CINCINNATI — The Browns jinx is over.
Joe Burrow, the day after his 26th birthday, threw touchdown passes to Ja’Marr Chase and a perfectly-executed flea flicker to Trenton Irwin while Joe Mixon rushed for 96 yards on 14 carries in his return as the Bengals beat the Browns, 23-10, before 66,222 at Paycor Stadium.
Chase finished with 119 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions. Burrow defeated the Browns for the first time.
The Bengals captured their fifth straight win to improve to 9-4 and remain tied with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North.
The Bengals beat the Browns for the first time since a 33-23 win at Paul Brown Stadium on Dec. 29, 2019. It was the 99th meeting in the all-time series, with the Bengals leading 52-47.
The win came at a cost as Trey Hendrickson suffered a broken wrist in the second half but managed to play in the fourth quarter with the injury, per NFL Network’s James Palmer and Ian Rapoport.
#Bengals pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson suffered a broken wrist in today’s game, sources tell me and @JamesPalmerTV, and he’s expected to miss a few weeks. He actually played the fourth quarter with it, somehow.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 11, 2022
The game started with major negative vibes for the Bengals.
They lost Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd on the opening series. Higgins came out after one snap due to a hamstring injury that had bothered him starting Thursday in practice. He remained on the bench the rest of the game. On the second snap of the game, Tyler Boyd injured a finger on his right hand and did not return after being ruled following a trip to the locker room.
The Bengals opening offensive drive ended in a three-and-out on a Burrow pass to Samaje Perine that was off the mark in the left flat.
On the first defensive series, Mike Hilton went down in a heap behind the play, grabbing his right leg. He was tended to by trainers for several minutes, with teammates around him. He eventually made his way to his feet and limped off the field. He went to the medical tent and was cleared to return on the next defensive series.
All the while, Burrow was having major difficulty getting into an rhythm, completing just two of his first eight passes and 4-of-12 for 27 yards.
Burrow finally found his stride midway through the second quarter. He capped a penalty-aided drive with a dart of a pass that was in a window so tight and thrown so hard that the ball hit Ja’Marr Chase in the stomach and stuck for a 15-yard touchdown.
The griddy is back ?#ProBowlVote x #JaMarrChase#CLEvsCIN | ? CBS pic.twitter.com/ntoIxj78pu
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 11, 2022
The Bengals were helped out by a roughing the punter call on Tony Fields II, an illegal use of hands on Isaiah Thomas and a 33-yard defensive pass interference on Denzel Ward when he grabbed the back of Ja’Marr Chase’s jersey down the left sideline.
The Bengals held to a 26-yard field goal from Cade York on Cleveland’s next drive.
The Bengals got the ball back with 2:59 left in the first half. Burrow hit Trent Taylor for 34 yards over the middle on a third-and-10 at the Cincinnati 47. Another key third down conversion came when Burrow hit Trenton Irwin over the middle for 13 yards down to the Cleveland 6.
On the next play, Perine ran it inside and then bounced out to his right and untouched into the end zone for a 13-3 lead after the Evan McPherson extra point was wide left.
"Ope – I'm just gonna scooch around ya"#ProBowlVote x #SamajePerine#CLEvsCIN | ? CBS pic.twitter.com/Qi2eK8LZE0
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 11, 2022
The Bengals defense held the Browns to two three-and-outs to start the second half. The Bengals capitalized on good field position when Burrow hit Chase on a sideline out for 11 yards to the Cleveland 45. On the next play, the Bengals perfectly executed the flea flicker on a handoff to Joe Mixon, the toss back to Burrow and a throw to the post to a wide-open Trenton Irwin for 45 yards.
FLEA FLICKER ALERT#CLEvsCIN | ? CBS pic.twitter.com/qN7pIZonMl
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 11, 2022
Jessie Bates intercepted a Watson pass in the fourth quarter. The Bengals were driving to the Browns 24 before Deion Jones picked off Burrow and the Browns got the ball back with 10 minutes remaining.
Facing 4th-and-1 at their own 38, Watson gained three yards. He converted another fourth down with his legs at the Bengals 10. But on fourth-and-goal, his pass to the end zone fell incomplete.
