The Cincinnati Bengals rebounded from a lukewarm first half to dominate the final 30 minutes and hang a 31-10 victory on the Cleveland Browns to improve to 8-0 on Thursday Night Football.Quarterback Andy Dalton had himself another big outing, going 21-of-27 for 234 yards and three touchdowns—each score to tight end Tyler Eifert, who now leads the NFL in touchdown receptions with nine. Aided by 88 total yards by Giovani Bernard and a 25-yard reverse touchdown rush by Mohamed Sanu, the Bengals pulled away rather easily in the second half.
All eyes were on Browns backup quarterback Johnny Manziel in his second start of the season, and he dazzled early by getting outside of the pocket and making plays. But after leading a 92-yard touchdown drive late in the first half to cut the score to 14-10, his offense endured four straight three-and-outs in the second half while the defense wilted late.Manziel's final stat line isn't pretty, but he really did perform well in the first half and showed considerable improvement from his last start against the Bengals. However, Cincinnati's defense gave future opponents the perfect blueprint to stopping him—keep him in the pocket.As Dalton's kneel-down ends Manziel's second start of the season in a 31-10 defeat, it was a tale of two halves for him and the Browns offense. In bigger news, the Bengals improve to 8-0 by cruising through the second half.The Browns convert on a 4th-and-10 in scoring range with Manziel darting it to Dwayne Bowe (yes, that Dwayne Bowe), but they move backward in a goal-to-go situation and Manziel can't find much of anything open. Even with a short field, Cleveland's offense can't get it going and that's the ballgame.
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