Dawgs By Nature
It looked like it was going to be a rough day for the Browns early on — but then, in a flash, they had two defensive touchdowns on consecutive drives. Despite the offense not mustering much, Cleveland never looked back. The remaining goal in the game was to see if DE Myles Garrett could bring down QB Joe Burrow to make history. It looked like time was running out, but then mid-way through the fourth quarter, it happened!
And it helped lead to the Browns’ 20-18 victory, as they finished the season at 5-12, including having a game-winning field goal from 49 yards out as time expired by K Andre Szmyt, avenging his misses from Week 1. Let’s get to the full game recap.
The Bengals received the opening kickoff, with all those eyes on DE Myles Garrett from the first snap. Cincinnati came out running on the first two plays to set up 3rd-and-1, but a false start pushed it to 3rd-and-6. Garrett came oh-so-close to a sack, but QB Joe Burrow dumped it off in time for a short completion. The Bengals punted, and WR Gage Larvadain fielded the ball inside the 5 yard line and was stopped there.
On 3rd-and-4, QB Shedeur Sanders got a nice late completion off to WR Malachi Corley on a crossing route, with the catch-and-run going for 19 yards. A few plays later, though, when trying to scramble from pressure, Sanders was stripped of the football with Cincinnati recovering at the Browns’ 29 yard line.
Burrow slung a nice quick hitter to WR Tee Higgins for 21 yards to set the Bengals up with a 1st-and-goal at the 6 yard line. They finished the drive with RB Chase Brown catching the ball out of the backfield as Cleveland picked themselves, allowing the easy touchdown and a 6-0 lead. DE Alex Wright blocked the extra point for the Browns.
Cleveland then went three-and-out, as Sanders was nearly picked off on his third down pass trying to found WR Jerry Jeudy over the middle. After a punt by P Corey Bojorquez, the Bengals began their next drive at the 30 yard line.
Back-to-back run plays had Cincinnati to midfield already, and then another run moved the ball into Cleveland territory. The Bengals were well on their way to another touchdown, but then on 1st-and-goal at the 7 yard line, Burrow’s pass was tipped by DT Shelby Harris and intercepted by LB Devin Bush, who returned it 97 yards for a touchdown, with Garrett getting a block near the end to help ensure a chaser didn’t get to Bush. With the extra point, just like that, the Browns were winning 7-6 with under a minute to go in the first quarter.
With the Bengals trying to drive again, Cleveland’s defense came up with a clutch play again — Burrow completed a pass to TE Noah Fant, but right before he went...
