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BenJarvus
Green-Ellis runs the ball against the Cleveland Browns Sunday.
Cincinnati fell to 3-3 with a 34-24 loss.
Bengals lose
battle of Ohio
bengals.com
CLEVELAND — In a swirling wind in excess of 20 miles per hour Sunday at
Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Bengals saw their playoff hopes blown
into the critical stage when the winless Browns exploded for a 27-3 run
in the first 22 minutes of the second half that gave them a 34-24
victory.
As the skies opened with a downpour, it seemed even the heavens were
about to acknowledge the end of the Browns 11-game losing streak and 12
in the AFC North when Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown sat on slot
receiver Andrew Hawkins's slant route and picked it off for a 19-yard
touchdown return for Cleveland's second of quarterback Andy Dalton's
three picks that gave Cleveland a 34-17 lead with 7:50 left in the game.
The Bengals cut it to 34-24 when Dalton hit wide receiver A.J. Green
for a 57-yard touchdown as Dalton hit him running past cornerback Joe
Haden with 5:21 left in the game for the first multi-TD game of Green's
career.
But it was too little too late to stave off the nightmare scenario as
the Bengals fell to 3-3, 1-2 in the AFC North.
The coup de grace came when Dalton had tight end Jermaine Gresham open
in the end zone in the red zone with 2:39 left in the game, but with
the defensive line able to tee off, Emmanuel Stephens rode off left
tackle Andrew Whitworth, hit Dalton from the blind side and he lost the
fumble, one of four Cincinnati's turnovers that made the Bengals minus
in turnovers for the fourth time this season.
With backup running back Montario Hardesty doing damage (56 yards on
his first 15 carries of the season) in place of injured rookie Trent
Richardson (rib), he gouged the Bengals up the middle and that set up a
23-yard throw to tight end Jordan Cameron in which rookie quarterback
Brandon Weeden had all day to throw. That set up up Weeden's three-yard
touchdown throw to wide-open tight end Benjamin Watson to make it 27-17
with eight minutes left as Weeden rung up a 92.7 passer rating on a
231-yard day he had two touchdowns and one interception while his
protection gave the NFL sack leaders just two.
The Bengals couldn't take advantage of heading with the wind in the
third quarter and instead got blown away with a 13-0 run capped by
Hardesty's one-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth
quarter that gave the Browns a 20-14 lead.
The Bengals offense was virtually invisible in the quarter with a punt,
punt, interception and punt on four possessions and were strapped when
they lost third down back Brian Leonard with a rib injury that left the
Bengals with just two running backs. The Bengals couldn't get any
traction in the run game (76 yards on 20 carries) against an
undermanned run defense and they are only averaging 3.4 yards per run
for the season.
They did get a 44-yard field goal from Mike Nugent that cut the lead to
20-17 with 11:11 left in the game, but the Bengals afternoon-long
penchant for coming up with big penalties robbed that drive when
Green's completion was negated when he was called for offensive pass
interference. It was one of seven penalties for 50 yards.
Bengals' fourth-best punt cover team in the NFL got burned early in the
second half when gunner Jeromy Miles seemed to think that Browns punt
returner Josh Cribbs signaled fair catch inside his own 10 on the left
sideline and ran past him. But Cribbs ran through linebackers Roddrick
Muckelroy and Manny Lawson on the way to a 60-yard return that set up
Phil Dawson's 41-yard field goal into the wind that cut the lead to
14-10 with 8:25 left in the third.
Then on the next series Dalton made an ill-advised throw as he was
chased out of the pocket on a cornerback blitz and running back Cedric
Peerman got tied up in pass protection. Peerman was playing on third
down with Leonard out and added a career-high eight catches for 76
yards.
Dalton tried to throw to Green on the sideline, but he was plastered by
cornerback Buster Skrine and when the ball bounced off Green's hands
Haden grabbed it at the Bengals 30. A third-down sack by Bengals left
end Robert Geathers forced another Dawson field goal, this one from 38
yards with 6:27 left in the third quarter that cut the lead to 14-13.
Read this and other articles at Cincinnati Bengals
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