The Cincinnati Bengals are a couple of years’ removed from the Super Bowl.
On Sunday in Cleveland, they looked a couple of decades removed from the Super Bowl.
The Cleveland Browns’ defense held Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to a career-low 82 passing yards and somewhat embarrassed the Bengals in dealing them a 24-3 defeat in a season-opening AFC North Division game.
Dave Clark of the Cincinnati Enquirer detailed the game here (Joe Burrow passes for 82 yards in Cincinnati’s 24-3 loss in Cleveland) and included social media reaction as well as game details.
Amidst all that was this factoid: Burrow was pulled, after completing about 45 percent of his passes, with about four minutes left in the game.
Yeccch.
From the Browns’ side of things, of course, everything was sunshine and rainbows, as Rocky Balboa would say.
Here’s Mary Kay Cabot’s re-cap of the game, from Cleveland.com: Browns defense Elfs up Joe Burrow in 24-3 rout of Bengals in the season opener – cleveland.com.
Look, the battle of Ohio has long been intense. And it’ll be intense long after the current players are telling their grandchildren about playing in it.
Cleveland faces Pittsburgh next, on “Monday Night Football” on ESPN, and the Bengals will host Baltimore in one of the early games next Sunday.
