It wasn’t pretty, but the Cincinnati Bengals finally got a road win over the Cleveland Browns, notching a 21-14 victory to improve to 3-4 on the season.
The game started off with a bang as Charlie Jones took the opening kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown. There was nothing particularly tricky about the play: just very good blocking and Jones reading his blocks and tip-toeing the sideline.
The Bengals then had a promising field position after a missed field goal. The drive was moving, but after a 28-yard run by Chase Brown was called back with a holding penalty, it lost steam. The offense attempted to convert on a fourth-and-short, but the quick pass was covered, and Burrow was sacked.
The quarter ended with Jones’ touchdown being the only points, 7-0, in favor of Cincinnati.
The Browns were able to punch in a touchdown on a 4th-and-inches at the goal line with a pitch to Nick Chubb, who was seeing his first action of the season. However, Dustin Hopkins shanked the point after, so the Bengals remained on top.
That touchdown was set up by a pass interference call on DJ Turner in the end zone. The Bengals drive before the half was stopped when the refs picked up a defensive pass interference, ruling the pass to Chase as uncatchable. Hard to believe such a sentence could be uttered.
The Bengals failed to convert a single third down in the first half.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson relieved Watson at quarterback at the end of the first half. He stayed in when Watson was ruled out with an Achilles. Thompson-Robinson quickly got to work with 48 rushing yards on two plays. However, he missed a wide-open Chubb out in the flat on a 4th-and-short play. Safety Vonn Bell also applied pressure on the play.
Cincinnati then scored a touchdown on the following drive. Chase Brown and Zach Moss both had key plays, but it was a back-shoulder throw to Chase from Burrow that finished off the drive and increased their lead to eight, 14-6.
On the next drive, Sam Hubbard came up with his first career interception after two Browns receivers were in the same area and the ball was tipped into the air. The offense then went three-and-out and punted.
Cincinnati’s offense started with great field position after the defense got a stop, and the Browns’ special teams tacked on an extra 15 yards to Jones’ return with a personal foul. Higgins managed to catch a slant and shake the defender loose to run in from 25 yards out for his third touchdown of the season.
The Bengals ended the third quarter comfortably ahead by 21-6 as the Browns punted the ball away to end the quarter.
The fourth quarter had both defenses holding the opposing offenses in check. Cincinnati’s defense got a huge stop late with an interception by safety Geno Stone with just over four minutes remaining up two scores.
Sadly, Stone would suffer a serious leg injury on the following drive.
The Bengals’ offense was able to get the Browns to use all their timeouts before Evan McPherson missed a 50-yard field goal. Jameis Winston (3rd quarterback designation) replaced an injured Thompson-Robinson at quarterback.
Winston added a late touchdown to tight end David Njoku with a 2-point conversion afterward to cut the lead to seven points with just 1:27 remaining and no timeouts. Mike Gesicki fielded the onside kick to put the bow on this one.
This win brings the Bengals to 3-4. They will now be looking to get back to .500 by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles next week.
All three phases showed up today. Jones returned a touchdown to start the game, the defense held the Browns to a single touchdown while shutting down the running game, and then obviously, the offense and Burrow were able to get a couple of touchdowns to let the defense pin their ears back in the fourth quarter.
This was also Burrow’s first career win in Cleveland. It wasn’t perfect, but the Browns’ defense is no slouch when they face the Bengals.
A win is a win at the end of the day, and it keeps this team’s playoff hopes alive.
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