Penalties, dropped passes, and turnovers all combined to limit the Colts' effectiveness, but as the game went on Andrew Luck continued to play great, the team started doing the same, and the Colts defense looked a lot like they did against the Bengals earlier in the season. In the first half especially, the Colts did a lot to beat themselves. That's exactly what Colts' quarterback Andrew Luck did, playing his best game of the season as the Colts defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26-10 at Lucas Oil Stadium in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Browns, down 14-3, were teetering with only 4:27 remaining in the second quarter, but Manziel responded by leading Cleveland on a 92-yard scoring drive in 10 plays.It's the NFL playoffs, and that's when big time players step up and make plays. Dalton and Eifert then hooked up on a 12-yard score. The Browns cut the deficit to 7-3 with a 27-yard field goal by Travis Coons. The Bengals scored the only third-quarter points on a 28-yard field goal by Mike Nugent after Dalton’s touchdown passes to Eifert – both coming on drives extended by fourth-down conversions – staked Cincinnati to a 14-10 halftime lead.ĭalton’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Eifert midway through the first quarter began the game’s scoring. “This was a little different from last year, huh?” said Dalton, who completed 21 of 27 passes for 234 yards for a QB rating of 139.8.Ĭincinnati had been 3-7 in primetime games in Dalton’s first four seasons, but they made amends on that ugly mark while taking another step toward trying to erase their 0-4 playoff record the past four years. Dalton had a quarterback rating of 2.0 that night. The Bengals, however, never trailed in front of the sell-out crowd of 65,816 at Paul Brown Stadium while making amends for a 24-3 loss they suffered to Cleveland in November of last season. McCown was out with rib and shoulder injuries. Mohamed Sanu ran 25-yards for a touchdown on a reverse early in the fourth quarter to put the Bengals up 24-10, and Dalton added his third scoring pass to Eifert, a 19-yarder, midway through the quarter and Cincinnati’s lead was 21 points.Ĭleveland showed spunk in the first half despite cornerback Joe Haden, strong safety Donte Whitner, and wide receivers Brian Hartline and Andrew Hawkins all being unable to play because of concussions. “I thought (Manziel) did some good things,” Pettine said, “but I just thought in the second half, especially after we fell behind, he was just trying to make too many big plays instead of just taking completions.” “I did some good things tonight, and some things I wish I could have back."īrowns coach Mike Pettine said Manziel was “inconsistent” and that no decision has been made on who will start at quarterback in Cleveland’s next game Nov. “I think there were some good things done in the first half, but there are two halves for a reason,” Manziel said. Manziel, making his second start of the season, finished with 15 completions in 33 attempts for 168 yards and one touchdown. “That was basically the focus in the second half." “The game came down to doing a good job of controlling the quarterback and not allowing him out of the pocket,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. The Browns (2-7) mustered only 32 yards of offense in the second half – after totaling 181 in the first half – while being outscored 17-0 to lose their fourth consecutive game. Johnny Football turned into Johnny Ghost after halftime. “But we made adjustments (at halftime) to keep him contained. “We didn’t know what to expect from Manziel,” Bengals nose tackle Domata Peko said. The Bengals used two fourth-quarter touchdowns to become only the 12thteam in the past 20 years to start 8-0, but for two quarters Thursday it appeared Cleveland could threaten to spoil that undefeated record.Ĭincinnati only led 14-10 at halftime because the Browns received a surprisingly solid performance in the first two quarters from second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel, who started in place of the injured Josh McCown. “Not a lot of teams have been 8-0 before. “It’s huge to put ourselves in the position we’re in and stay undefeated,” Dalton said. Barring a complete collapse, Cincinnati is headed to its fifth consecutive playoff berth and second division title in three years. Now the Bengals’ eight wins give them a four-game lead in the AFC North. CINCINNATI – The Bengals, once known for being putrid, are now perfect halfway through an NFL season.Īndy Dalton’s three touchdown passes to tight end Tyler Eifert and Cincinnati’s dominating second half produced a 31-10 victory Thursday over the Cleveland Browns to give the Bengals an 8-0 record for the first time in franchise history.Ĭincinnati won eight games in an entire season only once in 12 seasons from 1991 through 2002.
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