The Browns handed the Bengals their backsides in dominating win.
The Browns needed a huge win coming off of the Odell Beckham Jr. saga finally ending. Facing off with the Bengals in a pivotal game for the future of the season, people were deflated coming into the game. The drama of the preceding week made for colorful entertainment but miserable expectations. The Browns needed a big game to infuse the team with hope. They got that with their 41-16 beatdown of Cinncinatti.
The first drive of the game was looking like it’d be a backbreaker. The Browns had two offside penalties in one drive, and the secondary couldn’t handle anything that the Bengals were throwing at them. It looked like Ja’Marr Chase was going to do all sorts of illegal and awful things to the Cleveland secondary. That wouldn’t end up happening, as the rookie had only 49 yards on the day. That’s not how it started, however. The Browns were bailed out last minute by Denzel Ward, that picked off Joe Burrow for the just sixth turnover on the season. An interception that went 99 yards for a touchdown.
The Browns would go back on defense right away and the offense would end up having just nine plays from the first to the second quarter. The Browns ended up going into halftime up 24-10 and the Bengals never really mounted much of a comeback after that point.
Mayfield was accurate most of the night and pinpoint at times, dropping in two beautiful passes to Donovan Peoples-Jones, one for a touchdown, one to set up a touchdown. Mayfield threw two on the day, and the second came in the fourth to David Njoku, breaking the spirits of the Bengals once and for all. In the four seasons of play against Cinncinati, Mayfield is now 6-1.
The Good
The ex-Rams
Credit goes to Denzel Ward for having his best game in two years, but John Johnson and Troy Hill just had a bigger impact. Johnson had two turnovers, an interception, and a forced fumble credited to him, while Troy Hill had two sacks on the day. While Hill has played well all year, Johnson had not, and this was a key game not just for the Browns but for himself as well.
Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield threw three passes away and had another two hit receivers in the hands (though not easy catches to make). While all five count as incompletions against Mayfield, they don’t exactly count the same way with proper context. Realizing that he only really missed two or three passes all day really puts into perspective his abilities. He threw two touchdown passes and a ridiculous pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones that was all hang time. Mayfield showed that when his receivers are doing their jobs, he in fact can do his.
Nick Chubb
While we often overlook Nick Chubb due to his greatness being expected, even the most jaded admirers of Chubb have to be impressed with his outing against the Bengals. While it looked early on that they may be able to repeat the Steelers’ success and limit the run, the Browns persisted and eventually broke Chubb free. Chubb posted his second-best outing on the season.
The Bad
Jedrick Wills
We’re going to have to be a bit nit-picky for these entries. It’s not so much that they played “bad’ but these were the players with the worst offenses in an otherwise dominating win. So with Jedrick Wills, he makes this list for his false-start penalty. He played an otherwise fine game, the Bengals got to Baker Mayfield too often but Austin Hooper may have been a key contributor for that. Yet, Wills makes it due to the bonehead penalty, and the fact that Mayfield is on pace to be sacked more times in 2021 than at any other point in his career. Not only that, but the abundance of penalties is getting out of hand.
Jadeveon Clowney
There’s no excuse for a defensive end to be offsides. You know where the ball is. You can see it at all times. There’s absolutely no reason to have one offsides penalty, let alone two, in back-to-back drives. Clowney’s played very well for the Browns this season but things like this are inexcusable.
Jarvis Landry
Blame Kevin Stefanski for calling such a boneheaded play on 3rd and one, but also blame Jarvis Landry for not being able to execute it. Landry took a designed option to the left and pitched the ball well short of Nick Chubb, resulting in a six-yard loss. This caused the Browns to settle for a field goal instead of an easy touchdown. This was a mistake that can be looked over today but in a close game, that’s the kind of mistake that’ll cost Cleveland a win.
The Conclusion
Two of Baker Mayfield’s incompletions were described by Tony Romo as being “good” incompletions. Misses that only a Browns player really could’ve made a play for. Specifically the Donovan Peoples-Jones sideline attempt. Considering how many people, even in the Cleveland media, took Mayfield to task for Odell Beckham Sr.’s out-of-context video, a day like this was exactly what Cleveland and Mayfield needed.
The defense played as well as ever and they did so against a real offense, and not a stagnant Denver Broncos one. The problem that needs to be addressed and badly is the obnoxious number of penalties that the team continues to make.
In the first two defensive stands alone they had three off-sides. Malick McDowell got one for a late-hit on Joe Burrow, while Troy Hill got one for a pass interference call and we already mentioned Jedrick Wills’ offsides call.
Then you add on Sheldon Day and Jordan Elliot’s penalties and it’s clear why this team is leading the league in penalty yards. Though, admittedly, both Elliot and Day shouldn’t have had penalties thrown against them. Yet, when you develop the reputation the Browns have with regard to discipline, you aren’t going to get many calls thrown your way.
The Browns need to lock that stuff down, because yes, they obliterated the Bengals, but that doesn’t always mean that you’re going to be able to roll over a team and ignore these types of mistakes. In any closer game, the Browns may have lost due to the sheer amount of flags against them. You can’t keep blaming the refs, at a certain point the Browns have to start disciplining the players who are the most frequent offenders. Whether that’s with extra conditioning, bigger fines or just not playing them.
These are the types of issues that can cost a team an AFC title opportunity.