an 18 yard TD on the next play. 14-6 Bengals.
On the next Browns drive, Hendrickson got a piece of the arm of Thompson-Robinson as he went to pass it. This resulted in the ball being popped up, and then picked off by Sam Hubbard.
After a handful of drives, the Bengals finally got on the board again. A penalty gave them good starting field position at midfield. Burrow completed a 9 yard pass to Chase for the first positive play of the drive. He then found Higgins for an 18 yard catch and run TD on the next play. 21-6 Bengals.
Later on, Thompson-Robinson got hurt, which forced emergency 3rd string QB, Jameis Winston, into action. The Browns offense looked better with him under centre, and they still had hope after an Evan McPherson missed field goal kept things somewhat within reach. He was able to lead a solid 12 play drive which resulted in a TD pass to Njoku. A successful 2 point attempt made the score 21-14. But ultimately, an unsuccessful onside kick attempt ended their comeback bid, affording the Bengals their first divisional win of the season.
The Bengals improve to 3-4 on the season, and will host the Philadelphia Eagles next week.
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