Joe Burrow did enough offensively, and the Bengals’ defense stepped up to end the Browns’ recent domination of the Battle of Ohio.
Burrow shook off a sloppy start to throw two touchdown passes and Cincinnati beat Cleveland 23-10 on Sunday, ending a five-game skid in the rivalry.
“A team win, team ugly win, but we got it done,” Burrow said.
Cincinnati bottled up Browns running back Nick Chubb, picked off Deshaun Watson and stopped the Browns on three fourth-down plays.
The Bengals (9-4) have won five straight and nine of 11. They remained tied for the AFC North lead with Baltimore, which beat Pittsburgh 16-14. Burrow picked up his first win in five starts against the Browns (5-8), whose playoff hopes are now all but nonexistent.
Watson was sharper than in his debut with the team last week and threw his first touchdown pass in 707 days, a 13-yarder to David Njoku in the third quarter.
But Watson also threw a fourth-quarter interception and couldn’t hook up with Donovan Peoples-Jones on a late fourth-and-goal from the 6 that would have made it a one-score game. He turned the ball over downs again on the Browns’ last drive when he threw incomplete to Amari Cooper.
Watson finished 26 of 42 for 276 yards, and his touchdown pass was the only time the Browns found the end zone.