Browns 24 Bengals 3
My opening observations: The Browns punched the Bengals in their manhood Sunday afternoon in Cleveland.
It's OK to say the Bengals looked unprepared and played poorly. It's OK to say many areas, including the QB play, looked bad. This wasn't youth football.
We are all adults here. It doesn't mean the season is over. It means they are 0-1.
The Browns led 10-0 at the half and removed any remaining doubt with a DeShaun Watson TD pass and two point conversion with 9:11 remaining in the game.
Bengals backup QB Jake Browning came on to finish the final 5:00+ of the game.
Offense:
Complete and total disaster. 6 first downs, 142 yards. 7 punts on their first 7 drives. One or no first downs on 10 of their first 11 drives.
Drops, poor throws, missed blocks, a delay of game.
Joe Burrow had the worst day of his career: 14 of 31 (42.5%), 82 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 2 sacks...QB rating 52.2. He's now 1-5 vs the Browns
Burrow was high, wide, short. He went to a glove at one point. Never moved well. It was the first time he's thrown for less than 100 yards in his NFL career.
They never could stretch the field and rarely targeted the middle of the field. Burrow's longest completion was a 12 yarder to Chase.
3rd down: 2 of 15 on 3rd
Run game: 20 for 75 (3.8)....Joe Mixon 13 for 56, two carries of 12, 22...11 of 22 on rest of his carries.
Trayveon Williams was the 3rd down back early on. Chris Evans had a nice blitz pickup.
Tee Higgins: 8 targets, 0 connections .....JaMarr Chase 5-39, Tyler Boyd 2-10.
Defense
Kept them in the game/game offense a chance until a Watson TD pass/2 pt conversion sealed the deal and turned 16-3 to 24-3 with 9:11 left.
Forced two turnovers: Germaine Pratt stripped Jerome Ford and Chido recovered. Dax Hill picked off his first NFL pass.
They tried to light up DeShaun Watson early and often
Held to 4 of 14 3rd downs
Nick Chubb: 18 carries, 106 yards, 5.9 average. He broke a 17 yarder on 3rd and 4.
3 sacks: Pratt, Trey Hendrickson and BJ Hill.
Leading tacklers: Pratt and Nick Scott, 11.
Special Teams
Rookie punter Brad Robbins punted 10 times, averaring 40.9 yards. The team record is 11 punts. It was an adventure. He had a 54 yarder. But also had a 22 yarder and a touchback.
He did not have a touchback at Michigan last season. He almost had one blocked on a low snap.
Rookie Charlie Jones backtracked to field a punt at his 6-yard line. Later he attempted to run horizontally and was easily tracked down.
Evans had an 18 yard kick return after a long hang time.
Evan McPherson missed a 51 yarder that could have cut things to 10-6.
Jalen Davis penalty on block out of bounds.
Decisions
Trailing 3-0 with 8:00 left in the first half, Zac elected to punt on 4th and 3 from the Cleveland 38.
Trailing 13-3 to start the 4th quarter, Zac punted on 4th and 5 at the Bengals 42.
Trailing 16-3 with 10:42 to go, Zac went for it on 4th and 4 from the Bengals 31. Burrow was sacked. The Browns added the TD/2PT three players later.
Other:
Time of possession: Browns 35:50, Bengals 24:10. Plays: Browns 72, Bengals 54. Yards: Browns 350, Bengals 142.
Three pre-snap penalties: Delay of game, illegal shift, two illegal formation.
The Browns win the 100th meeting. The Bengals lead the series 52-48.
Field position was an issue all day: Bengals had drives starting at 14, 13, 7, 21, 5, 21 and 7.