Week 9 Instant Reaction: Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns defense suffocates Bengals

The Cleveland Browns scored their fifth win of the season thanks to Baker Mayfield being sharp and the defense suffocating the Bengals

The Cleveland Browns knew that this was a big game on their season as they faced the Cincinnati Bengals in the “Battle of Ohio”. It’s was a very disruptive week for the team as they dealt with the fall out of Odell Beckham Jr. seeking and being granted his release from the team.

With the star receiver out of the picture, the pressure of the moment shifted to their quarterback Baker Mayfield and seeing how he would react. The team quickly took the lead early and often on a variety of big plays and built a 24-10 halftime lead. The Browns continued their onslaught into the second half and won going away 41-16.

Let’s take a look at the big players and moments in this game.

Cleveland Browns Big Plays

When the Cincinnati Bengals started the game and went down the field and got inside the five-yard line, things weren’t looking good for the Browns. But on a third-down play Bengals quarterback made a poor throw as Cleveland’s Denzel Ward cut in front of the receiver and took his interception back 99 yards.

What a great start to the game and the Browns had the early lead. The Bengals fought back and tied the game at 7-7 but the Browns got the lead back quickly on a nice one-yard run by their running back Nick Chubb.

After a nice stop by the Cleveland defense on downs, the Browns took over at their 40-yard line. Mayfield then went to work on first down and hit wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones on a beautiful 60-yard touchdown throw. The Browns were now up 21-7 and in control of the game early. Mayfield started the first half going 7-of-8 for 121 yards. It was a very symbolic start for the quarterback after the swift departure of Beckham earlier in the week.

The Browns weren’t done with the big plays though as they still had their running back Nick Chubb ready to break one and he did early in the 3rd quarter. Chubb took a handoff and behind his impressive offensive line, who were pancaking their opponent to the turf, Chubb sprinted by the entire defense on the way to a 70-yard touchdown.