Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu broke open a one-touchdown game when he ran a reverse for a 25-yard touchdown run with 13:26 left in the game Thursday night as his 8-0 Bengals and quarterback Andy Dalton reversed their prime-time fortunes in a 31-10 victory over the Browns at sold-out Paul Brown Stadium.
When Dalton floated a 19-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline with 7:43 left for tight end Tyler Eifert’s third touchdown catch of the night to make it 31-10, his response to the prime-time critics had been as deafening as the crowd of 65,816 that defensive tackle Domata Peko called the loudest he’s heard in his 11 seasons.
At that point, Dalton’s 142.2 passer rating was 140.2 points more than the implosion against Cleveland 364 days ago. He hit his first eight passes of the second half, hit 19 of his first 24 passes for 207 yards, and set up the TD last to Eifert with a pump fake and run to convert a third-and-two. He finished at 139.8 to jack his season total to 18 TDs against just four interceptions.
Meanwhile, the Bengals defense, burned by Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel’s passes rolling out of the pocket in the first half, adjusted by slowing down their rush and strangled the Browns in the second half. Cleveland, held to seven yards in the half until the last three minutes, whiffed on its first four third-down attempts of the second half. The Bengals finally got to Manziel for their first two sacks of the night early in the fourth quarter on consecutive snaps to force a punt. Left end Carlos Dunlap beat right tackle Mitchell Schwartz on second down for his 7.5th sack of the season and on third down Geno Atkins got his sixth sack to lead all NFL defensive tackles when he backed left guard Joel Bitonio into the pocket.
Dunlap added his 8.5th in the last two minutes when he chased down Manziel from behind. Manziel cooled off in the second half to finish just 15 of 33 for 168 yards for a 71.3 rating.
The Bengals came into the national showcase with a big agenda and cashed the chips. They became the 11th team in this century and the 33rd of all-time to start 8-0. And the first team from the AFC Central-AFC North tree to do it. Plus, they matched the franchise’s all-time record of eight straight regular-season wins.
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