Browns fall to 3-12 with 24-6 loss to Bengals

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst of the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

CINCINNATI, OH

Instant takeaways from Browns 24-6 loss to Cincinnati Bengals …

1. Two more games to go: Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s season debut at quarterback followed a familiar script. Some plays with his feet, a few with his arm, two interceptions, five sacks and an intentional grounding penalty. Throw in a D’Onta Foreman lost fumble at the Bengals’ 1 and it made for an easy, 24-6 win for the Bengals (7-8). They kept alive their playoff hopes with two games to go. The Browns fell to 3-12. The Browns looked like they might break Joe Burrow’s streak of games with at least 250 yards and three touchdowns. But, no. Burrow added insult by connecting with Ja’Marr Chase for 32 yards with 1:44 to go. The play moved Burrow to 252 yards on the day and three touchdowns – extending his streak to seven consecutive games. Jerome Ford scored the Browns only touchdown and rushed for 92 yards. In the battle of kickers, ex-Brown Cade York tied a Cincinnati record with a 59-yard field goal. He also missed from 47 yards. Dustin Hopkins missed his only kick, a PAT.

2. Burrow (almost) denied: Burrow’s streak seemed denied when, from the Browns’ 1, he was strip-sacked by Isaiah McGuire with 4:27 to play. Defensive tackle Jowon Briggs recovered.

3. Don’t do this: DTR had a chance to get the Browns in the game in the fourth quarter. He had a decent drive going, partially due to a Cincinnati roughing-the-passer penalty. He got them inside the red zone and then … self-implosion. A holding call on Jordan Akins cut a 12-yard DTR run in half. A 12-yard swing pass to Ford was reduced to 3 on a Jamari Thrash holding call. From the 22, DTR ran for 14 yards and fell on his own fumble to keep it alive. But then, on third-and-6 from the 8, DTR committed the mortal sin of quarterbacking. Backpedaling from a Geno Stone blitz, he tossed it up in the end zone from his back foot and the ball was intercepted by cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt.

 4. Uh, boy: The Browns gave kicker Dustin Hopkins a mental health week off to clear his mind and find a positive swing thought. Back to the drawing board. Hopkins missed a PAT wide right on his first attempt. That was his third PAT miss, to go along with nine field goal misses.

5. Pfffffft!: On the first play from scrimmage, Jerome Ford took an inside handoff from DTR out of the shotgun and raced 66 yards down the field to the Bengals’ 11. Wow, what a start. Five plays later, on first-and-goal from the 1, the Browns lined up linebacker Winston Reid in the backfield and Michael Dunn as an extra lineman. They gave the ball to D’Onta Foreman. Foreman crossed the goal line and an official signaled touchdown. Only thing was, safety Vonn Benn stripped him of the ball and recovered at the 1, as replay review confirmed. Foreman was the former Deshaun Watson teammate in Houston signed to replace Kareem Hunt as a short-yardage runner. He had been inactive the previous six games.

6. Burrow as Houdini: Thoroughly deflated after seeing the offense (or special teams) commit the 28^th turnover of the season (second highest in the league), the defense allowed Burrow to traverse 99 yards. After three chunk plays on the possession, Burrow completed the TD on a 2-yard throw to Tee Higgins while parallel to the ground, just avoiding touching his knee down by a millimeter after a trip. Burrow had several other narrow misses in the first half, completing passes when surrounded by angry Browns defenders. Burrow’s second TD to Andrei Iosivas was a 6-yard dart on third down.

7. Garrett is fed: Myles Garrett chased Burrow all over the place in the first half in hungry pursuit of his 100^th career sack. He finally got it with less than a minute left in the first half. It pushed Garrett’s career total to 100.5.

8. Battle of Ohio history: There are 62 players who have worn the uniforms of the Browns and Bengals. Cade York is the first to score points for both teams in a Browns-Bengals game. York connected on two PATs in the first half, missed a 47-yard field goal try, and then made an epic, 59-yard kick as time expired. The ball nearly grazed the crossbar. York scored 10 points as a Brown in two meetings with the Bengals in his rookie season of 2022.

9. DTR’s rough half: After Foreman’s fumble concluding the opening drive, Thompson-Robinson visited the med tent. But he came out in short time and didn’t miss time. Maybe he should have stayed in. In the first half, DTR was, ahem, 3 of 6 for 15 yards and was sacked 3 times. His best play was a 12-yard run on a read option. DTR didn’t even target Jerry Jeudy until 5:14 was left in the half. The Browns gained 3 first downs and 86 yards total offense in the half – 66 coming on Ford’s first-play run.

10. Pre-game notes: Bailey Zappe was active for the first time as QB2. Stefanski had said on Wednesday that Jameis Winston would be QB2 behind Thompson-Robinson. The Browns probably did not want to insult Winston and formally demote him to QB3. He showed up at the start of the week with a right shoulder injury, which eased him to the inactive list. Other inactives: wide receiver Cedric Tillman, cornerback Khalef Hailassie, cornerback Chigozie Anusiem, tight end Brenden Bates, defensive tackle Shelby Harris and defensive end Cameron Thomas.