The Cincinnati Bengals ended the season on a high note Sunday, besting the Cleveland Browns by a 33-23 margin.

Settling for a 2-14 record isn’t ideal, but it sure doesn’t hurt to finish the year with some momentum over an in-state rival before marching to the 2020 draft with the first selection.

Here’s a quick look at some notes and numbers from the victory.

 

It was over when …

…Joe Mixon punched in a score early in the fourth quarter to make it 30-16. Cleveland’s offense had largely struggled and hadn’t scored in the second half.

 

Quick Hits

— Browns needed less than 30 seconds to go up 7-0. Darius Phillips, in his big chance to earn a larger role next season, got torched on a long touchdown. That ease of moving up and down the field for the Browns didn’t stick, besides a couple big plays.

— It wasn’t all bad for Phillips. He turned around and picked off a pass, which served as a pretty good representation of his up-and-down day. He later had another pick…and gave up another score.

— Bengals responded quickly early with big runs from Joe Mixon, who amassed 100 yards by halftime. He went on to finish with 162 yards and two touchdowns.

— Both Mixon and Tyler Boyd crept over the 1,000-yard mark on the season. Boyd caught five passes for 59 yards on seven targets.

— Tight ends were finally a big part of the attack too. Tyler Eifert caught two passes for 34 yards on two targets. C.J. Uzomah turned his six targets into five catches for 25 yards and a score.

— Huge day for Bengals pass rushers. Carlos Dunlap picked up 2.5 sacks and Carl Lawson was right there with two. Sam Hubbard had 1.5.

 

Key Stat

68-53: Total plays, favoring the Bengals. Mixon’s big day on the ground meant controlling tempo. Forced turnovers by his defense helped.

 

Game Ball: Joe Mixon

Mixon again, one more time for the season’s end. He popped off easily against one of the league’s worst run defenses, cruising to that 162 yards on a 6.2 average. He’s the heart of the offense, at least for now.

 

Up next: The Bengals head into an interesting offseason. Maybe not as interesting as changing head coach interesting, but holding the top overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

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