The Cleveland Browns vs Bengals won 21-16 against the Cincinnati Bengals to complete the regular-season sweep. Cincinnati finishes the season at 10-7. They now wait to see the results of several other games before finding out who will host them in the Wildcard Round of the NFL playoffs.
Both teams began extremely slowly. Both teams began backup quarterbacks because Joe Burrow was out of the game and Baker Mayfield was recovering from labrum surgery.
Browns vs Bengals starter
Burrow was not the only Bengals starter who was rested by the Bengals, but many of their starters, including Evan McPherson.
Ja’Marr Chase was only able to stay in the game for five minutes. He caught one pass for 24 yards and broke Chad Johnson’s record for receiving yards per season. Chase broke Chad Johnson’s franchise record for receiving yards in a season with a catch of 24 yards.
The Browns vs Bengals had all of their starters except Mayfield. The Browns won the Browns-Bengals backups game after Case Keenum settled into a rhythm.
For most of the first quarter, the two teams traded punts but the Browns won. Jarvis Landry catches the ball in coverage of Tre Flowers. Landry is able to pass the ball into the end zone, scoring the first touchdown of this game. With 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Browns vs Bengals led 7-0.
D’Ernest Johnson scored two runs for the Browns vs Bengals, putting them back in control. He ran around the edge to get into the end zone both times. With 11:22 left in the second quarter, the Browns led 14-0 against the Bengals.
The defense was able to step up because the Bengals were having trouble scoring points on their offense. Wyatt Ray forced Keenum into a fumble, and Trayvon Henderson ran 29 yards to the goal line. Henderson was called up to the practice squad this week and scored his first touchdown in his career, running 29 yards to the end zone. After Eliot Fry’s extra score, the Browns and Bengals finally got on the board at 14-7.
Although they didn’t convert a third down in the first quarter, the Bengals got their first two in the third quarter. Their first half drive was their best, and they reached the red zone for only the second time. The Bengals were at the 11 yard line and had the ball, but they received a delay penalty and a bag, so they settled for a field goal. Fry was brought in for the 36 yard kick. The Browns vs Bengals slowly reduced the deficit to 14-10. Fry made this his fifth field goal in his career, with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter.
The offense of the Browns performed better than the score suggested. They had five red-zone possessions and two turnovers at the goal line. Demetric Felton won the ball on a draw, and ran 10 yards to score the Browns’ third touchdown. With 7:14 left in the game, the Browns vs Bengals were down 21-10.
Allen finally began to sling the ball and had his longest passes through air the next drive. On a fourth down conversion, the Bengals scored their first offensive touchdown. Allen rolled out and tossed the ball to Chris Evans, scoring the four-yard touchdown. With 2:25 remaining, the Bengals attempted to score two but failed.
The Bengals tried the onside kick, but the ball was just too close to the end. The Browns won the game and ran out of time.
The result of the Chiefs’ and Titans wins wouldn’t have had any impact on the AFC standings. So the Bengals continue to prepare for the Wild Card round.
After the teams exchanged punts, Cleveland’s offense scored first on their third drive. QB Case Keenum found Donovan Peoples Jones, WR, for a 22 yard gain. Later in the drive, Nick Chubb ran for 14 yards. Keenum found Jarvis Landry on the left sideline and ran 26 yards to the Browns’ 26-yard line. This put them up 7-0.