NFL Old School Game of the Week: Browns Outduel Bengals in Another "Battle of Ohio" Shootout

 

Browns quarterback Derek Anderson threw for 328 yards and five touchdown passes.

In Week 12 of the 2004 NFL Season, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns took part in the second highest scoring game in NFL history as the Bengals outlasted the Browns 58-48(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-bengals.html).

A little less than three years later, the two Ohio teams would engage in another shootout for the ages as the Bengals traveled to take on the Browns in week 2 of the 2007 NFL season.

The Bengals came into the game having defeated the Baltimore Ravens in their season opener to start the season 1-0 under head coach Marvin Lewis, who was hoping to direct Cincinnati back to the playoffs after making it in 2005.

The Bengals seemed to have found their franchise quarterback in Carson Palmer, who had been selected to the Pro Bowl the previous two seasons after being chosen with the #1 pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Complimenting Palmer was running back Rudi Johnson and wide receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the loquacious Chad Johnson to help put together one of the top offenses in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Browns came into the game having lost their season opener as they were drubbed by the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-7.

During that game, head coach Romeo Crennel benched starting quarterback Charlie Fyre and replaced him with Derek Anderson, a third-year pro out of Oregon State.

It seemed that Anderson was nothing more than a placeholder as the Browns had used one of their two first round picks in the 2007 NFL Draft to pick quarterback Brady Quinn to be their franchise quarterback(The other pick by the way was offensive tackle Joe Thomas).

Many fans were wondering if Anderson could match up with Palmer as the Browns prepared to host the Bengals in the 68th all-time meeting in the "Battle of Ohio".

The Bengals got the ball to start the game as they were able to drive 70 yards in eight plays, culminating with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Palmer to running back Rudi Johnson to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead.

Though they went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, the Browns would get the ball in Bengals territory to start their second drive following strong safety Sean Jones' interception and subsequent 11-yard return to give Cleveland the ball at the Cincinnati 37-yard-line.

Lewis would carry the ball four times for 15 yards to set up Phil Dawson's 39-yard field goal that put the Browns on the board as they now trailed 7-3 with 4:58 remaining in the first quarter.

After a Bengals punt, the Browns got the ball at their 19-yard-line as they went down the field thanks to the right arm of Anderson who connected on passes of 19 yards to tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., 13 yards to Joe Jurevicius, and 20 yards to Braylon Edwards to help set up another 39-yard field goal by Dawson to cut it to 7-6 as the first quarter came to an end.

The Bengals would start their ensuing possession at their 15-yard-line as Palmer connected with Chad Johnson for 14 yards to start the drive, then handed the ball off to Rudi Johnson, who ran for 20 yards until he lost the football after a hit by Browns linebacker Antwan Peek.

Cornerback Leigh Bodden would make the recovery to give the Browns the ball at the Bengals' 49-yard-line where it would take them seven plays to get into the end zone as Anderson connected with Jurevicius for a 13-yard touchdown to give Cleveland a 13-7 lead with 10:56 left in the second quarter.

The Bengals would respond with a seven-play, 67-yard drive that was capped off with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Palmer to Houshmandzadeh to put Cincinnati back on top 14-13.

It wouldn't take long for the Browns to retake the lead as Josh Cribbs returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to the Bengals' 11-yard-line which was followed three plays later by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Jurevicius to give Cleveland a 20-14 lead.

The track meet that was developing would continue on the Bengals' ensuing possession as they drove 88 yards in eight plays with the drive being capped off with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Palmer to Chad Johnson to give Cincinnati a 21-20 lead with 3:06  remaining in the first half.

Chad Johnson caught 11 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns.

It seemed that the Browns were going a have a 1st & goal at the Bengals' four-yard-line following Cribbs' 97-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, but an illegal block penalty negated the return and gave the ball to Cleveland on its 12-yard-line.

But the Browns would quickly drive down the field as Anderson completed a nine-yard pass to Edwards to start the drive which was followed by a 31-yard run by Lewis to give Cleveland a 1st down at the Cincinnati 48-yard-line.

Two more completions by Anderson put the Browns at the Bengals' 25-yard-line when Anderson fired a pass toward the end zone that was caught by Winslow for the 25-yard touchdown to give the lead back to the Browns at 27-21 with 66 seconds left before halftime.

The Bengals would get the ball back and drive to the Cleveland 36-yard-line as time expired in the first half with Cincinnati trailing 27-21 and set to the kick the ball to the Browns to start the second half.

However, on the first play of the second half, Anderson would be intercepted by Bengals strong safety Dexter Jackson to give Cincinnati the ball at the Cleveland 25-yard-line.

Three runs by Rudi Johnson for 23 yards put the Bengals at the Browns' two-yard-line facing a 3rd & 1 when Palmer tried to sneak for the 1st down only to be stopped at the line of scrimmage to bring up 4th down.

Cincinnati decided to take the points as Shayne Graham came on to kick a 20-yard field goal to cut the Browns' lead to 27-24 with 12:09 left in the third quarter.

The Browns would begin its ensuing possession at their 22-yard-line as they converted on two straight 3rd down situations as Anderson hit Edwards for 19 yards on a 3rd & 6, then Winslow for 10 yards on 3rd & 9 to give Cleveland a 1st down at the Cincinnati 34-yard-line when Anderson went deep and connected with Edwards for a 34-yard touchdown pass to give the Browns their largest lead of the game at 34-24.

Then it was the Bengals' turn to get a big kickoff return as Glenn Holt returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Browns' 34-yard-line as Palmer would connect with Sklyer Green for 18 yards to start the drive, then after two runs by Rudi Johnson for two yards, hit Chad Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown to make it a three-point game again at 34-31.

Seventeen seconds later, the Browns were back in the end zone as Lewis exploded for a 66-yard touchdown run to push the Cleveland back to double digits at 41-31 with just over six minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Bengals would be a little more methodical on their next drive as it took over five minutes off the clock for them to drive 63 yards in nine plays as Palmer completed all five of his passes on the drive for 46 yards with the last pass being a five-yard touchdown to Houshmandzadeh to cut the Browns' lead back to three points at 41-38 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.

Carson Palmer completed 33 of 50 passes for 401 yards and threw six touchdowns.

Another good return by Cribbs gave the Browns good field position for their next drive which began at their 42-yard-line with a run by Lewis for no gain, followed by two straight completions by Anderson for nine yards to set up 4th & 1 at the Bengals' 49-yard-line.

With the way the game was going, Crennel decided to go for the 1st down at Anderson handed the ball off to fullback Lawrence Vickers who was stopped for no gain to give the ball back to the Bengals at their 49-yard-line just 43 seconds into the fourth quarter.

However, the Bengals could not take advantage of the good field position as they went three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Browns who took over at their eight-yard-line.

From there, it would take the Browns five plays to drive down the field as Anderson completed passes of 27 yards to tight end Steve Heiden, then with Vickers for 11 yards, and finally Edwards for a 47-yard touchdown to make it a double-digit lead again at 48-38 with less than ten minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

After forcing a Cincinnati punt, the Browns got the ball back at their 30-yard-line where it took them only two plays to get into a goal-to-go situation as Lewis ran for 47 yards to open the drive which was followed by 18-yard pass to Winslow to give Cleveland a 1st down at the Bengals' five-yard-line.

Lewis would run for four yards on 1st down then would be stopped for no gain on 2nd down which was followed by an incomplete pass on 3rd down leading to a 4th & goal from the one-yard-line.

This time Crennel played it safe and sent the field goal unit in as Dawson easily made a 18-yard field goal to push the Cleveland lead to 51-38 with 5:44 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Needing two touchdowns to retake the lead, the Bengals went to their no-huddle offense for their next possession as Palmer would complete five of 11 passes for 64 yards, which included a key 32-yard completion to Chad Johnson on 4th & 10 at the 50-yard-line and was capped off with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Holt to bring Cincinnati to within a touchdown at 51-45 with 3:39 to go.

The Browns would get the ball back at their 34-yard-line hoping to pick up a few 1st downs to milk the clock and come away with the victory.

Cleveland got one 1st down before it had to punt back to the Bengals who took over at their nine-yard-line with 63 seconds left to drive down for a potential game-winning touchdown.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Palmer would complete back-to-back passes to Rudi Johnson, totaling 11 yards before firing a 30-yard pass to Chad Johnson that put the Bengals at midfield with 33 seconds to go.

Following another incomplete pass, Palmer looked for Chad Johnson again, only this time he was picked off by Bodden at the Cleveland 27-yard-line to give the ball to the Browns who took a knee to run out the clock and come away with the 51-45 win.

Browns running back Jamal Lewis finished with 216 yards on 27 carries and one touchdown.

The two teams had combined for 96 points in what was at the time the sixth highest scoring game in NFL history(It has since dropped to 9th place)as both teams combined for 1,085 yards of total offense.

The loss would begin a four-game losing streak for the Bengals from which they never recovered as they finished the season with a 7-9 record their first losing season since 2002.

As for the Browns, they would go to finish the season with a 10-6 record, their first 10-win season and best record since their revival back in 1999 as Anderson would remain as the starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

However, the Browns would not make the playoffs as they lost on the final spot in the AFC playoffs to the Tennessee Titans who won a tiebreaker with the Browns as they had a better record against common opponents(Titans=4-1 Browns=3-2).