Deshaun Watson had a better day throwing the ball in his second game, but the Bengals' defense made sure it wasn't too good. (Bengals.com)
Bengals knock out Browns, 23-10
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
CINCINNATI, OH
Instant takeaways from Browns’ 23-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals …
1. Wait ‘til next year: The good news is the rust has been shaken off by Deshaun Watson. The bad news is it’s too late. Watson looked a ton better than his Browns’ debut, but it wasn’t good enough to beat the Cincinnati Bengals. The AFC champions prevailed, 23-10, kicking the Browns out of the division race and likely the wild-card puzzle with a 5-8 record. Joe Burrow toughed out his first victory over the Browns in five meetings despite losing receivers Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to injury early in the game. Watson, who was intercepted once in the fourth quarter, had a chance to make things interesting after linebacker Deion Jones intercepted Burrow with 10:43 to go. Watson took the Browns to the Bengals’ 14. But on fourth down, Watson’s fade to the left corner of the end zone for Donovan Peoples-Jones was broken up by cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. A subsequent Browns' possession was turned over on downs on an incompletion for Amari Cooper. Watson finished the game with 26 completions in 42 attempts for 276 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Bengals’ fifth win in a row ended a five-game losing streak to the Browns and improved their record to 9-4, keeping them locked with victorious Baltimore atop the AFC North.
2. Finally: The touchdown drought with Watson as quarterback ended with 2:17 left in the third quarter of his second game. First, Watson converted a fourth-and-5 play on a 6-yard pass to David Njoku. Njoku followed in succession with a 14-yard reception and then a catch-and-run of 13 yards to the end zone. On his next series, Watson made his best pass of the game and his worst on back-to-back throws. He evaded a sack and completed the ball to Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 16-yard gain to the Browns’ 42. Then he hung it up for DPJ on the next play and safety Jessie Bates intercepted the ball at the Bengals’ 44 with 13:39 to play in the fourth quarter.
3. Flea-flicking: Down by 13-3 in the third quarter, the Browns’ defense made a stop on Cincinnati’s first series of the second half when Myles Garrett sacked Burrow on second down and then deflected Burrow’s short pass on third down to force a punt. But the Browns’ offense went three-and-out and Burrow broke the Browns’ backs on the next series. On second down from the Browns’ 45, Burrow handed to Joe Mixon, who then pitched back to Burrow, who threw a strike to Trenton Irwin breaking six yards behind cornerback M.J. Emerson. The flea-flicker touchdown, and PAT, made it 20-3, Bengals. Garrett finished with two sacks and two pass deflections.
4. Not perfect: Although only 8 of 12 for 111 yards in the first half, Watson showed a lot of improvement throwing the football from his shaky debut. His first bad pass was on his first series of the second half. Watson overthrew Donovan Peoples-Jones, who had his man beat, on third-and-2 from the Browns’ 37.
5. Slow start: The pre-game intensity of a playoff atmosphere didn’t translate on the field in the first half. Penalties (seven on the Browns), timeouts, replay challenges, and sluggish offenses made for a disjointed first half. Neither team got into an offensive rhythm. The Bengals were without wideouts Tyler Boyd (finger) and Tee Higgins (hamstring). The Browns couldn’t muster any running game, but got an encouraging start from Watson, who completed his first four passes. But Burrow managed to put together two touchdown drives for a 13-3 lead at halftime.
6. Holiday cheer: The Browns presented the Bengals with two gifts that effectively were worth 10 points – the difference in the score.
7. Gift package No. 1: On the Browns’ first series, Stefanski’s opening script took the offense down to the Bengals’ 25. Kareem Hunt was stuff for no gain on third-and-1. Stefanski eschewed a 43-yard field goal and sent QB sneak expert Jacoby Brissett onto the field and added James Hudson as tackle-eligible. But Stefanski went weird and called a Brissett play-fake pass into the end zone. Donovan Peoples-Jones had his man beat, but Brissett, coming in out of the cold, overthrew him.
8. Gift package No. 2: The Browns’ defense forced punts on the Bengals’ first three possessions. It should have been the first four, but on the fourth series, Tony Fields, hero of the Texans’ game, was called for roughing-the-kicker on Drue Christman’s punt on fourth-and-15 from the Bengals’ 17. Then, on the ensuing second down, defensive end Isaiah Thomas was whistled for hands-to-the-face for another Bengals’ first down. On the very next play, Denzel Ward was flagged for pass interference on an incompletion for Ja’Marr Chase. All of which advanced the ball to the Browns’ 33. Four plays later, Burrow beat a blitz and rifled the ball to Chase in the end zone between Ward and John Johnson for a 15-yard touchdown and 7-0 Bengals lead. Chase barely saw the ball coming and snagged it at the last moment.
9. Fool me twice? No: The next time Stefanski faced fourth down inside the Bengals’ scoring zone, he took the points. Cade York’s 26-yard field goal on fourth-and-5 from the Bengals’ 8 cut the Cincinnati lead to 7-3.
10. A single dip: Despite doing everything right to set up the “double dip” scoring opportunity – Stefanski deferred, and then the defense played stout – the Bengals were the team to score at the end of the half. Burrow converted two third-and-longs, survived a incompletion reversal on replay, and got the touchdown on a Samaje Perine 6-yard run, on which he bounced off a scrum in the middle and sauntered in from the right edge. Evan McPherson missed the PAT to limit the Browns’ deficit to 13-3.
11. Pre-game notes: Cornerback Greedy Williams was a surprise name on the inactive list – a healthy scratch. Otherwise, nothing of note besides receiver Amari Cooper made active after a brief pre-game workout to test a mid-week hip injury. Recent roster additions, receiver/returner Jaelon Darden and linebacker Reggie Ragland, were inactive, as expected. For the Bengals, tight end Hayden Hurst (calf) was inactive.
