Bengals Always Happy to See the Browns, 30-10

Once again, the Cleveland Browns brought out the best in the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals staged a modest revival Sunday and ended a five-game losing streak with a 30-10 victory over their intrastate rivals.

Boomer Esiason, the NFL’s lowest-ranked passer, passed for a season-high three touchdowns, and the league’s second-worst defense came up with a pivotal goal-line stand against the Browns.

“Even if we’re 1-14 and they’re 1-14 and it’s our last game, this is a big game because of the nature of the rivalry,” said Esiason, who completed 13 of 24 passes for a season-high 192 yards.

The Bengals (3-5), who had not led in a game in six weeks, were not surprised they dominated the Browns (4-4). The Bengals have won six of the last seven games between the teams to take a 24-20 lead in the series.

“It was a great win, not only for the 47 players who were fighting through this losing streak, but also for the organization and the city of Cincinnati,” Bengal Coach Dave Shula.

The Bengals scrapped their no-huddle offense, and the strategy paid off with touchdown drives of 77, 73 and 82 yards.

“We went without the no-huddle and just made sure that everybody knew what was going on,” Esiason said. “Everybody just made the plays.”

Esiason threw first-half touchdown passes of one yard to Craig Thompson and four yards to Rodney Holman for a 14-3 lead.

The defense also had its best moment in six weeks, a goal-line stand that swung momentum just before the half. Cleveland drove to a first and goal from the four-yard line, but three running plays left the ball a foot shy of the end zone. Kevin Mack went right on fourth down, but didn’t even make it to the line of scrimmage before three players shoved him back.

“That took a little bit of the sting out,” Browns’ quarterback Mike Tomczak said.

Esiason found Tim McGee open over the middle for a 24-yard touchdown pass for a 21-3 lead midway through the third quarter, and Jim Breech added field goals of 26, 21 and 32 yards.

“They certainly outplayed us in every area of the game, and they out-coached us,” Cleveland Coach Bill Belichick said. “It was a convincing victory.”