Halloween Nightmare: Joe Burrow and the Bengals Get Crushed By Browns 32-13 on Monday Night Football

Cincinnati falls to 4-4 on the season and 0-3 in the AFC North.

Author:
James Rapien
Publish date:
Oct 31, 2022 11:07 PM EDT

In this story:

CLEVELAND — The Bengals started slow and couldn't recover on Monday night, as the Browns cruised to an 32-13 win at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Cincinnati's offense never got going without Ja'Marr Chase. They fall to 4-4 on the season and 0-3 in the AFC North. Here are some postgame observations.

Awful Offense

The Bengals' offense was awful on Monday night. They punted four times, had two turnovers and had one drive end with a missed field goal on their first seven possessions of the game.

Burrow was accurate, but the offense struggled to push the ball down the field and the Browns consistently got pressure on the Bengals' star quarterback.

He was sacked five times, had one interception and a fumble. Burrow completed 25-of-35 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged just 6.6 yards-per-attempt.

The Bengals did finally score on their eighth possession of the game when Burrow found Tyler Boyd for a 13-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

He connected with Tee Higgins on a 41-yard touchdown on the following possession for the Bengals' only two scores.

Ugly Defense

The Bengals' defense wasn't much better. They did force two turnovers, but they also gave up three touchdowns, including two in the third quarter, which allowed the Browns to take a 25-0 lead.

Nick Chubb routinely knifed through Cincinnati's defense and Jacoby Brissett was in a rhythm all night long.

Chubb ran for 101 yards (4.8 yards-per-carry) and two touchdowns. Brissett completed 17-of-22 passes for 278 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for a score.

Injuries in the Secondary

Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie left the game in the second quarter with a right knee injury and didn't return.

Cornerback Trey Flowers suffered a hamstring injury in the second half and didn't return. Cincinnati was already without veteran defensive back Eli Apple (hamstring).

Burrow Hasn't Beaten the Browns

Burrow is 0-4 against the Browns. He lost to them twice as a rookie, once last season and on Monday night.

Cleveland has won five straight games against Cincinnati. The Bengals haven't beaten the Browns since 2019.

McPherson Misses

Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 47-yard field goal late in the second quarter. He also missed an extra point in the fourth quarter and was visibly frustrated after the miss.

The snap on the extra point was high from Cal Adomitis, which might've been a factor. McPherson was 0-for-1 on field goal attempts and 1-for-2 on extra points.

Up Next

The Bengals host the Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. ET.

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