Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and his offense struggled mightily in Sunday’s NFL season opener won by the Browns, 24-3 on a field covered in rain.
Burrow, who returned to practice two weeks after participating in just two training camp exercises, was limited to a career-low 82 yards because the timing wasn’t right.
With about five minutes left, Jake Browning took over, and it was the first time Burrow had not thrown for 100 yards in a start. The Browns limited Burrow to 14 of 31 throwing while up against the most accurate thrower in history. The most ever in five or more games versus the Browns, Burrow averaged 295 yards per game against Cleveland coming into the game.
The Bengals’ defense did its best to keep them in the game for as long as they could, but by the time Cleveland broke the 200-yard rushing mark (206 yards), they had been on the field for 11 minutes more than the Browns. Brad Robbins, a rookie punter who made his NFL debut, punted 10 times for an average distance of 40.9 yards. He fell short of the 11-game team single-game record by one.
On the Bengals’ first series of the second half, Evan McPherson’s 42-yard field goal narrowed the advantage to 10-3, and safety Dax Hill’s first NFL pick on Watson’s roll-out pass gave them a chance to tie the game with the ball at the 50.
Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase successfully converted a third-and-two with the Browns applying pressure, but three plays later the offense faced a third-and-four from the Browns’ 33, and a deep throw to Higgins down the right sideline was intercepted by safety Grant Delpit.
The preseason MVP, McPherson, missed wide right from 51 yards. For the first time since the conclusion of his rookie year in 2020, when he was injured during the opening series, Higgins had no catches on eight targets.
The Bengals’ offense struggled to get going in the first half and trailed 10-0. Seven motors. Seven field goals. Five 3 and outs. Burrow’s six of fourteen passes for just 36 yards became his lowest performance in 43 NFL starts.
Burrow’s longest pass was 12 yards to Chase on a sideline out as the Browns surrounded his receivers in the face of a strong pass rush. The lone third-down conversion they made in the first half was during the game’s first drive, as they failed on their previous seven attempts. It remained upright the longest.
Their finest drive consisted of four consecutive runs, two of which saw halfback Joe Mixon score 34 points. Third and three from the Cleveland 38 presented itself to them. Tee Higgins, who was covering CB Denzel Ward down the right sideline, jumped over Burrow to catch the ball, but he could only get one hand on it.
The Bengals hadn’t been blanked in a game before.
Since losing 32-13 on Halloween night here, it was the first time the Bengals have been shut out in the first half.
They stayed in the game thanks to the Bengals’ defense. Up until 17 seconds remained in the half, they were successful in keeping Cleveland out of the end zone. On third-and-10 with one minute remaining in the game, Watson threw his greatest pass of the game.
Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals’ edge rusher who would later record one of their three sacks, dropped into coverage, allowing Amari Cooper, the wide receiver, to elude Cam Taylor-Britt and gain a first down. Watson then ran an unimpeded draw to the right from the Bengals’ 13 for the only score of the half after sending four receivers to the right.
Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie triumphantly returned to the field where he tore his ACL on Halloween night while the Browns were in the lead. Late in the first quarter, with no points scored, Chubb drove Cleveland to the edge of the goal zone after Watson’s bomb for Olympic sprinter Marquise Goodwin was blocked by safety Nick Scott from inside the end zone.
When the ball popped out at the Bengals’ 13 yard line, linebacker Germaine Pratt, still up to his old tricks, retrieved it. He had earlier snatched the ball from reserve running back Jerome Ford.
