Cleveland 34, Cincinnati 24: Brandon Weeden threw two touchdown passes and Montario Hardesty, filling in for an injured Trent Richardson, scored the go-ahead TD as host Cleveland ended an 11-game losing streak with an upset of Cincinnati in the "Battle of Ohio."
Sheldon Brown returned an interception for a touchdown for Cleveland (1-5), which hadn't won since beating Jacksonville last November. Cleveland ended a four-game skid against the Bengals and avoided a franchise-record 12th straight loss by outscoring Cincinnati 27-3 in a span bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Andy Dalton threw three scoring passes - including two to A.J. Green, who has scored in five straight games - as the Bengals (3-3) lost to the Browns for the first time since 2010. Cincinnati has dropped two straight after winning three in a row.
Cleveland scored 13 straight points in a span of 8:30 and took a 20-14 lead on Hardesty's 1-yard plunge at the start of the fourth. Hardesty was in after Richardson left in the third with a rib injury.
After Weeden's 3-yard touchdown pass to Ben Watson made it 27-17, Brown's 19-yard interception return for a score gave Cleveland a 34-17 lead with 7:50 left in the fourth. Cincinnati answered with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Green, and the Bengalsdrove to the Cleveland 9 on their next possession before Emmanuel Stephens sacked Dalton and Billy Winn recovered the fumble, sealing the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Dalton was 31-of-46 for 381 yards but thew three interceptions. ... The Bengals had a chance for a last-second field goal at the end of the first half after Green's 25-yard reception, but the officials declared the half over despite the fact there appeared to be one second left when Dalton spiked the ball. ... Weeden, who finished 17-of-29 for 231 yards, has thrown an NFL-worst 10 interceptions.
Cincinnati | Cleveland | |
BenJarvus Green-Ellis | Player | Montario Hardesty |
16 | Attempts | 15 |
62 | Yards | 56 |
3.9 | Avg Yards | 3.7 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
20 | Long | 14 |
Cincinnati | Cleveland | |
A.J. Green | Player | Josh Gordon |
7 | Receptions | 3 |
135 | Yards | 99 |
19.3 | Avg Yards | 33.0 |
2 | Touchdowns | 1 |
57 | Long | 71 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Cincinnati | 438 | 76 | 362 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 1 |
Cleveland | 328 | 110 | 218 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2.0 | 1 |