CINCINNATI (AP) — Bengals coach Marvin Lewis exuded confidence when he fired his defensive coordinator and assumed leadership of the
NFL’s worst defense. All he’s gotten is two more losses that have essentially
scuttled Cincinnati’s fading hopes.The Bengals are free falling
Alex Erickson Jersey , with no sign of slowing down. And now their starting quarterback is hurt, too.Baker Mayfield set a Browns rookie record with four
touchdown passes, and Cleveland ended one of the NFL’s longest streaks of road
futility on Sunday with a 35-20 victory over the hapless Bengals, who lost Andy
Dalton to a thumb injury.Now what?The Bengals (5-6) can’t do the simple things
right, contributing to a streak of five losses in six games. They’ve fallen from
first in the AFC North to third, only a half-game ahead of the Browns.“I’ve got
to prepare them better
William Jackson Jersey ,” Lewis said. “OK? It rests with me.”Against the Browns, they were overmatched from the start.Cleveland (4-6-1) won on the road
for the first time since 2015, emphatically snapping a streak of 25 straight
road losses that was one shy of the Lions’ NFL record. The Browns also ended a
run of seven straight losses to their intrastate rival.“It hurts,” Bengals
receiver Tyler Boyd said. “It hurts a lot.”The Bengals thought they had one
advantage: Hue Jackson on their sideline. It didn’t matter.The Browns fired
Jackson a month ago after he won only three games in two-plus seasons as head
coach. Lewis fired defensive coordinator Teryl Austin after a 51-14 loss to the
Saints, installed himself as coordinator, and hired his close friend Jackson to
help with the defense.The Browns were bothered by the sight of their former
coach on the other sideline plotting against them. When safety Damarious Randall
picked off one of Dalton’s passes along the sideline
Trey Hopkins Jersey , he stepped out of bounds and handed the ball to Jackson , who patted him on the helmet.Dalton hurt the thumb on his passing hand while
trying to recover a fumble in the third quarter and didn’t return. Center Billy
Price snapped the ball too high, and Dalton got his hand caught in a scrum for
the ball.“I’ve never done that,” Price said of his poor snap. “I just held onto
it a little too much and just pulled it.”Dalton left the field immediately for
testing. Lewis said the injury doesn’t appear to be season-ending, but more
tests were being performed.The Browns turned the fumble recovery into Mayfield’s
fourth TD pass for a 35-7 lead. Dalton was 10 of 17 for 100 yards with a
touchdown and an interception.Jeff Driskel took over and went 17 of 29 for 155
yards with a touchdown pass and a TD run. He’ll start against the Broncos next
Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium if Dalton can’t play.“I know personally what I’ve
known all along, and that’s that I can play at this level and give our team a
chance to win
Clayton Fejedelem Jersey ,” Driskel said.The Bengals already were missing cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, receiver A.J. Green and left tackle Cordy Glenn,
inactive with injuries. Jake Fisher started at left tackle and hurt his back
late in the first half. Cornerback Tony McRae suffered a concussion in the third
quarter and gave two thumbs-up as he was wheeled off the field. The Steelers
have left themselves with a lot of work to do in the second half of Sunday’s
game.Matt McCrane’s field goal as time expired in the second quarter gave the
Steelers their first points against the Bengals and left them with a seven-point
deficit to overcome in the final 30 minutes at Heinz Field. Shaun Williams’
interception return and a Randy Bullock staked the Bengals to a 10-0 lead before
the Steelers offense finally found some momentum on the final drive of the
half.They were helped by a short field set up by a short kickoff and a good
return by Ryan Switzer and those are the kinds of breaks the Steelers will need
to capitalize on over the course of the second half. They’ll also need to be
much sharper on defense against a Bengals team that’s starting Jeff Driskel at
quarterback and playing without their two best wideouts and top tight end
(regardless of who the Steelers might think is active this week).Driskel and the
Bengals haven’t been prolific, but they have been able to eat big chunks of
clock and that’s almost as bad for the Steelers as they stare at the prospect of
playoff elimination.
