PRO FOOTBALL : Cincinnati Remains Undefeated Thanks to Its Ground Game

The unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals proved Sunday they can overcome a poor performance by quarterback Boomer Esiason.

Esiason, who entered the game as the NFL’s top quarterback, completed only 8 of 23 passes for 167 yards, but the Bengal running game picked up the slack to power Cincinnati to a 24-17 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Cincinnati (4-0) is off to its best start since 1975, when the Bengals opened 6-0 and finished 11-3. Cleveland slipped to 2-2 and fell 2 games behind Cincinnati in the AFC Central.

Cleveland’s pass defense, top-rated in the AFC, shut down Esiason, but James Brooks gained 83 yards in 17 carries, Stanley Wilson had 68 yards in 11 carries and rookie Ickey Woods added 62 yards in 13 carries. Woods, the nation’s top collegiate rusher last season at Nevada Las Vegas, also scored twice on 1-yard runs.

Esiason, who passed for all 9 Cincinnati touchdowns the first 3 games, hit just 1 of 7 passes in the second half.

“It’s unbelievable that I only completed 1 pass that half but I’ll turn in all my statistics for the win,” Esiason said. “We kept hearing that we hadn’t scored any rushing touchdowns, but today shows we have a well-balanced offense and don’t have to rely just on the pass.”

Brooks said he wasn’t amazed at the Bengals success rushing.

“We thought we could run on them because we knew they would be putting a lot of pressure on Boomer,” he said. “Stanley, Ickey and I all ran the ball well because we had a great line opening it up for us.”

Cleveland defensive end Carl Hairston said Cincinnati’s reliance on the run surprised the Browns’ defense.

“I didn’t think they would run nearly as much as they did,” Hairston said. “But they really got their running game going and that made the big difference today.

“They’ve got some strong running backs. They’re really aggressive and they break a lot of tackles. But I’ll tell you, their whole team was fired up today.”

Cincinnati never trailed. In the game’s opening minutes, Cleveland running back Kevin Mack fumbled and Bengal cornerback Lewis Billups scooped up the ball and raced 26 yards for a touchdown.

The Bengals scored 17 points in the second quarter--on Woods’ pair of 1-yard runs and a 34-yard field goal by Jim Breech--for a 24-10 halftime lead.

Cleveland quarterback Mike Pagel, making his second straight start in place of injured Bernie Kosar and Gary Danielson, completed a career-high 24 of 48 passes for 254 yards, including an 11-yard scoring toss to Brian Brennan. The Browns also got a 3-yard touchdown run from Mack and a 27-yard field goal by Matt Bahr.

Browns Ozzie Newsome caught a pass in his 131st consecutive game, extending the second-longest streak in NFL history, behind Steve Largent of Seattle.