Instead, the second half was a nightmare for Manziel and his offense. But McCown is banged up and Manziel made the start on Thursday. Cincinnati got a scare when LB Vontaze Burfict limped off in the second quarter after hurting his left knee, the one that had off-season surgery and caused him to miss the first six games. Cincinnati shut down Cleveland in the second half.
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This team can do this to bad opponents. “Our mistakes just caught up to us”. The Bengals’ unheralded defense – and the way it strangled Manziel and Cleveland – are a big reason this Cincinnati team is undefeated and in control of the AFC North, as well as its own destiny. They played a halfway decent game again in the first half and you had to wonder is this a carbon copy of the Arizona game or did they learn? Playing against a division rival with a strong defense, on the road, on a short week, Manziel finished the game 15 for 33 for 168 yards and a touchdown.
The drive ended with Tyler Eifert’s second touchdown of the night, putting the Bengals up 14-3 rather than 10-3.
CB Tramon Williams got beat like a drum.
They need to definitively find out what they have in him, and their dismal record could prompt them to continue the experiment. But I could’ve gotten it down to a tight end or a running back. The move injured longtime Bengals scoreboard cameraman, Jim Strickler.
Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel has clearly improved since his rookie season, but he still isn’t close to being able to wreck this league.
That helped him get through his disappointing second season last year when he suffered a season-ending elbow injury in the first quarter of the first game of the year.
So don’t be surprised if the Browns take a long look at Manziel for the rest of the year. He avenged that disaster in a convincing manner.
The Bengal tight end had a career night against the Browns, hauling in three touchdown passes. McCown has a 95.2 passer rating against Manziel’s 93.2.
Run the ball effectively: The Bengals can check this box. He rushed for 38 yards himself. The accomplishment comes with a caveat. The 1-2 punch of Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard once again split the carries for the Bengals.
For a change, the Browns’ defense was victimized by a late score at the end of the half because the Bengals didn’t have the time. Ho hum. He also ran for 31 yards on four attempts.
Stack defensive victories: Check. The penalty gave the Bengals a first down and goal.
The Cincinnati Bengals, who are off to their best start in franchise history, remain unbeaten with a 31-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns. The entire team managed only 20 sacks all of last season. The Bengals became the fifth opponent in nine games to score 30 or more points. The eight straight wins are a club record for one season. Gorgeous night at Paul Brown Stadium captured ideally.
We don’t know if Johnny Manziel is capable of being a pro QB. Andrew Whitworth took care of one defender, A.J. Green held off the corner and a convoy carried the wideout to the corner of the end zone. Another big pass play from Dalton to Jones on the second snap of the fourth quarter got Cincinnati from midfield to the fringe of the red zone at the Browns 25-yard-line.
Jackson has played these mind games all year.
Next up for the Bengals are the Houston Texans and those two teams will play a week from Monday.
“Growing up, I’d always been taught to just hand the ball to the ref”, he said. “I’m giving (Dalton) the option to throw to me when I might not look open and put it in a spot where I can go make a play”. These aren’t the “Not Ready for Primetime” Bengals of recent years, and clearly this isn’t the same Dalton.
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TOUGH TIGHT END: Eifert finished with five catches for 53 yards and scored on catches of 9, 2 and 19 yards.
