NCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning gave everyone a scare before the celebration Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
Browning briefly left the game with what appeared to be a thumb injury, but he returned a short time later to cap off a 34-14 victory against the Indianapolis Colts.
Cincinnati Bengals Continue Playoff Push With Win Over Colts
The win moved the Bengals to 7-6 and put them on the cusp of sitting in the No. 7 playoff spot in the AFC by the end of the day. Cincinnati walked off the field needing only a Los Angeles Chargers loss or tie against the Denver Broncos to vault them from the No. 10 to No. 7 spot.
Here are some quick observations from the win that saw the Bengals offense top 30 points for the second consecutive game, something it had not done since last season.
Déjà vu Disaster Averted
Browning had endured hardly any pressure from Indianapolis’ defense all game long, but on the first play of the fourth quarter he was knocked to the ground after throwing a pass and got up holding his thumb.
Two plays later, Browning went down in the huddle and eventually ran into the locker room while AJ McCarron came in to play quarterback. A short time later, the Bengals announced Browning was dealing with muscle cramps and his return was probable. He returned to the game with 9:23 remaining.
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It was Dec. 13, 2015, when then-Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton broke his thumb in a game against Pittsburgh, ending his season and leading to McCarron to guide the team the rest of the way.
McCarron was 1 of 1 for minus-1 yard today, but the Bengals benefited from a muffed punt by the Colts that led to an Evan McPherson field goal.
Browning finished 18 of 24 for 275 yards with touchdowns and one interception for a 122.7 passer rating after his monster game Monday night against the Jaguars.
Pivotal Penalties
A weird, rarely-called penalty resulted in the Bengals taking points off the board and cashing in for a touchdown and an early 14-0 lead.
They would have been up 10-0 after Evan McPherson made a 33-yard field goal, but the officials called a leverage penalty on Indianapolis defensive tackle Taven Bryan for using Bengals offensive lineman Ted Karras to get higher on the attempt to block the kick.
Two plays later, when Browning scrambled for no gain to set up 3rd-and-goal from the 5, the officials called Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones for defensive holding, setting up 1st-and-goal at the 2. The Bengals ended up getting a Joe Mixon one-yard touchdown.
Cincinnati had a chance to make it more, but Trey Hendrickson’s roughing the passer penalty gave Indianapolis new life instead of forcing them to punt from deep in their own end down 14 points. With the benefit of the first down, Indianapolis went on a 17-play, 79-yard touchdown drive to cut it to 14-6.
Two plays later, Browning missed Tanner Hudson on a simple curl, and the ball went off Hudson’s right hand and right to Colts linebacker Ronnie Harrison Jr., who returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.
A two-point conversion from Gardner Minshew to Michael Pittman Jr. tied the game 14-14 with 1:31 left before halftime.
Second-Half Answer
After the awful end to the first half, the Bengals came out and drove 75 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
It was a significant bounce back for Browning after throwing his first career pick-six in his third career start. Browning was 3 for 3 for 51 yards on the drive, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Hudson for the tight end’s first career score.
Browning made a nice throw in traffic to Tee Higgins on the second play of the drive for a 26-yard gain, and he came right back and hit Ja’Marr Chase for 14. It was Higgins’ first catch of the game and Chase’s second.
Mixon also had an impressive 18-yard run when he bounced left with the hole clogged and nearly outran the corner for a touchdown.
The offense was in rhythm using multiple weapons, and Browning was accurate. It was the ideal answer after giving up 14 points in the span of 25 seconds to blow a 14-point lead.
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Cincinnati’s defense then held the Colts to three plays on their opening drive, forcing a quick punt. The Bengals then did it again, going 71 yards in 11 plays.
Browning was 9 of 9 for 139 yards with a touchdown pass and a TD run to start the second half before suffering the thumb cramp.
Elite Speed
Chase Brown followed his breakout performance Monday night with an eye-popping play early Sunday, taking a screen from Browning and turning it into a 54-yard touchdown.
54-yard TUDDY for the rookie @chasebrown____ 👏 pic.twitter.com/ToN1Lej3qk
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 10, 2023
Brown reached a top seed of 22.05 mph on the play, the second-fastest speed recorded in the league this year behind DK Metcalf’s 22.23 in Seattle’s Week 13 loss to Dallas. Brown, a rookie fifth-round pick, finished the game with three catches for a team-high 80 yards.
Brown also had eight carries for 25 yards to supplement Mixon’s 79 yards as Cincinnati’s resurgent run game continues.
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