Cincinnati Bengals End Disappointing Season With Awful Loss to Cleveland Browns

CINCINNATI — A disappointing day to end a disappointing season. The Bengals took an 18-17 lead with 1:29 left when Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a four-yard touchdown, but Shedeur Sanders led the Browns downfield for the game-winning field goal. Cleveland won 20-18.

Cincinnati’s defense has struggled for most of the season. They struggled when it mattered most on Sunday. Sanders led the Browns on a 35-yard drive that included two first downs and put Cleveland in field goal range.

Andre Szmyt drilled a 49-yard field goal as time expired to secure the win.

Cincinnati ends the season with a 6-11 record. Here are our postgame observations:

Burrow's Day

Joe Burrow completed 29-of-39 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw an interception on a pass to Tee Higgins that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.

Burrow was sacked twice, including once by Myles Garrett in the fourth quarter. Garrett finishes with 23 sacks this season, which is a single-season NFL record.

Many Milestones

Bengals running back Chase Brown ran for 72 yards on Sunday. That gives him 1,019 rushing yards for the season. It's the first time he's ran for 1,000 yards in his NFL career.

Tee Higgins finished with six catches for 67 yards and one touchdown. His outstanding one-handed touchdown grab in the end zone gave him a career-high 11 touchdowns on the season. He's only the third player in Bengals' history (Carl Pickens, A.J. Green) to have double-digit touchdown receptions in back-to-back seasons.

Chase finished with eight catches for 96 yards and one score. That means he finishes with 125 catches on the season. He's the only player in Bengals' history to have 120+ catches. He led the NFL with 127 catches in 2024 and followed it up with 122 this year.

Bad Turnovers

The Bengals took a 6-0 lead in the first half, but two bad turnovers put the Browns in control. First, Burrow's pass was deflected by Shelby Harris and intercepted by Devin Bush. Bush returned it 97 yards for a touchdown.

Higgins was open and might've scored if the pass wasn't deflected. Instead of going up 13-0 on Cleveland, the Browns took a 7-6 lead.

Noah Fant didn't help the Bengals' cause on their next possession. He fumbled after a 5-yard catch when linebacker Jerome Baker knocked the ball away. Sam Webb picked the ball up and returned it for a 47-yard touchdown. That gave the Browns a 14-6 lead.

Fant is the first player since Daniel Jones in 2019 to give up three fumble-sixes in the same season. Fant also had fumbles returned for touchdowns in Bengals' losses to the Vikings and Steelers. He's the first non-quarterback since at least 1978 to have three lost fumbles returned for touchdowns in a season according to ESPN Research.

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