The Cincinnati Bengals used a 99-yard touchdown drive to advance their 24-6 victory.

The Cincinnati Bengals have 99 problems and the Cleveland Browns have none

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals made history by repeating it on Sunday afternoon.

After safety Vonn Bell knocked the ball out of the arms of Cleveland Browns running back D’Onta Foreman just short of the goal line and recovered his own fumble, the Cincinnati offense managed a 99-yard touchdown on its first possession of the game.

Instead of trailing 7-0 right after the jump, the Bengals took a 7-0 lead on a flying touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Tee Higgins, and Cincinnati cruised to a 24-6 victory at Paycor Stadium to seal theirs to keep their small playoff hopes alive.

“Tremendous,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said of Bell’s play.

“Huge,” Burrow added. “Especially the way they like to play defensively. Their rush is really good and if you get behind them it can be a long day. And then we go down and score a TD. That was a huge swing.”

By collecting the Bell turnover, Cincinnati became the first team since at least 2001 to complete a 99-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of a game.

And it was only the second time since at least 2001 that the Bengals traveled 99 yards for a touchdown at any point in the game.

The only other time it happened was in the third quarter of last year’s Week 18 game against…the Browns.

Both 99-yard drives began the same way, with Burrow spurring Cleveland into a false start to get the Bengals off the goal line.

He brought Siaki Ika to defensive tackle and jumped into the neutral zone.

On Sunday, Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate jumped.

“It’s the ultimate weapon,” Taylor said. “He really is the best in the business. I watched Aaron Rodgers do this to people over and over again for years and get free spins. We got three or four of them last week and two today.”

The first came on the team’s first snap of the day. The second on his last, when Burrow got one of the best players in the world, Cleveland edge rusher Myles Garrett, to jump and use the free play to throw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Chase.

It didn’t make much of a difference on the scoreboard, extending the lead from 17-6 to 24-6 with 1:49 to go.

But it allowed Burrow to set an NFL record with his seventh straight game with at least three touchdown passes and at least 250 passing yards, breaking the mark of six in a row set by Tom Brady during the New England Patriots’ regular season had a 16-0 record in 2007.

As difficult as 99-yard touchdown drives are, the Bengals made Sunday look easy.

They only needed eight plays and just 4:58 minutes.

They had three consecutive plays of at least 21 yards to reach the 2-yard line, where Burrow made his Superman move.

As great as the offense got off to, the love spread around the locker room was mostly directed at Bell, a veteran whose playing time has dwindled to almost nothing but who continues to be one of the more vocal and supportive teammates on the sidelines .

And someone who knows how to make big plays in big spots.

“Everyone in this building has respect for Vonn and loved watching him play like that,” guard Alex Cappa said.

“I saved the New England game doing the same thing,” Burrow remembers.

That was almost two years ago to the day, Christmas Eve in 2022.

The Bengals were clinging to a four-point lead with 1:05 left when Bell hit the ball free from running back Rhamondre Stevenson, BJ Hill recovered it and the Bengals won their seventh straight game.

“Give Vonn all the credit, man,” Hill said. “He made a great play for us on the goal line when we needed it.”

Bengals safety Jordan Battle compared Bell’s feel for the ball to that of Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who used his famous stroke to force 44 fumbles in his career.

“V, the peanut puncher himself, goes in and the running back was loose, the ball went down – ‘stumble bumble’ we call it – and it was a perfect hit on the ball to create a turnover, some juice created us,” Battle said. “It was a huge piece.”

Bell played just six snaps on Sunday.

There’s a reason Lou Anarumo had him on the field near the goal line.

It was the 16th forced fumble of his career and the first since the Week 16 game at New England in 2022.

No other defensive back has more forced fumbles than Bell since entering the league in 2016.

When asked how big No. 16 was under the circumstances, he replied in his usual understated manner.

“It was big,” he said.

“I saw the ball had space around him,” Bell added. “I just hit it. I just played tirelessly and got a good stab and the ball came out. I’m just happy to be out there with my guys and making plays.”

For more information on the Bengals, see Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Make sure you Bookmark BengalsTalk.com for the latest Bengals newsexclusive interviews, film breakdowns and much more!

—–

Join the 47,000+ Bengals fans who subscribe to us on YouTube.

Follow us on Twitter: @BengalsTalkSI

Like our Facebook page

Follow on TikTok