Cincinnati Bengals Have 99 Problems and the Cleveland Browns Aren’t One

Jay Morrison | 6 Hours Ago

Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell (24) and safety Jordan Battle (27) celebrate a fumble recovers as the Browns drop the ball on the goal line in the first quarter of the NFL Week 16 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. The Bengals led 17-0 at halftime. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bengals Have 99 Problems and the Cleveland Browns Aren’t One

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals made history by repeating it Sunday afternoon.

After safety Vonn Bell punched the ball free from the arms of Cleveland Browns running back D’Onta Foreman just shy of the goal line and recovered his own fumble, the Cincinnati offense went 99 yards for a touchdown on its first possession of the game.

Instead of being down 7-0 right off the jump, the Bengals took a 7-0 lead on Joe Burrow’s flying touchdown pass to Tee Higgins, and Cincinnati cruised to a 24-6 victory at Paycor Stadium to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“Enormous,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said of Bell’s play.

“Huge,” Burrow added. “Especially the way they like to play defense. Their rush is really good, and if you get behind them, it can be a long day. And then we go down and score a TD. That was a big-time momentum swing.”

By cashing in the Bell turnover, Cincinnati became the first team since at least 2001 to produce a 99-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of a game.

And it was just the second time since at least 2001 that the Bengals have gone 99 yards for a touchdown at any point in game.

The only other time it happened was in the third quarter of last year’s Week 18 game against … the Browns.

Both 99-yard drives began the same way, with Burrow goading Cleveland into a false start to get the Bengals off the goal line.

He got defensive tackle Siaki Ika to jump into the neutral zone.

Sunday, it was Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate who jumped.

“It’s the ultimate weapon,” Taylor said. “He really is the best in the business. For years I watched Aaron Rodgers do this to people over and over and get free plays. We got three or four of them last week and two today.”

The first came on the team’s first snap of the day. The second on its last, when Burrow got one of the best players on the planet, Cleveland edge rusher Myles Garrett, to jump and used the free play to throw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Chase.

It didn’t make much of a difference on the scoreboard, upping the lead from 17-6 to 24-6 with 1:49 remaining.

But it enabled Burrow to set an NFL record with his seventh consecutive game with at least three touchdown passes and at least 250 passing yards, breaking the mark of six in a row by Tom Brady during the New England Patriots 16-0 regular season in 2007.

As difficult as 99-yard touchdown drives are, the Bengals made Sunday’s look easy.

They needed just eight plays and only 4:58 of the clock.

They had three consecutive plays of at least 21 yards to get down to the 2-yard line, where Burrow pulled off his Superman move.

As great of a start as it was for the offense, much of the love being spread in the locker room was for Bell, a veteran who has seen his playing time shaved to almost nothing but continues to be one of the more vocal, supportive teammates on the sideline.

And one who knows how to come up with big plays in big spots.

“Everyone in this building has respect for Vonn and loved to see him make that play,” guard Alex Cappa said.

“Saved the game in New England, doing that same thing,” Burrow recalled.

That was nearly two years to the day, Christmas Eve in 2022.

The Bengals were clinging to a four-point lead with 1:05 to go when Bell punched the ball free from running back Rhamondre Stevenson, B.J. Hill recovered it and the Bengals held on to win their seventh game in a row.

“Give all the credit to Vonn, man,” Hill said. “He made a big play for us on the goal line when we needed it.”

Bengals safety Jordan Battle likened Bell’s nose for the ball to that of Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who used his famous punch to force 44 fumbles in his career.

“V, the Peanut Puncher himself, goes in and the running back was loose with the ball going down – 'stumble bumble' is what we call it – and it was a perfect punch on the ball to create a turnover that created some juice for us,” Battle said. “It was a huge play.”

Bell played just six snaps Sunday.

There’s a reason Lou Anarumo had him on the field near the goal line.

It was the 16th forced fumble of his career and the first since that Week 16 game at New England in 2022.

No other defensive back has more forced fumbles than Bell since he entered the league in 2016.

Asked how big No. 16 was given the circumstances, he replied in his usual understated manner.

“It was big,” he said.

“I seen the ball had space around it,” Bell added. “I was just punching at it. I was just playing relentless and got a good stab at it and the ball came out. I'm just happy to be out there with my guys and make plays.”

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