The Cincinnati Bengals had a brief week to celebrate a single win before dropping Sunday’s game to the Cleveland Browns in 27-19 fashion.

In Cleveland, Zac Taylor’s offense was a complete mess besides a splendid effort from Joe Mixon. The unit couldn’t convert on third downs or near the goal line and it cost the team the game outright.

Here’s a look at some notable stats, game balls and quick notes.

 

It was over when …

…Browns running back Kareem Hunt scored early in the third quarter to make it 21-13. The Bengals simply hadn’t shown enough offensively to inspire confidence the unit could make a play or two and win it.

 

Quick Hits

— First drive fizzles out again after a nice throw from Andy Dalton and great run by Joe Mixon. Settling for field goals, even against the Browns, wasn’t going to win it though. That provided a good tale of things to come.

— Nick Vigil with a huge interception on Cleveland’s first drive. Oddly enough, he’s been superb since the team cut Preston Brown, strange as it sounds.

— Why do bad teams stay bad? First-quarter: Joe Mixon carries the ball, gets a personal foul for getting too aggressive toward an opponent. Third-and-long, Dalton fires a fastball inaccurately at Auden Tate that goes back for a touchdown. Fans will hear about this one all week.

— Jessie Bates grabbed Cincinnati’s second turnover of the day after a pass went off the hands of a Browns wideout. Like Vigil, he’s been flying around and making big plays lately.

— Despite chunk yardage at points, by halftime Bengals had completed one third down attempt on seven tries. By the end of the game it was three of 12.

— Laughable effort on a 50-plus yard run for the Browns as at least three Bengals missed tackles on the carrier. The defense had been mostly fine to that point but it’s exactly what a team doesn’t want to see out of the halftime tunnel.

— Odd play calls from Zac Taylor and Co. on two consecutive trips into the redzone, highlighted by a strange quarterback draw on a fourth down to give the ball back. Aggressiveness is good — the play-calling hasn’t been. At the time, that brought the running tally to one touchdown on five red zone trips.

— Bengals get decimated by a flag late in the game. Jessie Bates picked off a pass intended for Odell Beckham that could’ve swung the contest given the field position. Officials decided to overrule the play because they found DPI by William Jackson on review. Given how little this has happened leaguewide, if at all, it was alarming, to say the least. The call was right, the precedent for it, not so much.

 

Key Stat

3-12, 1-5: Let’s double up. The first number is the team’s conversion rate on the third down, the second is conversion rate in the red zone for touchdowns. When it mattered, the play calls weren’t great and neither was the execution.

 

Game Ball: Joe Mixon

Mixon has been on fire for weeks and this seems like the apex. He put up an almost silly 146 yards on 23 carries with a score, good for an average of 6.3. Oddly, he wasn’t always involved in the red zone, but Mixon made the best effort to put the entire team on his back that he could.

 

Up next: The Bengals return home for what has always looked like one of their toughest games of the year — a visit from Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

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