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Benson, Bengals run over Browns

Dec 21, 2008 - 10:39 PM By Jeff Brown PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- With the wind chill hovering near 15 degrees below zero, the visiting Cincinnati Bengals routed the hapless Cleveland Browns, 14-0, on Sunday.

Leon Hall intercepted Cleveland quarterback Ken Dorsey three times and returned one for a score as the Bengals posted their first shutout in two years.

"We thought the focal point would be 17 (Cleveland's Braylon Edwards)," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "Leon made a nice play on the first interception by reading the route. We made the Browns force it for the second interception. He made a great play on the deep ball (his third pick). For the defensive players to get a shutout, that is huge."

Cedric Benson rushed for a career-high 171 rushing yards on 38 carries to lift Cincinnati to its second straight victory.

"It feels awesome," Benson said. "That was some smash-mouth football right there."

The Bengals (3-11-1), coming off a 20-13 win over Washington, had their full squad on the field for pregame warmups before Cleveland and appeared to want this intrastate game more from the outset.

The Browns completed their home schedule 1-7 and have not scored an offensive touchdown in 20 consecutive quarters. The Browns did score a defensive touchdown last Monday in a 30-10 loss at Philadelphia.

Cleveland's last offensive TD - a 72-yard run by Jerome Harrison - came in the fourth quarter at Buffalo on November 17 in a 29-27 win. The Browns (4-11) have dropped five in a row since beating the Bills.

"You couldn't get much done going into the wind," Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel said. "When you had the ball with the wind you had to try to take a shot. We tried to do that but it did not work out for us."

Cleveland has scored 31 points in its last five games.

Cincinnati registered its last shutout in Cleveland on November 26, 2006, blanking the Browns, 30-0.

Hall stepped in front of Cleveland's Braylon Edwards and raced 50 yards for a touchdown at 8:50 of the first quarter.

"That was big, especially at the beginning of the game," Hall said. "In conditions like these, the offense is going to struggle for both teams."

Later in the quarter, the Bengals began a 15-play, 89-yard drive, capped by Ryan Fitzpatrick's 20-yard TD strike to Chris Henry at 8:02 of the second quarter. During their march, the Bengals converted 5-of-5 third-down attempts.

"I thought our third-down offense was excellent," Lewis said.

Neither team scored in the second half. The Browns' deepest penetration into Cincinnati territory was the 27-yard line in the third quarter.

Bruce Gradkowski, subbing for Dorsey, threw Cleveland's fourth pick late in the contest to Cincinnati linebacker Brandon Johnson.

Cleveland quarterbacks completed 11 passes for 72 yards and four interceptions.

"We always have the intensity and all the guys come to work," Edwards said. "I know people don't want to hear that, but we work hard."

The only bright spot for the Browns was Jamal Lewis going over 10,000 career rushing yards to become the 24th player in NFL history to reach that milestone.

"It would have felt even better if we would have had a winning season," Jamal Lewis said.

After a 10-6 mark in 2007, and high expectations for this season, the Browns have endured a bitterly disappointing campaign. Whether or not owner Randy Lerner makes wholesale changes remains to be seen.