The Bengals were looking to exercise some demons on Sunday, with the Browns coming to town. Entering the contest, the Bengals had been unable to beat the Browns since the Joe Burrow era began. Mind you, the season finale last year featured Brandon Allen at QB. Still, a win in this one was important, not only to squash that streak, but also to keep pace with the other teams in the AFC Playoff race.
It was a slow start for the Bengals offensively. Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd were both lost early, and Hayden Hurst was already ruled out earlier in the week. This meant that most of the focus from the Browns defence was on Ja’Marr Chase. In each of their first three dives, the Bengals were forced to punt.
The defence looked shaky too, early on. Deshaun Watson completed an 18 yard pass to Amari Cooper on the opening play, and then added another 13 to David Bell. Nick Chubb was then allowed to run for a 1st down on 2nd &long. Nearing the Bengals redzone, the Browns were eventually faced with a 4th & 1 situation. Jacoby Brissett was subbed in for the play, which gave off the heavy impression that a QB sneak was coming. However, they ran a play action pass. Brissett had Peoples-Jones open in the endzone, but overthrew him, turning the ball back over to the Bengals.
After this mishap, the Browns took a few more drives to get anything going, as the Bengals defence slowly got better and better. The offence, meanwhile, picked up in the 2nd quarter. But it took some help. The Bengals actually punted, but a roughing the punter call extended the drive. A couple of plays later, a defensive holding call negated a sack for the Browns, before Chase drew a 33 yard pass interference penalty. Not long after, Burrow found Chase in the endzone for the 15 yard TD.
The Browns responded in their next drive. Chubb had a few solid pickups, and Watson was able to hit Amari Cooper for a 24 yard gain. The drive eventually stalled out though, deep in Cincinnati territory. York successfully made a 26 yard field goal, making the score 7-3 Bengals.
Cincy would score on their next drive. A 17 yard pass to Chase was the first chunk play of the drive. Later, facing a 3rd & 10, Burrow hit Trent Taylor in the middle of the field. It was near the 1st down marker, but he did well to shake off the defender and turn it into a 34 yard gain. On another 3rd & 10, Burrow found Trenton Irwin for 13 yards, setting the offence up with 1st & goal. On the next play, Samaje Perine bounced outside from the log jammed middle, and made his way into the endzone. 14-3 Bengals at the half.
The Benagls opened the 2nd half scoring on their second drive. They only needed two plays to do so. After an 11 yard completion to Chase, they executed the flea flicker to perfection. Mixon pitched the ball back to Burrow, who then found a wide open Trenton Irwin for a 45 yard TD. 21-3 Bengals.
Cleveland finally found the endzone on their next drive. It was a long one that lasted 10 plays and chewed just over 5 minutes off the clock. They were able to string together some short plays, before Watson found Peoples-Jones for 21 yards. On 4th & 5, inside Bengals territory, Watson found Njoku for 6 yards to move the chains. Njoku would then make catches on the next two plays. The first being for 14 yards, and the next being a 13 yard TD. This made it 21-10.
Cincinnati added a field goal on their next drive. It was 30 yards for McPherson. The Browns, meanwhile, could get much else going. Watson was intercepted by Jessie Bates on one drive. On another, they drove 65 yards down the field in 15 plays, but turned it over on downs at the Cincinnati 6. Cleveland would then turn it over on downs one more time before the Bengals were able to get into victory formation to run out the rest of the clock. 23-10 final.
The Bengals improve to 9-4 on the year. With Baltimore squeaking out a win over Pittsburgh, the Ravens still sit atop the division by a narrow half game. The Bengals will travel to Tampa Bay next week to take on Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: Michael Li (CC)