In true AFC North fashion against a backdrop only the Weather Channel could love in a blustery, on-again, off-again second-half rain, the 7-4 Bengals seized control of the division with a 41-20 victory over the Browns courtesy of defense and special teams before a drip-dry gathering of 63,856 at sold-out Paul Brown Stadium.
A deflected punt, a blocked punt for a touchdown, and a 13-yard forced fumble for a touchdown by linebacker Vontaze Burfict in a stunning eight minutes of the second quarter put the Bengals in control of the AFC North with three of their last five games at PBS following next week’s bye.
Sunday’s win, coupled with Baltimore’s overtime loss to the Bears and Pittsburgh’s win over Detroit, gives the Bengals a two-and-a-half game lead over all three teams with remaining North games at Pittsburgh and at home against Baltimore in the season-finale.
Even though they went into the fourth quarter just one-of-11 on third down with less than 150 yards of offense and quarterback Andy Dalton’s frigid 48.7 passer rating, the Bengals survived with the centerpiece of their team as their defense generated four turnovers.
Safety Reggie Nelson gobbled up the club’s second of three interceptions of the day and defensive lineman Wallace Gilberry racked up the team’s third of four sacks to keep the 4-6 Browns at bay in the quarter, and on a day where all 61 points of the game were scored going toward downtown with the wind, that was no small point.
That gave the Bengals enough time to finally get their running game going in an effort to protect an 11-point lead. With the desperate Browns sending the house, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis ripped off Cincinnati’s longest rush of the day, an 18-yarder, and running back Giovani Bernard followed that up with a big 13-yard run to the Browns 2 where he made one of the NFL’s most lethal hitters,Browns safety Tashaun Gipson, miss. From there, with defensive tackle Domata Peko lined up as the blocking back, Dalton’s play-action pass found former Browns tight end Alex Smith for a two-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter that made it 38-20 on Dalton’s third scoring pass of the day.
The three TDs cushioned his worst passing output in a complete game, just 93 yards on 13-of-27 passing. How bizarre was this one? The Bengals scored 41 points despite just two catches for career-low seven yards by wide receiver A.J. Green.
The Bengals showed the luxury of relentless defense and special teams in Sunday’s first half when they scored touchdowns on a blocked punt and a fumble recovery in a span of 1:25 to fuel a franchise-record 31 unanswered points in the second quarter and a 31-13 halftime lead.
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