CINCINNATI — Joe Mixon had a pair of touchdown scores and Jake Browning threw for three touchdown passes to help the Cincinnati Bengals close out the regular season with a 31-14 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“I thought our guys handled it professionally and finished it the right way,” Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said.
Coming into Sunday, the Browns were locked in as the No. 5 seed in the AFC, which prompted coach Kevin Stefanski to play out the regular season with backups before its. Among those held out were quarterback Joe Flacco, star defensive end Myles Garrett, receiver Amari Cooper and cornerback Denzel Ward.
Cleveland (11-6) — who will be making their third postseason appearance since the franchise returned in 1999 — plays at AFC South champion Houston in the wild-card round on Saturday, Jan. 13.
The Bengals (9-8) showed much more motivation on Sunday, as Mixon ran for a season-high 111 yards and a score, reaching a couple milestones along the way.
Mixon’s first score, a 1-yard rush, came in the first quarter marking his ninth of the season and 49th of his career and moved him to No. 2 on the Bengals’ all-time list behind Pete Johnson’s 64.
His second score came in the final minute of the opening frame, as Browning hit Mixon on a wheel route out of the backfield and shook off Jordan Kunaszyk for a 7-yard score to make it 14-0.
Mixon also finished with 1,034 yards rushing, his fourth time in seven seasons topping the 1,000-yard mark.
Browning completed 18 of his 24 passes to nine different receivers, and finished with 156 yards through the air. Two of his touchdown passes targeted Andrei Iosivas, the first coming in the second quarter and the other in the third, helped the Bengals build up a 31-0 lead after three quarters.
Browns backup quarterback Jeff Driskel — who signed with the team on Dec. 29 after being on Arizona’s practice squad — was harassed all afternoon by Cincinnati’s defensive regulars until the fourth quarter. He managed two touchdown passes to David Bell in the fourth quarter after the game was well in-hand.
Mixon’s 1-yard rushing TD in the first quarter was his ninth of the season and 49th of his career, moving him to No. 2 on the Bengals’ all-time list behind Pete Johnson’s 64. Mixon also finished with 1,034 yards rushing, his fourth time in seven seasons topping the 1,000-yard mark.
With the Bengals win, they finished above .500 for the third straight season. The win also made history, as the AFC North became the first division since the 1970 merger to have all its teams finish above .500.
It marked first time since 1988 that both Cincinnati and Cleveland finished above .500 in the same season. The Bengals wound up in Super Bowl that season, losing to San Francisco. Meanwhile, the Browns lost in wild-card round to the Houston Oilers.
Cleveland 0 0 0 14 — 14
Cincinnati 14 10 7 0 — 31
First Quarter
Cin–Mixon 1 run (McPherson kick), 6:07.
Cin–Mixon 6 pass from Browning (McPherson kick), :48.
Second Quarter
Cin–Iosivas 3 pass from Browning (McPherson kick), 9:19.
Cin–FG McPherson 45, 1:55.
Third Quarter
Cin–Iosivas 7 pass from Browning (McPherson kick), 3:32.
Fourth Quarter
Cle–Da.Bell 31 pass from Driskel (Patterson kick), 8:45.
Cle–Da.Bell 24 pass from Driskel (Patterson kick), 2:34. A–65,865.
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Cle Cin
First downs 13 22
Total Net Yards 244 328
Rushes-yards 24-104 30-183
Passing 140 145
Punt Returns 1-6 3-27
Kickoff Returns 1-19 2-44
Interceptions Ret. 1-2 2-26
Comp-Att-Int 13-26-2 21-28-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-26 3-31
Punts 7-47.857 6-45.667
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-35 1-10
Time of Possession 24:14 35:46
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Cleveland, Strong 14-65, Driskel 7-33, J.Ford 3-6. Cincinnati, Mixon 14-111, C.Brown 11-43, Browning 2-18, C.Jones 2-13, T.Williams 1-(minus 2).
PASSING–Cleveland, Driskel 13-26-2-166. Cincinnati, Browning 18-24-1-156, McCarron 3-4-0-20.
RECEIVING–Cleveland, Da.Bell 4-68, Tillman 3-43, Akins 3-24, J.Ford 2-26, Hunt 1-5. Cincinnati, Iosivas 5-36, Chase 4-19, C.Jones 3-49, Irwin 2-34, Hudson 2-11, D.Sample 2-7, C.Brown 1-10, Mixon 1-6, Boyd 1-4.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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