Joe Burrow bought his Bengals offensive linemen samurai swords for Christmas, then proceeded to slay the Browns, 24-6, on Sunday. Now, Cincinnati has an opportunity to slice the playoffs from the grasp of the Broncos.
Burrow was 23 of 30 for 253 yards, no interceptions and three touchdowns – one each to Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas. And after the Broncos lost to the Chargers on Thursday night (9-6), the surging Bengals (7-8) will take their three-game winning streak to Denver with Cincinnati’s postseason aspirations as close as they’ve been all season. With a victory over the Broncos, the Bengals would dramatically increase their odds to sneak into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.
Burrow, who reached 250 passing yards and three touchdown passes in seven straight games, is having the best season of his career. After Sunday’s win, he said the team will enjoy the victory over Cleveland before focusing on the Broncos.
“It’s a big win for us,” Burrow told CBS reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala on the field after the game. “That’s a team that has had our number and we came out and played well, really well in the first half. They got after us a little bit in the third quarter, then we had some good drives in the fourth. Now, we’ve put ourselves in a good position for next week.”
Burrow was highly effective in the first half, leading Cincinnati to a 17-0 lead against the Browns (3-12). Including an acrobatic, ground-parallel touchdown dish to Higgins that put Cincinnati on the board, the Bengals scored on three of their five first-half drives and missed a field goal. Then, after a strip sack by Cleveland’s Isaiah McGuire at the 1-yard line gave the Browns possession, Burrow answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Chase that put the game away in the final two minutes.
“I feel great,” Burrow said. “Things are slow for me right now. I’m making plays with my legs. Had a fumble at the 1-yard line; got to clean that up. I’ve had too many turnovers the last few weeks, but I’m feeling good.”
Cincinnati has a short week before facing the Broncos in the middle game of a Saturday NFL tripleheader.
For more information on the Bengals and Browns, visit the Cincinnati and Cleveland team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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