Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase caught the go-ahead four-yard touchdown with 72 seconds left, but Browns rookie kicker Andre Szmyt atoned for his Opening Day miss with a 49-yard field goal at the gun for Cleveland’s 20-18 victory in the regular-season finale at Paycor Stadium.
The Bengals’ defense throttled Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his offense Sunday until the final drive.
The Bengals, who held the Browns to 200 yards, were driving for the go-ahead score on first-and-10 from the Browns 45 with 4:44 left when Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett barged in from quarterback Joe Burrow’s left side to drop him for his NFL-record 23rd sack of the season.
That led to a Bengals punt, and after another Browns’ three-and-and-out, Burrow got the ball back for one last time and hit Chase three times in that go-ahead drive to finish 29 of 39 for 239 yards.
The Bengals somehow trailed at halftime, 14-12, despite having the ball for 21:31 and outgaining the Browns, 233-40.
That will happen when the outplayed team scores touchdowns on an interception and a fumble recovery and is the beneficiary of two missed point-after-attempts.
Burrow hit his first five passes, including a four-yard touchdown pass to running back Chase Brown, and had the Bengals on the Cleveland seven-yard line up 6-0. But that’s where defensive tackle Shelby Harris tipped a pass, linebacker Devin Bush caught it, and Bush went 97 yards for the touchdown.
Two snaps later, Browns linebacker Jerome Baker knocked the ball out of the hands of Bengals tight end Noah Fant, and cornerback Sam Webb scooped it up for a 47-yard fumble return touchdown.
Burrow finished the first half the way he started it, lobbing a 13-yard touchdown pass that Tee Higgins brought in with one hand. McPherson, who saw his first PAT blocked, sliced this one right.
