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Joe Burrow dazzles, Bengals keep slim playoff hopes alive with win vs. Browns: Key takeaways

23 December 2024Last Update :
Joe Burrow dazzles, Bengals keep slim playoff hopes alive with win vs. Browns: Key takeaways

By Paul Dehner Jr., Zac Jackson and Amos Morale III

The Cincinnati Bengals came in to Sunday’s AFC North matchup against the Cleveland Browns needing a win to keep their shot at making the postseason alive.

Luckily for the Bengals, quarterback Joe Burrow is playing like an MVP and continued to do so in Cincinnati’s 24-6 win against Cleveland at Paycor Stadium.

Burrow completed 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 252 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. His 134.3 passer rating was the highest any QB has finished a game with this season, according to TruMedia.

He first touchdown pass of game, a two-yarder to Tee Higgins, delighted the Cincinnati crowd as Burrow connected with his receiver while falling forward onto the turf.

Bengals running back Chase Brown added 91 rushing yards, and the NFL’s leading receiver Ja’Marr Chase caught six passes for 97 yards and a score.

The Bengals moved to 7-8 this season while the Browns, who started quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson on Sunday, fell to 3-12 and kept themselves in the hunt for a top five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Despite the loss, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett did hit a major milestone as he became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 100 career sacks.

A lot on the line in Week 17

The Bengals are still alive in the playoff picture. Despite the disaster of this season they have managed to play meaningful football in Week 17. That comes thanks to a schedule that lined up teams with losing records.

This season, Cincinnati is 7-1 against teams with a losing record. The Bengals are 0-7 against teams with a winning record. The next two weeks the Broncos and Steelers will test this team to see if it can hang with the upper half of the league. At some point the Bengals have to beat a decent team. Their slim playoff hopes will be on the line in the process. — Paul Dehner, Bengals beat writer

Pit won’t be easy

Burrow has dealt with a porous defense, five weeks without Higgins and withstood questionable protection up the middle all season to still put up MVP-level numbers. Yet, once Amarius Mims (ankle) went out midway through Sunday’s game that proved to be one problem too many on the line in front of him. Orlando Brown Jr. (fibula) was already inactive at left tackle with Cody Ford in his spot. Recent practice-squader Devin Cochran entered at right tackle, but the offense turned essentially non-functional.

If the Bengals want to make a run at their slim playoff hopes to beat the Broncos and Steelers the next two weeks they better hope Brown and/or Mims can return because they are just too deep in the depth chart across the line to withstand a decent pass rush. The Broncos and Steelers undeniably have that and more. — Dehner

More of the same for Cleveland

The Browns have long been playing for next year. They’re in this spot because they continue to turn the ball over and continue to fail in crucial, game-changing spots. The penalties and interceptions have been an issue all season, and in this game, the Browns  gave away points early with a goal line fumble and then late in the first half when they let the Bengals run down the clock and try a long field goal. Cade York, a former Browns draft pick, made it from 59 yards to tie a franchise record and extend the lead to 17-0. — Zac Jackson, Browns beat writer

The Browns are on the clock

Jerome Ford made some plays for the Browns. David Njoku returned from injury to make some plays. Garrett became the youngest player to get 100 career sacks. But overall, the negatives far outweigh the positives for a Browns team that’s been undisciplined and bad in the big moments all season long. With a little luck and two more losses, a top-five pick awaits. — Jackson

DTR does some good

New starting quarterback Thompson-Robinson struggled early, then settled in before throwing two fourth-quarter interceptions. The Browns got 66 of their 86 first-half yards on the game’s first play as Ford ran to daylight and got inside the Bengals’ 10-yard line. But D’Onta Foreman fumbled at the goal line, and the Bengals dominated the half.

The Browns showed some life in the third quarter, and Ford scored on a 4-yard run, but Thompson-Robinson had what looked to be a touchdown run negated by a holding call on Jordan Akins. A couple snaps and another holding call later, Thompson-Robinson threw an interception in the end zone. As has been the case all season, the Browns squandered too many opportunities.

For a game with only 30 total points, there were a lot of wild sequences. For the Browns, it was a familiar and turnover-plagued result. — Jackson

Required reading

  • NFL Week 16 scores and live updates: Playoff picture, standings, inactives, predictions, betting odds and more
  • Joe Burrow learning his voice in Bengals’ season gone sideways: ‘I expect greatness’
  • What does switch to Dorian Thompson-Robinson mean for Browns’ future at QB?

(Photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)

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