Bengals keep playoff hopes alive with win over Browns

The Bengals (7-8) still have to win their final two games and get some outside help, but their chances have continued to improve during a three-game winning streak. The Browns (3-12) have now lost four straight and six of their last seven games.

On Sunday, Cincinnati had a chance to try to make things easier on itself going into a shorter week leading up to Saturday’s game against Denver, but the Bengals let Cleveland hang around until late in the fourth quarter.

The Bengals missed an opportunity with four minutes left, from the Browns’ 1-yard line, when Isaiah McGuire sacked Joe Burrow and forced a fumble for Jowon Briggs to recover, but Cincinnati got the ball back on a turnover on downs and was able to tack on another score to make it look better for the hosts.

Burrow had a free pass on an offside play with 1:44 remaining and took advantage, completing a 32-yard pass to Ja’Marr Chase, who earlier in the game broke his own single-season franchise receiving yards record.

The Browns had zero net passing yards while getting shut out in the first half, yet a highly capable Cincinnati offense couldn’t put them out of reach when there were chances early and often to do so.

After an odd start to the game, the Bengals took a 17-0 lead into halftime and received the ball first in the second half, but the Browns forced punts on back-to-back drives and had an opportunity to cut the deficit back to single digits early in the fourth quarter.

Cleveland had gotten a 4-yard touchdown run from Jerome Ford on its first drive of the half to make it 17-6 with a missed extra point, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson was looking for David Njoku in the endzone on a third-and-7 from the 8-yard line with 13:32 left when Geno Stone pressured him into a bad throw.

Jordan Battle was there for his second career interception and aptly went down for the touchback a week after his 60-yard fumble return at Tennessee resulted in a fumble at the goal line. Stone also ended up with an interception, his fourth of the season, the next drive as Thompson-Robinson finished with 157 yards and two picks.

Cincinnati could have built up a bigger lead in the first half. However, after taking the 7-0 lead the first drive, a broken play on third-and-3 led to Burrow overthrowing a wide-open Tee Higgins on the second series, and Cade York came on to miss a 47-yard field goal. The next possession ended in a three-and-out when Burrow had to scramble out of trouble and throw the ball away on third-and-2.

The Bengals took advantage of a short field midway through the second quarter when Andrei Iosivas came up with the 6-yard touchdown catch on third down to make it 14-0, and York nailed a 59-yard field goal to add to that as time expired going into halftime. York tied Evan McPherson’s franchise-record long field goal from 2022 with the kick of his career.

Cleveland had opened the game with a 66-yard run by Ford on the first play from scrimmage and made it all the way to the 1-yard line before D’Onta Freeman fumbled on Vonn Bell’s punch-out and recovery at the goal line. The Bengals got the Browns to jump offside to open some room for Burrow to work, and he finished off the 99-yard drive with an incredible 2-yard touchdown pass to Higgins as Burrow was tripping. He threw the ball as he hit the ground but no defender touched him.

Burrow finished the game with 252 yards and three touchdowns, despite getting sacked four times and facing heavy pressure from the Browns’ defensive line. Chase led the team with 97 yards receiving on six catches and is now at 1,510 yards for the season. He needs just five more catches to break T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s single-season receptions record of 112.