Andy Dalton passed for 270 yards and a touchdown as the Cincinnati Bengals kept their playoff hopes alive with a 23-20 come-from-behind victory over the visiting Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Cedric Benson rushed for 106 yards and a score and Mike Nugent kicked a 23-yard field goal with 38 seconds left for the Bengals (7-4), who snapped a two-game slide and stayed within one game of the AFC North lead.
The Browns had a chance to take the lead with 1:51 left but Phil Dawson’s 55-yard field goal attempt fell short, leaving the door open for Cincinnati.
Dalton wasted no time bringing the Bengals into the red zone, hooking up with rookie A.J. Green on a 51-yard catch to the Cleveland 2-yard line.
Cincinnati settled for Nugent’s third field goal to take its first lead of the day.
The Browns held a 20-10 advantage in the third quarter after Dawson connected from 54 yards.
Dalton needed five plays to pull the Bengals back within a field goal, hooking up with Green on a 35-yard strike down the left sideline to move into Cleveland territory and then finding tight end Jermaine Gresham for a 22-yard score.
A 40-yard field goal by Nugent early in the fourth tied it at 20-20.
Colt McCoy passed for a pair of touchdowns for the Browns (4-7), who have dropped four of five.
Cleveland | Cincinnati | |
Peyton Hillis | Player | Cedric Benson |
19 | Attempts | 21 |
65 | Yards | 106 |
3.4 | Avg Yards | 5.0 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
10 | Long | 33 |
Cleveland | Cincinnati | |
Jordan Norwood | Player | A.J. Green |
4 | Receptions | 3 |
69 | Yards | 110 |
17.2 | Avg Yards | 36.7 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
36 | Long | 51 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Cleveland | 274 | 134 | 140 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 |
Cincinnati | 389 | 132 | 257 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 |