CINCINNATI – The downward spiral of the Bengals franchise began at the 7-yard line in the north end of Paul Brown Stadium three years ago when Andy Dalton suffered a season-ending broken right thumb after throwing an interception and trying to tackle Pittsburgh defensive end Stephon Tuitt.
The Bengals were 10-2 at the time. Dalton was in the conversation for NFL MVP. And offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was a hot head coach prospect.
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In the 1,079 days since, the Bengals have gone 20-27-1, Jackson was hired and fired as head coach in Cleveland with three wins in 40 games and the idea of losing in the first round of the playoffs has devolved from an annual frustration in Cincinnati to a pipe dream.
Sunday afternoon the Bengals’ spiral sped into a free fall that ended with a Wile E. Coyote like thud and poof of smoke at, of all places, the 7-yard line in the north end of PBS.
That’s where Dalton injured his right thumb again, taking on Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah for a loose ball after Bengals rookie center Billy Price misfired a snap from his own 34-yard line.
And while the severity of thumb injury that forced Dalton out of the game is unknown, the damage inflicted on the play was fatal. The Browns converted the turnover into quarterback Baker Mayfield’s fourth touchdown pass of the game for a 28-point lead early in the third quarter on the way to a 35-20 victory.
It was the fifth loss in the last six games for the Bengals, dropping them to 5-6 and likely setting up another December in Cincinnati where conversations turn from playoff hopes to mock drafts and mock coaching changes.
“We’ve got to right the ship,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said.
Sunday was the perfect chance to do it, to break their skid and get well against the only team they’ve been able to beat consistently during their nose dive. A team that had lost 25 consecutive road games, one shy of the NFL record. A team that, despite all of its recent failings, actually predicted an ass kicking, and then went out and delivered one while the Bengals simply assumed the position to receive it.
The beat down wasn’t the only prediction Browns cornerback Damarious Randall delivered on. His second one went viral immediately after he intercepted a Dalton pass at the Cincinnati 46, ran two yards to the sideline and handed the ball to Jackson.
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“That’s something I’d always said I would do,” Randall said after the game. “I said it to a few guys on the sideline — maybe two or three plays before that.”
Bengals linebacker Vinny Rey called it a “screw you” type of gesture.
That was fitting because it basically was a “screw you” type of game as the Browns did whatever they wanted without repercussion.
Mayfield sliced his way through the NFL’s worst defense from the moment he stepped on the field, going 6 of 6 for 71 yards on the opening drive as the Browns took a 7-0 lead on rookie running back Nick Chubb’s 1-yard touchdown run.
The Browns came out with four wide receivers and turned Mayfield loose, knowing the Bengals would be focused on stopping Chubb after giving up 509 rushing yards in the last two games.
“They went four wide receivers, and we were a little off balance there for a bit,” Lewis said.
Mayfield hit seven different receivers in the first half while directing four consecutive touchdown drives to bury the Bengals in a 28-0 hole with 2:25 left before the break.
“We spread them out more today,” Mayfield said. “We’ll see what we can do with that package. We’re doing a lot of different things, and we’re doing it well. We have to be able to run the ball better, but as long as we’re able to spread them out, then that’s something we can grow upon.”
Sunday marked the second consecutive home game in which the Bengals gave up touchdowns on the opponent’s first four series. The Saints actually found the end zone on their first five possessions two weeks ago in a 51-14 win.
The Browns might have been able to match that had their fifth possession started with a little more than 32 seconds left before halftime.
Mayfield led touchdown drives of 78 and 56 yards, then the Browns took over at their own 4 with five seconds left in the first quarter. The Bengals had a chance to get off the field on third and 3 from the 11, but Mayfield hit Jarvis Landry for nine yards and a first down.
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It was one of three third downs the Browns converted on a 12-play, 96-yard drive that ended with Mayfield hitting tight end David Njoku for a six-yard touchdown to bump the lead to 21-0.
Two plays later, Dalton’s pass intended for Cody Core ended up on the sideline in the hands of Jackson, courtesy of Randall, and the rest of the game was a blur.
“We had some things going on offense and we don’t finish it off, and they end up getting the ball back again and scoring and then unfortunately we had the turnover,” Lewis said. “That’s about all I remember at this point.”
The Bengals had a chance to get back-to-back scores when Dalton hit John Ross for a two-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 28-7 with 32 seconds left in the first half, then Joe Mixon ripped off a 19-yard run to start the opening drive of the second half.
But the next play produced Price’s wild snap that could alter the course of the rest of the season.
“I just pulled it. That’s it. I pulled it,” Price said. “Something that doesn’t happen (normally). I mean I’ve never done that. I just held on to it a little too much and pulled it. It’s a mistake on my part.”
Dalton outraced everyone, but in his attempt to recover the ball at the 11-yard line, Ogbah stepped on his right hand and fell on the ball at the 7. As the Browns were lining up for their fifth and easiest scoring drive of the game, Dalton jogged into the locker room to get his thumb scanned.
Lewis said immediately after the game he didn’t believe the injury was serious.
“On first look and everything, it’s not,” he said. “But they’re going to do some further tests. He’s had some scans, but they’re going to continue to look.”
Price said he tried to find Dalton in the locker room after the game to check on him, but the quarterback already had left.
“Obviously it’s my fault,” Price said. “It comes down to me.”
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Backup quarterback Jeff Driskel finished the game and had more success moving the offense than Dalton had, although at that point the Browns enjoyed a 35-7 cushion and were just sitting back defensively, mostly letting the Bengals get what they could get underneath.
Driskel completed 17 of 29 passes for 155 yards with a touchdown, a 28-yard strike to Tyler Boyd that ended with the receiver trying to fire the ball against the wall in the south end zone. It instead went high and into the first few rows of fans, a gesture likely to result in a fine and one that basically epitomized the game for the Bengals.
It also provided more symmetry to the 2015 Steelers game in which Dalton broke his thumb. AJ McCarron came on in relief in that game and fired a 66-yard scoring strike to A.J. Green for his first career touchdown pass. Then he watched as Green punted the souvenir into the stands.
Driskel raced down the field after throwing his first career touchdown, only to find out Boyd had fired it into the stands.
McCarron went 2-2 in four starts to close the 2015 season, then rallied the Bengals from a 15-0 fourth-quarter deficit in the wildcard playoff game to take a 16-15 lead. And everyone knows what happened after that, when everything began to swirl.
It’s unclear how long – or if – Driskel will take over for Dalton, but what is clear is this Bengals team is nowhere near as close to the postseason as that 2015 squad.
“We’re definitely not out of it,” Driskel said. “We’ve put ourselves behind a little bit, but we still have five more games to go out and compete. We thought we were going to come back and win this game.”
And there was a chance.
But if Boyd’s errant celebration epitomized the game, the drive after the Bengals got within 35-20 summed up the season. The Bengals into Cleveland territory with 5:43 left on the clock and all three timeouts remaining, but then committed three false starts in the span of seven snaps, and Driskel missed Auden Tate on fourth and 4 from the Browns 13.
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They still got another chance, and Driskel converted on fourth and 10 by hitting Boyd with a 46-yard bomb at the Cleveland 4 with 1:20 left. But after the incompletion on the previous play, the Bengals wasted all kinds of time in the huddle, breaking from it with eight seconds left on the play clock.
Ross, the fastest man in the NFL, was slow to get to his spot, and Price snapped the ball while the receiver still was moving. An illegal shift penalty negated the big gain and basically ended with the game.
“I don’t even know what happened,” Ross said. “I wasn’t ready. That was on me, too. I’ve got to get lined up faster. We were just going so fast and trying to make plays and fatigued, there was so much going on.”
And so much going wrong.
“We’ve got to bear down,” Lewis said. “We don’t have to press. We’ve just got to bear down and relax and get it done. I’ve got to do my job. I’ve got to do a better job. I’ve got to prepare them better. It falls on everyone. This is not the time for them or anybody to point fingers at this and that. It’s time to self-correct and get it done correctly.”
(Top image: Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports)