The Cleveland Browns fall to their in-state rival, the Cincinnati Bengals, in gut-wrenching fashion to start the season 0-1. New kicker Andre Szmyt missed an extra point, which allowed the Bengals to take a 17-16 lead in the second half before missing a field goal that would have given them a lead. The Browns' defense had a great game and had Joe Burrow and the Bengals' offense confused throughout the game, especially in the second half.
Overall, it was a great day for the Cleveland Browns' defense, and they showed reason for optimism about how good the unit could be after shutting down the Bengals' offense for most of the day. The defensive line did a good job forcing Burrow to get the ball out quickly, which helped them limit their opportunities for explosive plays. Rookie Carson Schwesinger did a great job being the leader of the defense and was all over the field. Both Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome had great games shutting down the pass wide receiver duo in the NFL. The secondary overall was pretty good.
The Browns' run game wasn't great today, but a couple of the rookies stepped up and made some plays for the passing game in Dylan Sampson and Harold Fannin. Overall, Joe Flacco was efficient outside of the two fluke interceptions that weren't his fault, but still, they had to throw the ball far too many times because of their run game struggles. They have got to figure out how to be more effective in the run game.
The offense got the ball back after Szmyt's second miss and started to move the ball, like they had many times in the game, but for the second time, a Browns wide receiver had the ball hit their hands bounce off and was intercepted by the Bengals defender, a dreadful way to lose a game. The stats look much better for the Browns than the Bengals, except for the two turnovers and the two missed kicks. The Browns played hard and did some nice things, and should give fans hope they will at least be competitive this year, unlike they were a lot of last year.
Box Score: Cincinnati 17, Cleveland 16
Team Stats: CIN/CLE
Total Plays: 49/71
Total Yards: 141/327
Yds Per Play: 2.9/4.6
Passing: 95/278
Rushing: 46/49
Penalties: 7-33/7-53
Turnovers: 0/2
Time of Poss: 24:11/35:49
Scoring Plays:
Bengals: 7:32 in the First Quarter, 5-yard TD run by Chase Brown
Browns: 12:42 in the Second Quarter, 1-yard TD run by Raheim Sanders
Bengals: 4:18 in the Second Quarter, 1-yard TD Pass from Joe Burrow to Noah Fant
Browns: 0:23 in the Second Quarter, Andre Szmyt 45-yard FG
Browns: 7:20 in the Third Quarter, 5-yard TD Pass from Joe Flacco to Cedric Tillman
Bengals: 2:48 in the Third Quarter, Evan McPherson 35-yard FG
Browns Offensive Players:
Joe Flacco: 31/45, 290 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT. 2 carries, 6 yards
Dylan Sampson: 12 carries, 29 yards. 8 catches, 64 yards
Jerome Ford: 6 carries, 8 yards. 1 catch, -3 yards
Raheim Sanders: 3 carries, 3 yards, 1 TD
Jerry Jeudy: 5 catches, 66 yards
Harold Fannin Jr.: 7 catches, 63 yards
Cedric Tillman: 5 catches, 52 yards, 1 TD
David Njoku: 3 catches, 37 yards
Jamari Thrash: 1 catch, 6 yards
Isaiah Bond: 1 catch, 5 yards
Browns Defense Players:
Carson Schwesinger: 8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hit
Devin Bush: 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 1 QB Hit
Isaiah McGuire: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL
Myles Garrett: 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 TFL
Ronnie Hickman: 5 tackles, 1 PD
Grant Delpit: 5 tackles
Greg Newsome II: 3 tackles, 2 PD
Myles Harden: 3 tackles
Mohamoud Diabate: 3 tackles
Mason Graham: 3 tackles
Denzel Ward: 2 tackles, 1 PD
Adin Huntington: 2 tackles
Browns Kicking:
Andre Szmyt: FG 1/2 XP 1/2
Corey Bojorquez: 2 punts, 48.5 average with a long of 55 and 1 Touchback