Browns dominate Bengals 24-3

Defense holds Burrow to worst career day
Published: Sep. 10, 2023 at 4:18 PM EDT|Updated: Sep. 10, 2023 at 10:10 PM EDT
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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Browns went to work on their defense in the offseason, and that new look squad spent the afternoon going to work on the Cincinnati offense. They lead the way to a 24-3 rout of the defending division champs.

The Bengals high-powered offense mustered only 142 total yards. Joe Burrow was 14 of 31 for career-low 82 yards. Burrow was sacked twice for 15 yards and was harassed all afternoon. Ja’Marr Chase was held to only 39 yards on five receptions while Tee Higgins did not catch any of the eight passes thrown his way.

The Browns offense was quiet at first as well, but got on track when they did what they do best- give the ball to Nick Chubb. Chubb rumbled for 106 yards on 18 carries and added 21 more yards on four catches. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry and the Bengals defense, who did play well against the Browns passing game, could not stop him when they needed to.

Deshaun Watson did enough to get the offense going. He scored from 13 yards out in the 2nd quarter to make it 10-0 Browns, which was the score at the half. Watson completed 16 of 29 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, he was intercepted once on a tipped pass. He was sacked three times.

Rain came down for much of the day and impacted both quarterbacks. Burrow and Watson missed on a lot of throws, especially in the first half. Balls were overthrown, underthrown and appeared to slip out of the hand of both passers at times.

The Browns improve to 1-0, their second straight season with a Week 1 win, and will travel to Pittsburgh in Week 2 for a showdown on Monday Night Football.

The Steelers were throttled by San Francisco 30-7 in their game.