It wasn’t pretty, but the Cincinnati Bengals got the job done, taking down the Cleveland Browns by a final score of 24-6. It marks the team’s first sweep in the Battle of Ohio since 2017.

Who DEY!!

The Cincinnati Bengals are taking on the Cleveland Browns in Round 2 of the Battle of Ohio. Follow along here for our live blog and full recap once the game is complete.

First Quarter

Things didn’t begin well for the Bengals on the defense’s opening drive. The Browns offense took the field first, and on the first play of the game, former UC Bearcat running back Jerome Ford took a handoff and ran 66 yards down the field before the touchdown was saved by a Cam Taylor-Britt tackle. Cleveland, being led by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, proceeded to walk down the field, and they would have scored if it wasn’t for the fact Vonn Bell forced a D’Onta Foreman fumble that he then recovered on a first-and-goal run from the one-yard line.

The Bengals offense took over in the shadow of their own goalposts on the one-yard line, luckily in a scoreless game. That’s when Joe Burrow led the Bengals offense down the field on a 99-yard drive with a good chunk of pass and run plays and capped it off with one of the most incredible touchdown passes you could ever hope to see in the NFL.

Just as he was going to the ground, he found Tee Higgins open in the end zone and gave the Bengals a seven-point lead after the extra point.

RIDICULOUS from Joe Burrow.

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The defense came back on the field and bounced back from a bad opening drive, forcing the Browns into a three-and-out after slot corner Mike Hilton sacked DTR for a loss of six on first down.

The offense returned to the field and picked up right where they left off. Burrow led the Bengals down the field, but the drive eventually stalled on the Browns’ 28-yard line, where Cade York would attempt and miss a 47-yard field goal.

The defense started their next drive with another sack, and the quarter ended with the Browns in a third-and-long situation in their own territory and a seven-point lead.

Second quarter

The second quarter saw the Bengals defense step up with a few huge negative plays. Trey Hendrickson added to his sack total, and Mike Hilton managed to slice through the offensive line for a negative play as well. Both plays helped derail Cleveland drives.

Burrow continued to dissect the Browns’ defense. He added a touchdown to Andrei Iosivas with a man in his face. He had a great scramble in a 2-minute drill to get into field goal range. It appeared Myles Garrett ruined that idea with a sack on the following play. However, York banged through a 59-yard field goal to give Cincinnati a 17-0 lead as time expired in the half. The good guys are set to receive the second-half kickoff as well.

Third quarter

The Cleveland Browns were gifted a first down that led to their first game points. They failed on a 3rd-and-4 while the receiver and defender were within five yards of the line of scrimmage, both engaged. The receiver for Cleveland kept complaining for a flag to the point both teams were in the huddle, but then the back judge threw a flag. This led to a touchdown where their kicker missed the extra point. Continuing the absolute joke that refs have been in Bengals games this season.

On the next drive, Higgins went down holding his ankle after the Bengals were forced to punt again, but he did walk off under his own power. It was a very frustrating injury for so many reasons. Luckily, he was able to return to the game.

Fourth quarter

The refs almost gifted the Browns a one-score game after giving Thompson-Robinson a roughing the passer call that all Bengals’ fans collectively laughed at, as it may as well have just been the defender dapping up the quarterback.

However, safety Jordan Battle ended up with an interception as Geno Stone hit the quarterback’s arm as he threw.

The Bengals offense continued to struggle as Amarius Mims’ exit from the game with an injury had the offensive line reeling and continually having Burrow under duress.

Stone got a ricocheted interception of his own after DJ Ivey tipped a pass intended for David Njoku. This got the offense going as Chase Brown picked up a first down, and then Burrow hit Iosivas for a beautiful 32-yard gain right over his shoulder.

However, Burrow fumbled as the Bengals were in 3rd-and-goal. A defensive lineman was waiting for him on a bootleg. As he attempted to avoid him, the ball got poked out, which took points off the board after a promising drive with roughly four minutes left.

The Bengals defensive line came to life as Jenkins recorded his second sack of the game, Cedrick Johnson got one that also led to an intentional grounding call, and rookie defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson joined Jenkins as rookie defensive tackles with sacks on the day. The 4th-and-27 pass fell harmlessly to the ground.

The Bengals added a Ja’Marr Chase touchdown from over 30 yards out as the offense got a free play. That was Chase’s 16th touchdown and another play to help extend his lead for the receiving triple crown.

This win keeps the hope alive at an outside chance for the playoffs. They still need help with a loss from the Colts and Dolphins before the end of the season, and the Denver Broncos (who the Bengals play next week) need to lose out.

This is a sweep of Cleveland for the first time since the 2017 season. This team has had Burrow’s number since coming into the league, and Baker Mayfield owned them during his run with the Browns. We may be able to finally say that the frustrating era of this rivalry is behind us.