The Bengals beat the Browns and stay in the NFL playoff picture week 16

With two weeks left in the 2024-25 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals are still alive.

December began with a loss that dropped the Bengals to 4-8, but on Sunday the team kept its high playoff hopes alive with a 24-6 win over the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in front of 65,734 spectators.

The win sets the Bengals up for a crucial home game Saturday (4:30 p.m., NFL Network) against the Denver Broncos, with both teams pushing for the final AFC Wild Card spot.

For Cleveland, Sunday’s loss made a poor season even worse as it fell to 3-12.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow did a mostly clean job in the game against the in-state rival Browns, although a red zone error and a turnover in the fourth quarter ruined his day. Additionally, Burrow completed 23 of 30 passes for three touchdowns and 252 yards, surpassing the 4,000 pass threshold on the opening drive of the contest.

Burrow also opened the scoring with another memorable acrobatic move. While falling to the ground on a scramble, Burrow completed a two-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins for the first score. Burrow later said he felt his body was parallel to the ground when he made the throw.

In the second quarter, Burrow found Andrei Iosivas on a six-yard pass for a touchdown.

The majority of the Bengals’ scoring came in the first half, and backup kicker Cade York hit a 59-yard field goal on the final play of the half as Cincinnati shut out Cleveland and led 17-0 at the break.

While the Bengals were working on their first shutout in years, the Browns finally got into the game in the third quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Jerome Ford, formerly of the Cincinnati Bearcats program. The attempt to reach the point after was missed.

On a day in which Cincinnati’s defense forced three turnovers and sacked Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Cleveland failed to score another score.

The Bengals finally tied Cleveland with 1:44 left in the fourth quarter when Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for a 32-yard touchdown.

Bengals winning streak

Cincinnati lost 8-4 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 1 at Paycor Stadium after the bye week. Phrases like “lost season” and “wasted season” have dominated the history of the 2024 Bengals.

Fast forward to Sunday. The Bengals won their third straight game and clawed their way back to meaningful football at 7-8 with their playoff hopes still alive.

It hasn’t been pretty up to this point, and it’s debatable how impressive Cincinnati has been during this three-game run. The list of quarterbacks they beat — Dallas’ Cooper Rush, Tennessee’s Will Levis and Thompson-Robinson — doesn’t read like a Hall of Fame vote. Not surprisingly, public perception has not changed significantly heading into the 2024 election campaign.

But what comes next for the Bengals has a chance to turn the old narrative on its head. Cincinnati will face the Denver Broncos on Saturday as both teams continue to battle for the final AFC Wild Card spot.

A Cincinnati win would put a lot of pressure on Denver heading into the teams’ respective season finales in Week 18.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is a different caliber than the last three signal-callers Cincinnati has faced in the last four weeks (four signal-callers if you factor in Levis’ bench seat in the win over the Titans). Saturday’s game is a duel that is not that easy to win and the margin for error will be less.

Nevertheless, the Bengals deserve a home game with real effort at the end of December. Win this game against a team with a winning record and real playoff zeal, and this end-of-season turnaround could begin to change how we think about the Bengals’ 2024 year.

The Triple Crown clock continues for Ja’Marr Chase

By his high standards, Ja’Marr Chase had a relatively quiet day compared to some of his most memorable outings this season. He caught six balls and rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown, although 32 of those yards and the victory came with less than two minutes to play.

Chase won’t mind the late stat padding as he remains in the hunt for the Triple Crown or leading the NFL in catches, yards and touchdowns.

Chase entered Sunday leading the league in all statistical categories with 102 catches, 1,413 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Chase also still gets his flowers for surpassing a franchise record he already owned. At about 10:30 a.m. in the second quarter, Chase hauled in a catch, bounced off a tackler and dived for an 11-yard gain. That play brought him to 1,463 receiving yards this season, surpassing the franchise record he set in 2021 of 1,455.

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