2015 Browns @ Bengals

rounds and bingles unseasonably warm for this afc north match up the bengals one of four unbeaten first time in the 47 year franchise history at 7 and 0. short sleeve weather it is phil had to leave his argyle sweater at home for this one 65 in clear conditions as we get ready to get this one started it's being broadcast in spanish we're available using the sap button on your television the browns called tails it was heads so cincinnati said we're gonna send the football down to you guys first we'll put manzel on that offensive unit on the field first so justin gilbert is the deep man for the mike nugent kick and the battle of ohio round one is underway and that is not going to be returnable so we'll bring the browns and manziel for the fourth time starting in his nfl career the second time this season he started week two and led cleveland to a home victory over tennessee and connected on a couple of deep balls in that game well you look at this jim we talked to the players and coaches last night and i to a man they all said the same thing they really expect johnny manziel he played well against tennessee like you said to come out play well they've had a couple days to get ready do they have some different answers for this defense than they had late last year when it was just a horrific game for their offense and johnny manziel they just shut them down and here they faked the pass they give it to crowell who goes up the middle for three yeah it was a rough outing that was december 14th after cleveland won here in this spot 52 weeks ago we were here for a 24-3 win led by brian hoyer the browns got up to seven and four last year but by the end of the year manziel got a couple of starts they lost 30 to nothing in that game at home in december mid-december against the bengals he threw two picks produced only five first downs well listen they were excited the cincinnati bengals couldn't wait to play johnny manziel because of all the publicity some of that's worn off we'll see if this defensive line can dominate like last year in the pocket now moving and manziel on second and seven actually had it in the hands of crowell who couldn't make the catch atkins was pressuring manziel on his first throw so many good pass rushers and defenders number 97 geno atkins what a year he's having boys you see how he pushes the pocket and then outside he has two very good defensive ends and michael johnson and carlos dunlap who love it when he gets pressure inside so they can get those easy sacks right away they put the browns into a passing situation on third and seven they bring in duke johnson junior manzel again pressure gets it away and that's a first down nice grab by benjamin who is his favorite target based on what we saw against tennessee that's a nine-yard completion in the first well they pressure him right away outside blitz you're gonna see it coming jim and listen reggie nelson unblocked manziel sees it off his back foot that is a way to get your confidence going making a play like that when there's really nothing there based on what happened in that game last december what's something we should look for that will be different about manziel when he's throwing the football tonight you know a couple things one i think they'll keep him in the shotgun more and they've got to find a way to block the outside edges to get him out there and here he is in the pocket and that one wobbling in the direction of duke johnson manziel the 22nd pick in the first round a year ago just age 22 of course heisman trophy winner down at texas a m and now one of nine quarterbacks to start for cleveland since dalton was drafted out of tcu four years ago and became the immediate starter dwayne bowe has come in three agents signee in the off season who's been injured with a hamstring most of the year he's only been up for three games there's mccown who's out with ribs and shoulder injuries second and ten crowell gets the call trying to run behind mack his center and that's good for only one vincent ray is there to meet him well you know jim talking to joe thomas the left tackle you asked him some questions interesting he goes johnny manziel is not the same guy that he was last year one he's practicing differently all that but he says he can call the plays in the huddle his cadence he's taking more control of the team and i think that's why everybody was excited to see how he was going to perform here tonight against a very good defense got marlon moore in as a extra receiver they just converted on third and seven now it's a third and nine and it looked like thomas was uh out early full start offense number 73 five-yard penalty third down coach pettin having to defuse how this uh all these trade talks when the deadline passed on tuesday nothing happened but thomas was the center of a lot of attention and from all reports was close to being dealt to the denver broncos well like they didn't have enough problems all the injuries he had to deal with it actually the rumors came out last sunday morning before they played a game but he quieted down got the team on track he thinks third and 14. and they break through that offensive line forcing manzel on the run and it's batted away by adam jones intended again for benjamin and after picking up one first down the browns now will have to bring out andy lee the punt well a couple things i noticed on that tribe one you can see the bengals defensive line they're not worried if he gets outside the pocket we'll chase him down and adam jones is having an unbelievable year at corner great coverage by him adam jones is the returner and of course he is one of the absolute bests second right now in the afc return average and andy lee who they traded for from san francisco in the offseason doesn't get a lot of mileage out of that one as it soars to the sideline and they mark it at about the 37 just a 29-yard punt for over 130 years bicycle playing cards made right here in the local cincinnati area as thursday night football continues and our first look at the bengals offense and they'll start out from their own 37. well here we go look at this formation well going back want to check the browns make sure they know how to line up to some unusual formations which you see every week from the bengals give it to hill who cuts back to the middle and takes it all the way out to the 44 for a gain of seven you talked about earlier all the options that andy dalton has on that offense and andy dalton's having a very good year this year well he is doing smart taking the leadership of the team jim you talked about it we watched him at practice yesterday we met everybody and there's no doubt fifth year in the nfl four playoff appearances a lot of success you should have confidence especially when you have a team that's good at every position right now on the offensive side well you just saw the graphic the only brady rogers had more wins since he came into the league they got a first down off hill out to the 50. marvin lewis 13 years now on the sideline the second longest tenured coach in the league behind bill belichick this is his 100th regular season game at paul brown stadium as the head coach 200th overall in his career having taken the bengals to the playoffs the last four years and certainly well on her way to five consecutive post-season berths [Applause] first down failure right off the back of the defender tremont williams and tracy wolfson with us down on the sideline tracy well thanks a lot you guys were just talking about andy dalton and how he is a different quarterback this year and a lot of it has to do with that leadership left tackle andrew whitworth told me it is his confidence his command of the team dalton told me he could feel a difference the respect the players have for him he's more vocal and coaches can feel his presence more offensive coordinator hugh jackson said he is a totally different guy jim yeah i think we noticed that just the way he carried himself in our meetings yesterday different than what we've seen in the past he keeps it here and nowhere to go and loses a yard now after they lost their playoff game again one and out last year for the fourth consecutive year marvin lewis ordered a little uh you know sit down dinner with the daltons talk about expectations moving forward well just everything that tracy said you've said i've said already they expect more they want him to be the leader of the team in other words when he walks in the locker room you got to make all those players sit up and go yes he's our quarterback he's the man he leads our team and so far it's all worked great and he is the leader of this football team all right it's third and eleven the browns couldn't stop arizona last week on third down and here it's marvin jones slashing across the middle and then written down from behind by armani bryant just a week ago the cardinals had 13 out of 16 conversions this one on third and 11 goes for 29. well sometimes when you try to do too much and disguise on the defensive side there's going to be a mistake everybody at the line of scrimmage he knows he's got it picked up and he sees marvin jones going across the field covered by a defensive lineman [Applause] all the way down to the browns 22. eric winston is wide to the right here's a little different look and they swing it over to jones trying to set up a little bubble screen over there for jones who just took it for 29 on the previous play this one good for two well this is something they like to do you see all the players on the top of the field they get three guys on each side and what andy dalton does as you watch it he can run the reeds the zone read with the running back or throw a screen to the right or to the left he counts the numbers that time it said go to the right he made a good decision yeah well he had winston to the right wide and whitworth to the left more conventional look here on second and eight they will shift around and give you some creative looks one of the best in the league at that here's hill and nothing there for jeremy hill 148 against this browns defense last december and the second half of the year he was the leading rusher in the league the last nine weeks hasn't been the same though the start of this year the success he had the back end of his rookie season 7-0 you're looking for things that you want to prove improve on your football team marvin lewis hugh jackson they know they've got to get jeremy hill getting those tough yards which you need in big games when you're playing great competition and uh good start for jeremy hill here tonight third and eight and catches made by sunu what about forward progress and they're gonna give him the spot that's gonna yield another first down and another well let's see about that it could be another long third down conversion given up by this browns defense they're going to call for a measurement off this one [Music] good timing i think that's the other thing andy dalton being in his fifth year just the confidence to read the defense let it go and when you're a quarterback and you're confident in your decision-making he's throwing the football well physically means good results [Applause] that's not a first down inches shy it's fourth and a foot well they're going to go for it i think and the thing about plane when you talk about this bengals offense you always have to be on high alert jim what for because this could be if you sell out and try to stop a inside run he could run a reverse an option played with a quarterback so it's hugh jackson the offensive coordinator for the bengal says we attack that's what we do put the defense on edge don't let them attack us and i think everybody watched the bingo's place agreed with what he's doing well eiffert's been such a red zone threat for them this season if they try anything the tight end could be the target they got ryan hewitt lined up in the backfield that's a common sight cropped an additional titan hill is the tail back fourth and inches and it's hill powering straight ahead inside the 10 for the first down you said in hewitt this is what they like the lead tight end really a full back and the browns did the right thing what a block by hewitt they played it safe because i know they realize let's see if they can score on first down just inside the 10 yard line instead if you gamble maybe you give up an easy touchdown first and goal to go and dalton steps back into the gun [Applause] what a red zone presence he's been for this team this year well he's a difference maker they love this set of plays where andy dalton can hand it off throw a screen run it himself or read the defense watch it if her to the back side and just sticks it in there quick they seem patterns right up that angle right off the tackle where the tight end is they do it with all the skilled players on their offense i think he's the main reason why they're the second best team in touchdown conversion inside the red zone tyler eifert in his third year out of notre dame their first round pick back in 2013 nugent adds the extra point even brian kelly eifert's coaching notre dame said it best perhaps eifert turns field goal drives into touchdowns tyler ryford has just caught a seventh touchdown of the season which ties gronkowski for the most touchdowns by a tight end this year look at his season second second first that's pretty good stuff and when you've got one of the best wide receivers and aj green you can run the football they are taking advantage of throwing the football up the field to tyler eiffel because eiffert was out last year with the elbow injury and has he really emerged in his third year so through the back of the end zone the cleveland defense couldn't stop him on that first series including not able to stop him on a couple of third and longs it ends with a knife for touchdown tomorrow his impact on the game is immeasurable but he lost what he cherished most a football life paul brown tomorrow at nine only on nfl network miami university in oxford ohio coach brown's alma mater the creative of coaches notables like aaron parseghian weber bank boshim beckler john harbaugh well last year the same matchup on the first thursday of november the bengals never found the end zone they find it tonight on their first drive 63 yards and 10 plays and now here's the second chance for the series for manziel and the browns and a quick little toss over to taylor gabriel and he's got three well the the quarterback situation as far as how the time has been allocated mccown got hurt in that week one game against the jet so manziel had to come in and then start week two led him to victory week two but they said all along mccown would get his job back and he's been the starter through week eight then talking about mccallum although with some mop up duty for manziel in the closing minutes of the last two games that's duke johnson for five and you know mccown josh mccown has had a very solid year statistically 11 touchdowns only four interceptions hurry up now for the browns on third and two look at this time got to first down completes the pass to jim dray only his fifth reception of the year and they gave manzel plenty of protection that leads to 13. the bengals defense was not ready first off the offensive line nice job giving him extra time but that quick snap changing the rhythm of the game that's what they needed to do after that first series which they couldn't block any of the defensive linemen of the bengals so john d filippo the offensive coordinator trying a few different things expect to see more for johnny menzel as the game goes on takes the handoff to crowell rolls out gets it over to carnage who's got it looks like 10 more now back to mccown for a moment one and six as a starter number one rated quarterback in the league this year on third down but rib injuries he's talking about has been tough breathing much less sleeping and they sit him down tonight you said his stats are very good listen in his case the stats don't lie he has played extremely well for this cleveland browns football team especially on the offense under a lot of pressure made a lot of big throws in big moments and especially like you said on third down and he's been a big help getting manziel ready for this start tonight a little pistol that time and crowell has a lane and then sidesteps the tackle attempt well when i say pistol offense that means it's a shotgun formation with the running back behind johnny manziel and you see that i expect to see him back there more johnny manziel of course not the tallest quarterback in the nfl easy for him to throw nice block at time by alex mack washes it down the line of scrimmage so crowell can get in there and get those extra yards yeah he picks up 14 on that carry and the browns showing some pizzazz on this second series [Applause] down to about the 33 give them three more you talk about this cleveland browns rushing offense it's the second worst in the nfl look there's many reasons for that situations you're in and all that but the one thing i want to see that they do here tonight jim they got you can't play three running backs i think you're going to get them all involved in the game and so far it's been isaiah crowell and we saw a little of duke johnson who i think can do the different kind of things beat linebackers one-on-one in the passing game if they decide to do that well there's johnson brought over here near side in the slot bibs is in as an extra titan second and eight after manzel who's able to escape what would have been a sack and a big loss and instead he scrambles out for four some nifty moves by manziel yeah it's a great job by him it is i'm not going to take anything away michael johnson just collapsed the pocket but duke johnson his first read is going across the middle he's wide open but that's just a difference you know you got to get used to the game that's his style well he talked to us about being decisive and being precise he just didn't trust himself he found when he got into games last year that's right he didn't his first instinct is to he doesn't like the first look he takes off and runs third and four sets it up for crowell and corral nice move for the first down and lowers the shoulder pads on iloka and has the first down inside the 15. a 15-yard gain he comes across the formation nobody has him and that's what you have to do outside there isaiah crowell great job make the first guy miss a really confidence builder for this browns offense and a good play call too yeah he got right around leon hall who had the one-on-one attempt to bring up fourth down instead crowell's move sets him up at the 15. dwayne beau is back out there still looking for a first catch of the year and there it is to wayne bow they've been waiting in cleveland to see him live up to the contract he got in the off season a long time kansas city chief wide receiver well he had a great offseason you know all the otas were there practicing during the summer it worked well came back to training camp and immediately her dead hamstring has never really got back in position where they can put him in the game but they need him jim because it is one of the smallest wide receiver groups probably the smallest in the nfl when you take him out of there they also need him because heartline's out with a concussion hawkins is out with a concussion second and six manzel stepping up tucking it under and near the first down yardage this is why you put him in the shotgun one of the reasons why you're seeing it they spread the defense out and now you have only four guys that have to try to contain johnny manziel and that time one defensive end goes up the field there's nobody inside and manziel made a good decision to run with the football and he ran it for seven and got the first down first and goal duke johnson the running back here he is the rookie gives back about three or four on him right away was brandon thompson brandon thompson's really the pass rushing defensive tackle that plays inside him and pat sims switch week to week if they think the team is going to run they play pat sims you expect the pass you put in brandon thompson that was a big loss in a situation like that had to be a mistake by the offensive line it lost actually five and they bring barnage in who was out on that last snap we talked about eiffert for the bengals in the red zone here's another great breakout start at tight end barnage second and goal manzo end zone incompletes trying to connect with gabriel jones on the coverage when we talked about it adam jones just stays if you you watch it here as a defensive back from above and the initial coverage i don't see really any place you can go with the football at the top of your screen adam jones stays with gabriel the whole time and it would have taken a perfect throw to get it in there 13th play of this drive coming up they marched down to the four had first and goal from there and now it's third and goal at the nine here's manziel from the pocket back to the end zone and right over the top of varnish never a chance not many options you said it when you're trying to throw high passes to the back of the end zone he's just going to run the seam they had three receivers to the left it's a little double move and good job bontez perfect doesn't bite on the underneath route and that's why johnny manziel had to throw it too high and over barnage's head so field goal attempt coming from 27 yards out for the first year kicker out of the university of washington travis coons he hasn't missed this year now a perfect 15 of 15 field goals a drive that lasted over seven minutes yields three the cincinnati zoo opened its doors back in 1875 second oldest zoo in the nation behind philadelphia's and meanwhile back over here at the place known as the jungle a full house on a beautiful balmy night in bingletown the browns offense showing a spark on that last series but then unable to do anything after a first and goal of the four except settle for the field goal one hopper to jones oh they had him back there near the five and he's able to get an extra 10 out of it to end quarter number one cincinnati seven cleveland three will return after these messages you're watching thursday night football start of the second quarter in cincinnati jim nanceville sims tracy wolfson on hand here as the bengals start the second quarter from the 15. that long drive by the browns [Applause] this is only the second series of the game for cincinnati as we start the second quarter with a scramble out to the 21 for andy dalton for a gain of six [Applause] well what they did you have two tight ends in the backfield and they're trying to get a deep crosser here and it's going to be there for iford but the pressure inside danny shelton pushes the pocket and makes andy dalton get out of there but a good job of scrambling that's what the browns fans want to hear about danny shelton their rookie out of washington and the 12th overall pick in the draft [Applause] second and fourth hill on the left side he's chopped up by tremont williams the former packer who came on board as a free agent in the offseason mohamed sanu is miked up tonight let's listen in when a life is all we turn [Applause] third down conversion catch the first time cincinnati had it third and three they bring in bernard he doesn't have a touch to this point and they get to the quarterback that is desmond bryant with the sack his third of the year and the cleveland defense after not being able to stop cincinnati the first time three and out they forced this one yeah it's the coverage down the field was first it was very good but he beat the guard clint bowling and you don't gamble on the defensive side like they did the first drive jim and gave up that big play that time they played everything simple and it worked well kevin huber all hits right at the 50. then it's picked up on bounce by benjamin and he's down at the 45 43-yard punt desmond bryant and the browns defense responds this time [Music] tonight's skycam is being presented by mazda [Applause] back here paul brown stadium which well opened back in 2000 the jungle and this being the 84th meeting between these franchises [Applause] on that last series when the browns had it a couple of big gainers getting down the field [Applause] becca was trying to get a call there to no avail and here is and he had a body on him right away who else but geno atkins so quick across that line well he can do it all there's no doubt but you talk about that last drive it got some life into the team the defense came out and stopped that cincinnati's offense i think because they got rested they got into the game but what'd they do the last job a little no huddle to keep it going on a third down they had a rollout pass for johnny manziel and then of course what they want him to do is to make some of those plays and we saw a couple of them in that drive for the field goal nothing's there get out of the pocket pick up some yards they send johnson the rookie running back wide to the right second and ten set up screen left though nice block out there and it ends up being a gain of four antonio was the one who took out one bingo i thought it might be a bigger game and there's perfect it's a little uh slow to get up and of course last week just made his return after a little more than a year away off a knee injury watch the left guard bentonial like you said and he does get out there makes a great block to pick up the extra yards against vinnie ray lemur has come in perfect out third down cleveland needing to get to the bengals 48 for the first dangerous throw when it's knocked down by leon hall thrown in the direction of gabriel and a three and out for cleveland as well great job you're gonna see leon hall does the little snag route inside is all over but they did blitz and johnny manziel wanted to get out of his pocket but he couldn't because he kept five guys around him had to stand in here and throw it and the coverage was good [Applause] second punt for andy lee his first one traveled just 29 yards this one bounces at the six and into the end zone so only a net of 34. [Music] [Applause] dalton and the bengals try to dive up another drive up 7-3 when we come back [Music] for the cap to coach tom bolden and colerain high school to cincinnati they secured their 16th consecutive conference title last week they're gonna go face now dublin kaufman saturday night in the first round of the playoffs yep no coleraine i grew up in louisville kentucky so i heard a lot about and they've had a good football program for many years bernard is the running back here's his first touch he is pancaked starks with that tackle that a flag now comes out and it's probably gonna be a taunting call against starks what it's gonna be 15 yards you make a great play and you've cost your team 15. unfortunately 94 the defense 15 yard penalty automatic first down [Applause] you know what you can't do watch number 94 stark's great job gets the tackle all legal but then he stands over the running back and then talks makes gestures and that's why they throw the flag walked over him why i mean why do that you just made a brilliant play let your actions speak for themselves he's been brought over to the sideline now 12-year veteran couple years in the pro bowl you think he'd be beyond that well this game now you know the rules i'm not going to disagree with you you got to keep your emotions in check in check that was a big play for this being for the brown defense so bernard takes it on the sweep for about nine talked about it a little bit earlier when you talk about cincinnati so many different weapons and so creative what do you do absolutely you know that's what hugh jackson wants to do mike pettin and jim o'neil the defensive coordinator and head coach of the cleveland browns what do you say to us man i gotta have a good game tonight i gotta guess what this this offense take some chances against the run so they don't get run over and don't take chances against the pass because they'll throw it over your head in a heartbeat [Applause] able to get away from the line of scrimmage and take it into the secondary before campbell ends it after another 10. well the blocking it's not that they blew him off the line of scrimmage but no defensive lineman can get off the block and bernard goes sideways so you've got to give beaudine and kevin zeitler excellent job inside no defensive lineman can shake away and really clint bowling the left guard held in there so long that bernard finally cut it behind him yeah he carried it the last three plays picked up 20 yards plus they got the taunting penalty so now at the cleveland 45 empty backfield for dalton pass knocked down craig robertson he's the one who got a hand on it cincinnati again history for this franchise never been 7-0 three and a half game lead inside the division already come back wins against baltimore seattle and pittsburgh and that red zone we've already seen that work on both sides the third best at producing touchdowns second best at preventing touchdowns see poker goes at work tonight bernard gets right back into the lineup and moves the pile down to the 37 running hard [Applause] [Music] sunday at 9 on nfl network some of the greatest quarterbacks ever sound off on peyton manning's record-breaking career nfl game day morning live sunday at 9 only on nfl network we're going to see peyton and the broncos at indianapolis on sunday 284 yards for payton and he'll pass favre for the all-time pass yardage record wouldn't it be something if he went back and achieved that record yeah in justin indianapolis last year's first round draft pick is now in the game at left corner well it's only the ninth snap of the year for him on defense and they get it over to aj green and tremont williams holds on by one leg gain of 11. now look what happened last week when he catches it and what happens after the catches you look at your next gen stats well you know what i like about this it tells you he lines up in different positions they know he's a premier receiver their big weapon so what do they do they give him a lot of different options and they get him the football and they get him involved so it's what they like to do this bengals offense try to get everybody the football as fast as you can in the game to get them in rhythm and get their confidence going first to bernard and going to the end zone and that might bring out a flag no it doesn't that was gilbert they were trying to work on justin gilbert one-on-one with marvin jones very few snaps this year for him out there corner but he's in great position this time he does make contact early i thought it was a good play when i saw it live but he hit marvin jones before the football even got closer but it looked to me right away i mean he saw the helmet get snapped off you can't believe it but they do not call it second down and 10 from the 27. for another four you know that's the one thing they got to be careful about jim we talked about this bengals offense already how all the stuff they do but they they are not afraid to throw it deep down the field they're not worried about completing 80 of their passes so they see that one-on-one outside they will throw the deep ball and cleveland if you made me criticize one thing about their defense they put so much pressure on those outside corners to cover situations just like we saw with gilbert [Applause] this looks like they're gonna do it across the board [Applause] next to his right tackle and a whistle first and a timeout was called before the snap called by cincinnati blitz confused him good job of calling timeout 30 second timeout 709 thank you [Music] it's really quite a tandem they have here at running back in cincinnati you talk about the the quickness giovanni his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield power running of jeremy hill and again like everything else the bengals across the board virtually every position they've got talent jim last year we did their playoff game against the indianapolis colts they had no talent out there on the offense everybody was hurt hyford marvin jones aj it was amazing who they put out there that cannot be an excuse now a veteran experience talented offensive line and you said it every position on the field is one or two deep we've got seven different players [Applause] handle the football so for third and six pick up the first down with sunu forcing two cleveland players to bring him down his second conversion of the game well muhammad sudo and rutgers was a option quarterback and caught over a hundred passes also well i should say a wildcat quarterback at the time so you saw him in practice he's a big guy tough he knew how to run the football in college as a quarterback and he's carried it over to being a full-time wide receiver here in the nfl two catches on the game for 16 yards and again both of them picking up first to sustain drives and rolling out and throwing it out of bounds as dalton is now six out of ten with a touchdown pass in the first quarter to eifert well marvin lewis talking to him of course he's great to us gosh you get to go out and practice it if i said hey coach i need to stand in the huddle and listen to what's going go sure go ahead you know so it's it's pretty cool to be here but i think they know jim this team is set up now they're seven and old the chemistry's good they like everything the window for these next couple years it's set for this bengals team to get it done second and ten they get it back to eiford he's dragged down by dansby near the nine you talk about it that window and that's something that marvin lewis talked to the team about recently he looked around and saw he saw dalton he's uh aj he saw clint bowling they all came in together back in 2011 and he said you know i just look before you guys like 70 times you know this is moving pretty quickly we got here to your five year career pretty quickly you know you got to make a move when it is your time there you go well said we've been together long enough it's time to get it done third and five from the cleveland knight [Applause] to jones and not nearly enough for the first stopped a couple yards short jones shoved out of bounds there by williams well what they did well andy dalton here we go keep the offense out there the offense out there it's not fourth and one we're talking fourth of a couple here don't jump off sides that was the first thing i would look for is the step count and by andy dalton they pass up the 24 yard field goal attempt presumably yep they're going for it with the pass off the ground and the flag comes out trying to get it over to green [Applause] is it offsides or illegal formation [Applause] all right it looked like it was an offside that really didn't even affect that play but it was offside and a killer penalty against pettin's team i couldn't hear the call it was mixed up but i think they said 94 was offside so they had to line up offsides i did not see anybody jump i think that was a run play too and andy dalton decided to throw the quick pass outside which cleveland was all over well they lined up offsides it was randy starks who got flagged with the funding call at the start of the drive bernard into the pile for one [Applause] [Music] and they were you know a question to call going for it cleveland was expecting an inside run so andy dalton did the right thing threw it outside but even if the pass was good i think he was going down great reaction by the defense but two huge mistakes in this drive of his cleveland defense both of them by starks second and goal what's up [Applause] touchdown again the coverage was outstanding nobody's open the play action pass didn't fool the defense at all 85 watching everybody you can see they got it but the adjustment by iford the movement by andy dalton and the throw on the run going to the left was perfect [Applause] you give a good offense so many chances what do you expect it's going to lead to a touchdown eifort just engulfs that football scoring both touchdowns on the night iford now has eight touchdown catches on the season that's one short of the cincinnati season record by a tight end which is held jointly by rodney holman and bob trumpy i knew you were going to save bob trucker and a good guy absolutely gilbert swallowed up the balls out and falling on it there is badamoussie atomosi with recovery but gilbert gets somersaulted might have been down anyway he was tripped up there by cedric pierman [Music] again a crucial mistake here on fourth and two from the six and that's randy starks lined up really well past well where he needs to be they'll give you a break i think a lot of times you know in other words if it's if it's close they won't call that but that was not close he was he was offsides it wasn't in the neutral zone got the bengals the first down and then the touchdown pass to eifert and it's 14-3 from the eighth quick slant to benjamin for seven approaching four minutes to go in the second quarter i think the one fear that this when you look at this cleveland offense and you see these three small wide receivers his defensive backs getting up close to you and beating you at the line of scrimmage and giving the passing game no chance good burst out to about the 20 for another five and the first next thursday on nfl network rex ryan returns to face his former team as the bills take on the jets and you can only see it on nfl network thursday night football next thursday at eight again only on nfl network buffalo at the jets i keep waiting to see the play where they give johnny manziel extra time to get away from the line of scrimmage like russell wilson so he can throw one deeper down the field pass intended for barnage that's vincent ray right alongside barnage incomplete well what a year he's having leads the team in tackles gets in there they've been be mile lugo you said is out of course and we talked about the depth of this football team so they lose key starters they have somebody else to step in and do the job we saw burfek a little gimpy earlier there's there's mali luga perfect is back out on the field that line packer second and ten hands up a couple of times now he's got his open man for the completion to johnson near the 45 they got something here they got to stay with these kind of thoughts because johnson is going to come across the field and he is open the whole time if they could have got it to him on time that is going to be another 15 20 yards easy hard to tackle duke johnson in the open field well he picks up 26. i've seen him line up a couple of times out there in the slot and he has been open so when he johnny manziel goes to the sideline you got to point that out to him and make sure he looks his way when you spread it out like that that was the longest play for the browns tonight and again a drive that started back at the eighth now near midfield is crowell he gets chop tackled by atkins i don't think we kind of answered one of the questions we were thinking about as we talk about the game you know even though the numbers are not startling when you look at crowell at least they're giving them a chance to get in rhythm and running backs are like quarterbacks like golfers let them keep hitting those shots and sooner or later they'll make something happen and smartly they're going to let this run down to the two-minute warning they have all three time-outs to play with and if this drive bogs down they don't want to leave cincinnati too much time for that matter so two minutes to go in the first half here in cincinnati with the bengals in front 14-3 coming up the lexus halftime report jb dion and coach cower we'll break down the first half action of course uh coach cower reunited here last couple of days with marvin coach lewis was bill's linebacker coach back from 92 through 95 on his steelers two of them got together and shared a little dinner last night over at ruby's second down to nine as manzel's got flags everywhere climbs it down the field to barnage to the 27. [Applause] see these flags though as a big gainer for the browns would match their longest play we saw a moment ago besides defense that penalty is declined first out well you got a lot of signals that it was going to look a whole lot different for this cleveland offense than it did against cincinnati last december and i don't think there's any question about it well many things one they learned from it uh what what they saw last year and i think the game plan of course is fitting johnny manziel he's a different quarterback right now than he was last year when he played against the bengals so far tonight under control excellent job of stepping up and throwing it on the run which is something he does very well well they're blitzing able to get past the wave and got it down to about the 17. he broke away from both vincent ray and aj hawk and a new set of downs coming up sound of a good running back you can't knock them all down you got to make people miss and he made aj that time he made aj hawk miss who came in three so cruel well you you told me early kind of reminds you a little bit of chris ivory of the new york jets the body type running hard very similar style first and ten with 114 to go there's another good run ripping off five this time for crowell nine carries 42 yards and again smartly using the clock here a lot of people start to panic when they say hey the clock's running or inside a minute to go but they got all three timeouts three timeouts everything is in their favor just take your time and you said it earlier at the two-minute warning of course they're going to get mini champ they got enough time to get their plays off you just don't want to give the cincinnati bengals to football once again remember the bengals defense second best in the league and preventing touchdowns in the red zone and they already clamped down once tonight when the browns got down to the four second and five and johnson here's a timeout coming by cleveland pekko with that tackle well you know jim i want to tell you this is why the bengals are so good in this part of the field because they don't have to trick it up they can keep everybody in coverage it's a shorter field to cover and you got defensive lineman who can get to the quarterback coming up on the lexus halftime report jb dion coach cower again with their take on the first half i was mentioning bill cower and marvin lewis not only did marvin lewis enjoy it fair amount of time there on cower staff but those two go so far back growing up in the pittsburgh area they actually played youth football against one another great friends then two terrific coaches of course bill cower winning the super bowl with the pittsburgh steelers marvin lewis still trying to get there third down from the 11. we call it the 12. denzel in the pocket flushed out chased fires duke johnson manziel just executes a 92-yard touchdown drive terrific job by johnny manziel i thought for sure third down they would come with the blitz to keep him in the pocket they did it earlier it worked and dunlap just gets just gets past him gets past dunlap on the outside how about duke johnson what a catch this kid can really be a threat out of the backfield we've seen it this year for all the rookies in the league he's got the second most receptions and the third most receiving yards and he had a 26-yard pass play earlier on the drive [Applause] but that's 92 yards phil in 10 plays listen terrific throw on the run a couple up in that drive that was the difference and the bengals are going to go in at halftime and go okay let's settle down and make sure we keep johnny manziel in the pocket longest drive of the season for cleveland starting left guard joel betonio heading to the locker room a little early he was dinged a couple of plays before the touchdown but stayed out there he has not missed a snap now in his first two years in the league i sent it's the longest drive of the season for cleveland it actually is the brown's longest touchdown drive since december 1st 2013. well we'll give it to number two there three times he broke the pocket three times he made excellent throws on the run [Applause] look what happened to last they got a great push on manziel carlos dunlap comes here but watch where the wider well they come all the way across the field for the touchdown well duke johnson sorry came out the backfield and boy that's a watch manziel where he goes after he gets the touchdown hey you don't need other people to celebrate jim you know he did it by himself that was pretty good bengals take a knee we're going to the locker rooms with a 14-10 ball game good first of half of action we had here manziel goes 11 out of 18 for 128 and one touchdown dalton nine of 13 77 and a pair of touchdown tosses let's go down to tracy a lot coach what can you say about what you've seen from johnny manziel in this offense in the first half well he's making some plays out of the pocket there's a couple balls that we want him to make from in the pocket but you can't argue with his production uh he's done a nice job throwing the ball on the run um you know we'll get we'll get him calmed down a little bit in the second half and hopefully get some more production tyler eiffer two touchdowns how do you have to adjust on him well it's tough i don't even know if the second one was was intended for him the upsetting part about that drive is is the offsides call this game should be 10 10. thanks a lot jim manziel threw for 70 yards on that last drive alone halftime at paul brown stadium and cincinnati leads it 14 to 10. we'll be back with alexis halftime report after this message and a word from your local station you're watching thursday night football [Music] nfl thursday night football presents the lexus halftime report and here's your host james brown cincinnati bengals looking to become the first team to move to 8-0 but at the half it's been johnny manziel outside of the pocket that's keeping cleveland competitive 14-10 bengals leader at the half back here at the set along with coach bill coward dion sanders i'm james brown dion i was talking about johnny manziel making the plays outside of the pocket johnny mansell manziel versatility is unbelievable and we're getting a chance to see it with our own eyes you don't have to have hdd to see what we're seeing right now live johnny manziel making plays with his feet quick decision started off the game getting blitzed rhythm really wasn't sure of himself but now he's assertive he's sure started off 10 plays a 92 14 play 71 yard drive ended up going to have 10 plays a 92 yard drive and he's four for seven on third down when you talk about johnny manzo you got to take the good with the bad but guess what we're not seeing any bad why because they have a running game tonight 53 yards rushing they're holding the ball they held the ball for 15 minutes and 32 seconds and that's well with johnny manziel keeping that defense off the field and you have to slow rush johnny manziel because he is stepping up into the pocket he's breaking containment you have to be very disciplined in your rush lanes and on the other side of the ball andy dalton has played a very good first half in this game i think when you look at him what he's done is he's he's distributed only the four receivers but here's a great play right here to marvin jones it's a high-low concept right here it's great against man-to-man even against zone he's going to read the the receiver you can see right there he's drops him marvin jones comes across again the good pocket for him to step up to and see it and then down the red zone the difference in this game has been the ability of the cincinnati bengals to finish drives tyler eiford has been the guy who goes to a small window right there you can see off of the play action i get off the play action here's andy dalton doing his johnny manziel getting out of the pocket and find him in the back of the end zone again the one thing i like about both these teams has been the balance of run and pass again nine to 13 two touchdown passes you know the big difference also crime is you know we had randy stark's two penalties on that last drive taunting penalty and also the outside on the fourth down this is a good game listen these two teams it's a divisional game this is going to be a game that's going back and forth but manziel has definitely given him a spark a true battle of ohio you mentioned tyler iford his two receiving touchdowns in the first half he leads all in the nfl with receiving touchdowns with a total of eight more first half analysis from coach and dion when we come back to paul brown stadium here in cincinnati after this [Music] [Applause] that's the queso tim we need to hang out for tim nato t-bone actually my name is brian we can still hang out brian tostitos rolls the official chip and dip sponsor of the nfl testido's party like a pro collect bid and you can win nfl tickets madden nfl 16 and xbox one and more visit tositos.com this december the nfl's greatest storyteller and today's most iconic entertainers come together in a brand new series i call the new york giants the jersey giants they love them we want to welcome back the hostages to the united states experience the moments that defined the nfl and the times that changed everything the timeline premieres december 3rd only on nfl network [Music] and welcome back to cincinnati with nfl mobile watch local and primetime nfl games live on your smartphone learn more at nfl.com mobile as we get set for the second half let's tee up my guys to get their thoughts for second half adjustments i like what johnny is doing continue with the running game defensively don't give up nothing deep nothing cheap i was just saying for johnny dog i would take some shots down the field right now i think because the thing with aj green this is a depleted secondary right now you got some matchups we took the one shot with marvin jones on gilbert they didn't call anything i thought it was past interference but i think taking some shots deep and i agree stay with the running game the difference right now in this game has been zero turnovers cincinnati has zero penalties so it's been a very clean game and obviously in a game like this turnovers can play a difference all the browns fans are sitting up here saying why couldn't we have johnny earlier uh you had to wait till you're suing six and you're totally out of well maybe it takes joey manziel to get back to a running game because right now they got great balance in what they're doing and again this first strike i've always said this before sets the toe for the second half so the cincinnati comes out if they can do something i go back to jeremy hill too because i thought he ran the ball very well in the first half this intra state battle living up to its reputation back with the second half jim nance phil sims and tracy wilson after this thank you for watching the lexus halftime report back in cincinnati the bengals lead it on a pair of andy dalton touchdown passes to tyler eifert but what an impressive 92 yard touchdown drive executed at the end of the first half by the cleveland browns you think they're backed up at the eight if it ends up being a three and out you got to punt the football to cincinnati you're thinking this could be 21-3 at halftime plus they're getting the second half kickoff yeah when they when they they have one drive changes everything it changed everything you know i of course i'm being a little sarcastic it was like the crowd was rooting for johnny manziel a little too they were excited watched him run around and he really kept this team in the game with that drive with his movement and those throws on the run what do you think we're going to see here in the second half i think we're going to see a little change in philosophy especially on the bengals defense they got to keep him in the pocket and they got to play tight man-to-man this wide receiving core we talked about it not to demean them jim but it's small you can manhandle them and i think that's what the bengals should be doing first half numbers crowell the top rusher for cleveland uh it was bernard for cincinnati 54 yards apiece manziel had more yards in the air than dalton three penalties two of them costly by starks on that one touchdown drive to taunting and then the offsides cincinnati not penalized once i feel like a weatherman turning here looking at the board but you know the other the other thing i like what the cleveland browns did they put crowell in there and gave him more carries and got him into the game and their run offense has been almost as bad as their run defense so that's a good surprise for cleveland golden at halftime manziel in that first half making plays getting out of the pocket getting on the run and getting results to phil yeah the drive he took him down the field three times he broke the pocket we showed this play nice throw on the run he's an excellent thrower on the run to his left and this throw here great technique looking to make sure nobody's chasing him drop the arm down throw it sidearm with power [Music] [Applause] and right on targeted duke johnson how about the running back tandem for the cleveland browns crowell running and duke johnson catching johnson had two catches on the touchdown drive one for 26 that got them out of the jam and then the 12-yard touchdown there's coons kick and he's got another touch back tracy down to you well thanks a lot marvin lewis agreed with you phil sims he said we need to keep the doggone quarterback in the pocket so that's what they want to see out of him in the second half also they want to limit third downs as for their offense he likes the way they've been able to run the ball but he needs to see bigger plays jim are you wait did tracy say you said dog gone is that what he said boy i mean you see we're in the south tracy that was pretty good well you know about the south covering the sec for so many years [Applause] hill gets the assignment to start the third quarter and he gets wrapped up rather quickly by danny shelton who was the first team of america for the huskies last year of washington as well as first team academic of america well that washington defense it seems like every one of them's in the nfl from last year but danny shelton you said it number one draft pick they need him to be a force in the run game this defense we said it the worst right now the nfl but hold it up pretty well so far in this game tonight and against aj green they only allowed one catch by green in that first half at second and nine and they're gonna go to him right here he's fighting for first down yardage and he's able to get there i believe let's see gonna spot it right at the 30 which will be the first he was battling dazir and picks up the first well we saw all the zone reads in the first half where andy dalton's faking the ball keeping it throwing screens but if you back off these receivers the cincinnati bengals got to lead the league in quick throws to their wide receivers just like we saw to aj green again the browns defense without joe hayden out with a concussion and dante whitner their safety pope over each of the past three seasons as well also back home and out one defender that was dazir who got stiff on right in the face guard and the bengals have another first down pickup of 19. well here it comes the blitz this side andy dalton sees it it's a run play i see it so much when i watch their games that if you over commit on the defense they always have these built-in passes and it wins games for them plays just like that look how scrappy aj green was again battling with dazir and getting a block on the second year cornerback out of lindenwood at the end of that run dalton's hit his last five throws and he's going up top again underneath the hill and he's pushed back by ibrahim campbell who tonight gets his first career start in for whitner yeah you know jim just to go back to this offense good tackle that time by campbell in the open field but almost 80 percent of the time when they take the field they get at least one first down so hard to attack it which we talked about because the array of plays there's dalton and cougars there and drags him down paul krueger well i got a great view from the top here krueger 99 just winston it takes so long as you look down the field there was nobody to throw to i have a great view and i'm scanning the field like a quarterback or trying to nobody's there and finally krueger gets in and makes the sack krueger the big free agent signee back in 2013 won a ring with the ravens he was another one of those disgusting some possible trade deals that never materialized this week third and 18 they go draw with bernard and he is slammed down by dansby that'll bring out the punting unit a run for 11 by bernard gives him 43 on the ground tonight here's the first down jim can't heist can't draw him i think stop there it is but look at all the people i see this more in the league now than ever they're just not going to let you catch run or run the draw and get those big plays eight guys back there waiting to see who gets it they come up and make the tackle travis benjamin leads the afc in punt return average just ahead of adam jones of the papers see if he gets a chance here off the huber puck no fair catch secures it at the 12. after a 36-yard boost let's see if mancell and the browns pick up right where they left off at the end of the first half the queen city here of cincinnati right on the state line with neighboring kentucky and a whistle before the snap full start offense number 55. john hussey and his crew four penalties called tonight on the browns you were talking about all that running around by manziel tonight as you see betonia we showed you antonio leaving for the locker room a little early before halftime shaken up a bit but he's fine our next gen stats so that for the night just running around down the field mall 460 total yards man's out as carlos dunlap is there to fall on him after a loss of four well carlos dunlap we saw him in the first half number 96 he's the right defensive end keeps the edge gets in there and gives crowell nowhere to go what a difference he's made in the team this year jim he's always been a good pass rusher but this year so much better against the run that last play was a great illustration of that yeah he's had a big year he's grown up a lot six-year player out of florida as marvin lewis told us he has truly embraced being a pro stepping up big time for this bengals defense second and 19. man's out in the end zone able to get it in to the hands of crowell to the 10 give him a little room gain a seven i think that's the third short pass to johnny manziel's completed from the pocket the every other completion has been outside inside oh there you go inside the pocket boy been very productive once he gets out there i keep really waiting for that play-action pass to give him a chance to throw the football deeper down the field against one-on-one coverage on the outside a third and 12 here for manziel scrambles out of the pocket and he knows where that yardage is and they give him the spot for the first down [Music] leon hall crashing into him leon hall corner for so many years plays a little safety when he needs to this is close and you're right he knew the first down was there that's why he took the chance and takes the hit look at carlos dunlap he's not even rushing the passer made a mistake by jumping and that allowed manziel to get up the middle oh it has helmet contact helmet to helmet here which of course out of the pocket that's right he's a runner he's not a quarterback trying to slide that was interesting you saw a little change on the pass rush obvious passing situation how about this [Applause] johnson had almost a touchdown celebration reaction that's a big one it's a big one is right field position keep your confidence going where's the yellow line which is not official based off of that it looked like he had about three or four inches but i would challenge it i would definitely challenge that call you could see the yard markers and if i was marvin lewis i would throw that red flag the previous play is now under review all right they're going to look at it from every single angle a third and 12 scramble the ruling on the field was manziel picked up the first down they'll review it there are some replays that are going to win the argument here for cincinnati after review the ruling on the field has been changed the runner was down by contact short of the line again the ball replaced on fourth down and one on the 21 cincinnati will not be charged the timeout now john hussey and his crew are going to mark it exactly back a full yard as you'll see here mike carey let's bring you in from culver city yes with the yard marker being at the 22 manziel has the ball in his right hand his rear hits short of the 22 the ball is behind that it's a great challenge by marvin lewis sets up a third fourth down yep they'll have to punt it now with andy lee and there's brandon tate standing back near the 30. manzel had that collision with leon hall and of course with mccown not dressed tonight the backup quarterback for the browns tonight is austin davis who got eight starts to heroes over the whales and again this is woefully short by lee and the reverse bounce finally down by crowell but cincinnati will have a short field to work with here three-time all-pro first teamer andy lee had a 29-yarder in the first quarter this one travels only 28 yards the bengals win the challenge and they'll have a good starting point coming up all right the bengals will start this drive at the cleveland 49 first time tonight that either team has started in opponent territory [Applause] jeremy hill lined up behind dalton week nine of the season continues sunday on cbs and fox and here's a look at the one o'clock eastern time window you can check your local listings we'll be in the late afternoon window for undefeated denver at indianapolis one thing we really haven't seen from this cincinnati offense here tonight is getting the ball down the field a lot of short throws and that's a hookup with green stepping right in front of k1 williams sorry jim just so many ways it's a fake option zone read by andy dalton and now instead of throwing it outside to a receiver they do it to the slot receiver we saw it for the touchdown to iford me it's the number one package of plays that you've got to be alert for and stop when you play the cincinnati bengals and he holds on quick slant for a gain of about seven undefeated quarterbacks this season dalton then the bengals tom brady 20 touchdowns only one pick you see cam newton four rushing touchdowns peyton manning how about for the fifth time now of his career starting a season at 7-0 meanwhile dalton here tonight has completed his last eight passes going to the ground on second and three and they could be about a foot short with hill well you know i talked about not maybe getting the football down the field one of the reasons why they're playing a little safe on the defensive side so andy dalton many times is throwing it underneath and keeping these drives going whether you see what he's uh he's done down the field throwing it ten plus yards only one time tonight and in completion that was the one where they didn't call the pass interference in the end zone on gilbert third and one easily getting the first down the ball at the end is out and they're ruling it down on the field jeremy hill holding on to that football with a little issue last year that's for sure with hill we're trying to get him to run a little more north south right away [Applause] contact is made and that is not going to be a fumble but you said it they need jeremy hill we talked about it to be that type of runner straight ahead don't waste time going side to side which they think he's been doing too much of and you could see the power when he does it here is bernard and bernard you think of bernard moore as a guy that's going to go east west but actually this year thanks to all the numbers that have been amassed by the next gen folks bernard is quicker to get to that first yard right so as you look at it 3.1 yards it takes him to gain a yard jim and the power runner jeremy hill it takes him five yards to gain a yard so you're saying it right it's the opposite of what you expect from these two running backs by their style and size bernard again he's down to about the 5. [Applause] you know it's almost i'm going to give bernard some credit that the fact that you know you would never expect that yeah he's just in there but but that's not why they drafted jeremy hill they don't have giovanni bernard here to be the power runner inside so you said it jeremy hill quit dancing be more powerful and don't take those side to side moves that he's been doing that's why he's covering more yards and getting less down the field because of that it's a big third and two at the browns five pick up [Applause] dalton and pays the price orchard is there to meet him at the 10-yard line boy great job by nade orchard staying outside doesn't go run down in there and chase the ball carrier andy dalton that was a good fake because he had me i was looking inside for the run but big moments the zone read you see with russell wilson cam newton and even andy dalton trying to catch the defense by surprise there when they you know they're they're expecting the inside run orchard the second round draft pick out of utah who won the ted hendrix award last year first team all america so 28 yard field goal attempt nugent kubernetes kick is good nugent now 11 out of 14 on the years so the browns defense stiffness in the red zone seven-point lead for cincinnati so the short punt to about midfield led to the nugent field goal and we got four minutes to go in the third 17-10 cincinnati [Applause] gilbert in the middle of that end zone elects not to run it out [Music] we actually have a sign museum here in since it the american sign museum dedicated to preserving historic signs on display here on this a drive where cleveland takes the football starting at the 20. play action fake might be the long ball you were looking for down the middle right off the chest of an open gabriel pass was right on the target well wasn't the long one i was looking for but what a good read and a nice job by manziel staying in the pocket it's the second receiver barnage goes across he was covered hit him right on the knee actually there's a good look from the quarterback position and what i like there he stepped up one hitch didn't hesitate and drove the football with power and of course should have been caught yeah should have been a play for over 20 yards quickly gets it over to benjamin who is tackled down around the neck area by kirkpatrick for six you know i heard as i talked to the coaches and players you know johnny menzel's changed on the field or what he does in the football environment they give him assignments and all those weeks he wasn't starting jim or like chores to make sure he was engaged in the game plan and never complained always got it done so we're really happy with that part of what he is doing on the football field fourth nfl start one again week two this year against tennessee but this has to be his finest performance to date third and four from the pocket and across the middle and barnage had a hand on it couldn't reel it in adam jones having a good night tonight and really a special year he's covering that time good job by johnny manziel staying in the pocket nowhere to run anyway but you can see adam jones is underneath barnage so that was a nice safe throw by johnny manziel see what andy lee can do he's had two punts under 30 yards to go along with a 54-yarder this is fourth punt of the night cleveland now with a couple of three and outs in this half this one's better a spiral that sends tate back back pedaling to the 17. [Applause] and he is taken down by duke johnson at the 18. we'll check the flag this goes against sensei could put the bengals back inside the 10. [Applause] during the return legal block in the back receiving team 99 after this into the goal first down so lee this time let's loose a 56-yard punt plus the penalty the browns have changed field position we'll be right back to cincinnati that's eight-time pro bowl tackle joe thomas who's miked up tonight for us i'm not surprised by petco either you know he's just such a listen tremendous player a big guy powerful but one of the nicest people you'll ever meet the penalty on the bengals the first of the night on cincinnati right ahead try to go with hill but he's just back for the line of scrimmage where he meets desmond bryant next thursday again you're looking forward to this one rex ryan returning to take on the jets i am and i know the jet fans are going to be pretty anxious to see rex ryan too so it should be a lot of fun it's gonna be fun no question next thursday at eight only on nfl network jets will be hosting first stop jacksonville this sunday buffalo at home against miami there's a second and ten play from the gun and golden could have been a sack into a two-yard gain armani bryant krueger both there third and eight coming up i'll tell you you know jim they're trying a little bit of everything and it's a great job of keeping andy dalton in the pocket brian comes around makes the sack and as you watch it they're just not separating from a defensive backfield that you have said look it is beat up armani bryant's seventh round pick back in 2013. you've been impressed watching him on tape well yeah the two things that stand out when you talk about this cleveland defensive front it's the bryants boca armante and desmond both playing very well big third down here for this browns defense third and eight can they get him off the field right on the mark for green on the sideline and a first down gain of 18. well they finally got it down the field and they've been running so many inside routes but this time it's a little bit of inside move and goes out and williams cannot stay with him and feed her down clean catch [Applause] it's hill breaking out with his longest run of the evening picks up about 13. good job first down quick snap got him going and they got over pursued that time danny shelton gets a little out of position goes down the line and then craig robertson also gets too far down the line and can't get the cut back when you watch this you see cleveland's defense mike pep noted for his defense he goes for two years i've been trying to fix our run defense and a lot of times it's a breakdown over pursuing or people just trying to make a play and not doing their job dalton another quick toss he gets back on his feet was tate tate's second catch of the season smartly realizing he wasn't touched down and he takes it for 22. well we said it you play off top of the screen gilbert given ground and what's going to happen andy dalton is going to throw the quick route outside there's gilbert knee down he touched him oh yeah you got to challenge this that's a 22-yard play there it comes challenge fight comes out in time you got to think betten and the browns will win that argument cleveland is challenging that the runner was touched down by contact game clock operator will you please set the game clock to five seconds please five seconds thank you here is another look at it gilbert comes up looks like he definitely touched him even gilbert as he touched him jumps up and makes him see the body language he knows he should be down that's at about the 47 on the scentsy side of the field so this would be a difference of 17 yards if the browns get the overturn which we both expect look good challenge by mike pettin i think he's going to win it you look at the score at 17-10 a field goal of course you give it up that would be huge so you got to stop them right here we were talking about the bills and the jets on thursday night football next week patton's been defensive coordinator for both the bills and the jets in his career before getting his first chance as a head coach in the nfl son of a hugely successful high school coach in pennsylvania in fact the winningest high school coach in pennsylvania history when he retired mike senior his dad who still breaks down the film they send them to him yeah it's great he goes on his ipad and lends some advice yeah you know what kind of coach was your dad you said well he was there wasn't what do you want to say videos and all that back he was a little more dismantled i have to be i know the camera's on me so i can't act out i got to be careful he goes i want to put on a show after review the ruling on the field will be changed the runner is touched down by contact on the cincinnati 46-yard line it will be second down cleveland will not be charged a timeout so both coaches have won a challenge here tonight and it will be a difference of 17 yards gilbert with a good look at it definitely down you know go back to mike petting his dad what's his dad watches the games on his e-pad you know he says you know hey i don't know if it's called an e-pad but that's what he thinks it is well we're gonna go to quarter number four with a seven-point game cincinnati 17 cleveland 10 will return after this message and a word from your local station you're watching thursday night football [Applause] over the top to eiffer he's a cross for the touchdown the rollout flips it now it's called eiffer again chase fires finds johnson you just saw the games three touchdowns 17-10 quarter number four there you see total yardage by quarters that browns did not manage a first down in the third [Applause] here's a handoff third down coming up for cincinnati andy dalton now has connected on his last 10 passes that ties his his longest streak of the season well big third down here i don't think cleveland is going to take a chance in blitz just because hard to match up with a beat up defensive secondary against the tight end and the wide receivers for the bengals 44 down 56. [Applause] yes up [Applause] third downs beating up the browns here tonight that's the sixth out of 11 occasions they've converted yeah good job really andy dalton does a great job of staying alive it's alive moves in the pocket and finds marvin jones and just like the opening drive oh my gosh marvin jones slipped and then got back up just like the opening drive of the game an uncovered receiver because the defense did something different and they made a middle mistake and gave up big yardage to the bingo's offense jones with another big play for 25 and here's a reverse to sunu with dalton out in front leading the brigade that's a new takes it home for the touchdown [Applause] microphone tonight for us we may have a little reaction who knows he just polishes off the final 25 yards of a 91-yard drive here he comes in the slot good fake up the field and nobody on the backside looking for it cooper a rookie number 96 has the outside force he's not there one of the big problems c96 looking for the runner and look downfield whitworth gets a block and that's aj green shielding as member of the secondary as well they over commit on the defensive side that's why they give up nugent good on the point after [Applause] well you talking about their clever play calling been waiting for something like this tonight it tricked them untouched to the end zone [Music] the cincinnati music hall completed in 1878 over pauper's cemetery we've seen some ghost in there meanwhile it is amazing how creative we talked about it several times and give us a little perspective of how clever they are in cincinnati well they got a couple things they do really well we've talked about that tonight but they always have formation screens and they caught the defense being too aggressive and what do you do to it the defense is too aggressive you run a reverse or a screen so they caught them over pursuing kind of like new england's offense they got to answer for everything jim would you say they're uh right up there with new england two of the yes i do the most creative as we do it let's look at the speed of sunu gets over 20 miles an hour dalton was running out of there pretty good too yeah he was right with him andy dalton could run and we saw this at practice the other day did respect you know i know i'm not just over stating it either the team they all gravitate around andy dalton so it's kind of fun to see a young guy grow up and cover the games over the years sunu's first rush touchdown since 2010 when he's at rutgers playing the game against uconn and here goes manziel turning around and throwing it out of bounds and mentioned maybe sunu had something to say as he was taking off for the end zone let's check it out mic'd up [Applause] that last play great job by adam jones not getting out of position manziel reverse field nowhere to throw second and ten nowhere to go here either and they're gonna get to him their first sack of the night carlos dunlap now carlos dunlap has been close many times tonight number 96 on the outside and he's paired you got a double team number 97 there in the middle geno atkins so you're going to get a lot of one on one blocks if you're a defensive end for the bengals defensive line because if you don't double team gino atkins inside he's going to get to the quarterback and again cleveland without a first down in this half facing third and 15. [Applause] and for the second straight play they get to him it's atkins this time boy looks like a three-man rush and he's on the center just one-on-one against alex mack right in the middle of the screen well i was wrong it was actually the botonio that he was on and not the center they passed him off but gino atkins is back to the way he was in 2013 that's why they don't have to blitz a lot jim because they're so good with their front four defensive linemen lee from the end zone [Applause] watch out for adam jones from the 37th he's going to reverse field twice got a hand on him and then it's finished off by hewitt the long snapper things starting to break down for the browns just gave up a 91-yard touchdown drive saw the quarterback get sacked for the first two times tonight on back-to-back plays tonight's skycam being presented by mazda it's going to be fascinating in the afc the second half of the season cincinnati denver and new england all have such big leads in their divisions and then playing for one of those first-round buys those three you have to figure it's going to be that way to the end jocking for a first round bye as geo ganar stiff arms and gets out for about 12. you know andy dalton drafted in the second round out of tcu back in 2011 and look what's happened by comparison quarterbacks who have started since andy came on board four years ago on the cleveland side from campbell to hoyer you saw earlier colt mccoy josh mccown manziel that's nine dalton hasn't missed a game here he is going up top for the long bed to green and well covered that time by tremont williams yeah stability of the football team the coaching staff here in cincinnati you said it early in the game marvin lewis they realized the organization where they're in that period where they they've got to make that next jump win a playoff game and they think they've got a team that's got a chance to to do it this year of course and how about the way they built the team with so many guys that have really come through their own system 41 players on the roster have only played for the bengals it's third most in the league green bay leads that step here is gia bernard down to the 30 and another first now the other thing about the way they construct their roster there is a heavy emphasis at cincinnati outgoing with players out of the big five conferences there you go 49 on the active roster played for only one team at green bay then the rams and the bengals they've always been this way jim i've always watched you know i want look at rosters all the time and mike brown there's the owner right there in the middle with the hat on and they like big school players they adapt quicker i'm sure that's the thinking to the nfl when you say players from big time conferences when you take the power five conferences and you toss aside for a minute the punter the kicker the long snapper 46 of the 50 on the roster came from from from power five conferences that's an astonishing number well we brought up to marvin lewis and he kind of laughed he goes yeah and we really like those the scc sec schools a lot too or teams that play physical football because they're ready to come in and play nfl style of play i highly recruited players playing in big time schools and big time games before they get here as bernard has another two that number 15 out of the sec how about uh big ten both conferences physical a lot of buy for me it's like he said sometimes you can get a defensive lineman and they've played where they've never really played a football team that lines up in an eye formation and runs right at you this is the whole roster by the way including again the kicker the punter the long snapper but you take those first five lines that you see there and adds up to 46 of the 50. you come from those power five it's amazing jake fisher back up the lineman who has been targeted this year and made a catch he's lined up wide to the left but uh dalton's gonna take up right up the middle and pick up the first sliding for the first really smart andy dalton has not taken one chance with the football tonight you know he's 18 of 23. they spread the field boy that was a in his throwing motion pulls the football down nobody open so he does the next really quick reaction and you know jim you and i have talked about that now that's part of the what you got to do as a quarterback in this league make a decision if it's not there you've got to move the throw or move to pick up a first down back in the red zone where they have that high conversion to touchdown percentage but that play stopped immediately by krueger [Music] replay every game listen live on game day with nfl game pass now at a special price visit nfl.com game pass to start your free trial well they got this this offense is rolling total yards this the first half how about that 201-7 so whatever marvin lewis told tracy wilson after halftime they got it straightened out on the defensive side when they went in that locker room well you saw the yardage numbers first downs in the half 11 to none second and ten he's gone with the triple crown tonight well they've been throwing so many inside breaking rounds in other words those quick slants to the tight end to the wide receivers so it was time hugh jackson calls it perfectly and it's a double move and williams could do nothing about it watch him go up the sideline i mean you know jim if you've been defending that inside passing route all night what makes you think now they're not going to do it so timing is everything when it comes to play calling [Applause] for a good throw tied the franchise single season touchdown mark by a tight end we showed you earlier he ties uh rodney holmen and bob trumpy and ty's trumpy is the only other cincinnati titan to catch three in a game trumpy did it against houston back in a game in 1969 tyler eiffer what a red zone weapon he is dalton finds him for the third time this evening well he's certainly on his way isn't he having the best season ever by a bingle tight in matching records tonight three touchdowns in the game [Music] leads the league now in touchdown receptions on the season [Applause] raised in fort wayne indiana just 25 years old he's going to be the subject by the way of our throwback thursday every week he should be and it's a good one here's a run out of tent coming up that's more to the 24. and this video coming up throwback thursday of tyler wrath eifert courtesy of his mother julie here you go who's your favorite basketball player i love these throwbacks because i can i just can never get over it two years old the size that he was at two years old you heard his father greg asking him questions from behind the camera his dad greg played basketball at purdue back in the early 80s and there's a pass thrown in the direction of barnage the cleveland tied in who's been on such a role this season but tonight two catches 35 yards for barnach look at that it's just it's gone they just can't get anything going in the second half this is the problem with the you know can you run your whole offense your passing offense is johnny manziel ready for that probably not so when you can't get out of the pocket and make plays there's just so little this offense can do of gabriel and third down coming up you've seen a maturity in manziel on the field of course there still is another issue he's dealing with presently ongoing investigation by the nfl about an incident that happened manziel and his girlfriend back on october the 12th [Applause] and nothing has come out on that to this point but it was an argument off the side of an interstate in avon ohio here's a third and 10. [Music] can they finally get a first down and a half pass no intended for bo [Applause] no really the receivers just nothing they can really do but what do they do they're not hey paul gunther defensive coordinator is just not going to sit back and let johnny manziel have a free run of this really good pick up by the cleveland offensive line and the running back but dwayne bo manziel's trying to throw a back shoulder throw but i'm sure there hasn't been much practice between the two trying to make that type of throw they have this 92 yard touchdown drive right before the half and in the second half they cannot pick up a single first down what did marvin lewis say to tracy we got to keep it in the pocket they've done a very good job of it and they just can't make the play from the pocket this is tate kate getting the edge flag is out and he is shoved out after a long return it was tank carter who pushed him to the sideline with seven minutes to go flag is back at the 32-yard line near the area where tate caught it during the return legal block in the back receiving team 10-yard penalty first down timeout second penalty of the night on special teams of cincinnati seven minutes left here will the next person that sees anybody throw anything onto this field point them out or get them out of here you don't lose cleveland our former colleague sam weish fuel on the on the fire of this rivalry 1989 i've seen it a hundred times i laugh every time classic as dalton forced out of the pocket and has a little throwaway just a little reminder here that sunday at nine on nfl network some of the greatest quarterbacks ever sound off on peyton's record-breaking career nfl game day morning live sunday at nine only on nfl network coming off a superb performance a sunday night win against denver against green bay and we will see denver and indianapolis on sunday and of course later in the season cincinnati plays at denver on the last monday of the year which could be huge in deciding this whole seating process as hill tries to step out of a tackle from dansby and you know they're going to be in the playoffs here they are going to be 8-0 here tonight onto the playoffs for the fifth year in dalton's five years and when you talk to people the national media you go on these shows everybody says yeah but dalton he hasn't won in there it means that those seasons right you know that's all they want to talk about is that one game that's going to come up here what did i say the best thing that andy dalton if he wouldn't have went to the playoffs his first couple years if they wouldn't have made it you'd be sitting here boy look at the maturity he's coming forward and all these things but the fact that they've been there four in a row and lost look there's only one thing that's gonna stop the gym get to the playoffs and they gotta win 36. he's got a connection again with ifer out to the 45 but i'll say this of those four play-off losses how many of them were they really supposed to win the one here again against san diego we were here for that game it was a bad performance by everybody dalton didn't play well but they played two games on the road and in the playoffs at houston they're not favored to win those games nope and then of course the the loss last year to oh to indianapolis when they were completely depleted and didn't have as you mentioned earlier the likes of aj green and many others rex burkhead was a wide receiver a running back for him in that game last year yeah and that's hill giving back a couple of yards quarterbacks to lose their first four post-season starts andy dalton and how about this why a tip by the way we've been talking about peyton peyton's first playoff win didn't happen until year six for him [Applause] so the red rifle the best still to come sunu ahead for about eight let me let me phrase it this way last thing about andy dalton real quick he played in the celebrity softball game here for all-star weekend yep he comes to bat doing they booing so he turned it around how did he turn everything around well he hit two home runs is about as far as you can hit a home run then they cheered him and it's kind of the same thing when you think about this football what's going on here there's only one way you're going to get the cheers the national media even here in cincinnati they gotta continue the way they're playing now hope they stay healthy like you said this team's gonna be in the playoffs and what keeps you motivated is the fact there's two other teams out there in the afc that are undefeated too time out first charge timeout cincinnati bingles with 419 to go yeah it gets tiresome at times that you know things get boiled down to just one single thing like you can't do this or can't do that well that's it doesn't matter it doesn't matter he had what 47 wins coming in on his career into this game only a number exceeded in that span by tom brady and aaron rodgers got his 23rd road win at pittsburgh on sunday which ties the most in the history of anybody playing his first five years in the league by the way he's gonna break that we're gonna have more road games to come you're not gonna win this battle every time we do a bingo's game and i know it gets me upset too because i know how hard it is to play in the league and how hard it is to win a game and to have the success and put up the numbers that he has what he has done it's it's awesome but it's just it's the age we live in now that's the way they're judged i think it's unfair but you can't change it third and two they stack them at the line still don't have them down and hill finally has to surrender back at the line of scrimmage john hughes the third got to him first look at this group boy that's you know what's interesting about this is look at these teams at all of course green bay if somebody had to lose that green bay denver game all of these teams got off to these undefeated starts you're looking at the three afc unbeatens at new england cincinnati and denver and you know green bay which plays at carolina an unbeaten the other unbeaten this weekend one loss on the year so they've carried on they've carried on what they've been doing here these past four to six years [Applause] marlon moore gets in and able to block the punt of hubert [Applause] there's table the special teams coach yes i was trying to pick him out he was inside thought he might be the edge guy that did it with speed but no he got an edge and used power to block the punt [Applause] sets up the browns at the 37. [Applause] got a conversion to both the second catch of the game down to the 21 and again the first first down of the half for cleveland well what you do here in a situation like this cincinnati going to play it looks like they're going to play it safe but it's just more good reps for this offense and of course for johnny manziel trying to get out of traffic and froze it through the end zone 2 51 to go yeah it's going to be interesting too as this game ends jim you know i know that we talked to mike pettin last night about it and you know everybody it was i heard it all over tv today what would cleveland do if johnny manziel plays well and they win and you know honestly if i thought if he played really well here tonight if they had a chance to maybe keep it close or upset the cincinnati bengals he might have been the starting quarterback in their next game against pittsburgh but [Applause] what i've seen tonight with the offense not against johnny manziel i think they'll go back to josh mccann second and ten and the receiver fell down it was barnage well he hasn't played poorly no not at all they've got a game at pittsburgh coming up next sunday but joshua count has played really well so that you gotta factor that in you look at that schedule what did i just say to you with a commercial i said the cleveland browns they need a bye week just the trade rumors the injuries your quarterback being hurt so much going on they need to regroup get rested up get healthy and come back out and finish the year so they get the bye after pittsburgh they actually then don't play again until uh two weeks later on a monday here's manzel from the pocket through the back of the ends and they have one game coming up after they play pittsburgh but well the pittsburgh game is the only one in a 25-day stretch so they will get some time away the mini buy here the buy coming up after the next game [Applause] and now it's gonna be fourth and ten tell you what cincinnati's defensive backfield they have had some night he did break the pocket hurt his own a couple times but when he's now moving around their man-to-man coverage they are staying right with these wide receivers he's completed only one of his last nine attempts a threatening blitz here they come gets it away it's caught by bow can he fight for the yardage he does [Applause] that's a really good play by johnny manziel i'll tell you the other thing they've done well tonight when you talk about cleveland's offense and they've only got 10 points but they're picking up the blitzes and cincy has shown some that you wouldn't expect them to blitz that last play they pick it up give johnny manziel some time and he did a great job of throwing it off his back foot getting the completion this is where barnage has been so dangerous this year again the protection breaks down he got hit when he threw it and it's incomplete that was michael johnson as we reached the two-minute warning who got the hit on the quarterback watch this [Music] and reminder that the mazda post game show coming up just a few minutes we're coming out of the two minute warning with the browns at the 10 yard line andy dalton is going to be on the set after the game on the post game show i don't know if he knows that yet but he is i don't think he'll mind his second and goal and here they come they got him it's dunlap well just the coverage nowhere to throw the football and carlos dunlap in this group they're just too good to hold out that long he's got his buddy back on the other side michael johnson coming back from tampa bay gino atkins is healthy montez perfect back in the lineup third and goal sliding down to about the 12 you say you talk about dunlap and his buddies on the other side on the offensive side he's got his buddy aj green they used to compete against each other down in south carolina back in high school basketball and football but how about a.j green mr football and mr basketball in the state of south carolina you don't hear that all the time no you don't fourth and goal it might have been past the line of scrimmage throws and it's dropped by kirkpatrick who would have had to have beaten one guy greco otherwise it could have been a 100 yard return so that penalty will be declined cincinnati first down there you go he was past the line so coming up next the mazda post game show again interviews and analysis of tonight's game you're gonna have the bengals at eight and oh and the browns about to fall to two and seven the fourth consecutive loss as for cincinnati they've got uh a date with houston here november 16th at arizona that should be quite a game there yes saint louis and then the second matchup of this series will be in cleveland december the 6th let me say this real quick about the cincinnati bengals you look at the team at every phase lying on both sides receivers defensive back safeties there's really not a weakness on this team which we talked about many times tonight and what about manziel well listen i i thought he played well at times but you could see the offense the limitations that are on it because he's just not ready for all the drop back passing game which is really what they've been doing this year so a good effort by johnny manziel tonight made some plays but the best team won that's for sure well last week cleveland was up 13 on arizona got outscored 24 to nothing in the second half tonight it was a 14-10 cincinnati lead at the intermission a tight game but then cleveland gets out scored 17-nothing in the second half on this occasion [Applause] dalton tonight 78 completion percentage the third highest of his career he had not played well the last couple of years on thursday night but he certainly did on this occasion too 234 yards and three touchdowns no mistakes that big eight no boy that'll give you that's listen you could feel the energy of this team when we were at practice they're building something 8-0 that they're going to be look they're going to be riding this until the end because the other two unbeaten teams josh mccown comes over given not to dalton the first team in the league now to eight wins to cincinnati winning it 31-10 coming up next the mazda post game show for phil tracy mike carey back in the studio jim nance thanks so long from cincinnati you've been watching thursday night football

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Length: 123min 35sec (7415 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 17 2020