Quick Hits: Charlie Jones Provides Early Spark, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins Help Bengals Pull Away From Browns, 21-14

CLEVELAND — It wasn’t pretty but the Bengals finally found a way to get the job done in Cleveland.

Charlie Jones returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for his first career kickoff touchdown return and Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins caught touchdown passes as the Bengals pulled away for a 21-14 win Sunday at a sun-splashed Huntington Field.

Joe Burrow finished 15-of-25 for 181 yards after struggling in the first half, tossing touchdowns of 18 yards to Chase and 25 yards to Higgins in the second half. The Bengals raised their record to 3-4, winning consecutive games for the first time this season. Cleveland remains in the AFC North cellar at 1-6.

It was Cincinnati’s first win in Cleveland since Oct. 1, 2017, snapping a six-game skid in Cleveland.

With 2:09 left in the fourth quarter, Geno Stone and Vonn Bell collided on a pass from Jameis Winston. Stone appeared to injure his lower left leg and was carted off with an brace on the leg. Winston, Cleveland’s third quarterback on the day, threw a touchdown pass to David Njoku with 1:27 left but Mike Gesicki recovered the onside kick to seal the win.

Cleveland starting quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles injury late in the second quarter and was carted off as players from both teams surrounded him on the field. There was a smattering of cheers and applause as the cart came onto the field to take the unpopular quarterback to the locker room.

Charlie Jones took the game’s opening kickoff and used a key block from Drew Sample to race 100 yards for Cincinnati’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since Brandon Wilson against the Giants in 2020.

Drew Sample made a perfect block Tony Brown II to open the seam and Jones had his first career kickoff return for a touchdown to go with his lone career punt return for a touchdown against Baltimore in Week 2 of 2023.

It was Cincinnati’s first touchdown in the first quarter in Cleveland in 2016 and their first lead in Cleveland since 2019.

The Bengals caught a break when Dustin Hopkins pulled a 49-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Orlando Brown Jr. suffered a right knee injury on a Burrow drop back midway through the second quarter on an incomplete third down attempt.

Deshaun Watson was injured and had to be carted off with a leg injury on Cleveland’s last drive of the first half that resulted in a Nick Chubb one-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal. Watson was in the pocket and took off going forward before his left knee appeared to buckle.

On the first play after Watson was carted off, Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw a fade to the end zone to Cedric Tillman. DJ Turner had position in the end zone and as he was turning, Tillman appeared to push off and both fell to the ground. Turner was called for defensive pass interference, putting the ball at the Cincinnati 1.

The Bengals caught a break on a procedure penalty before Chubb ran it in for a touchdown in his first game back from a knee injury. Hopkins missed his second kick of the half when he failed to convert the game-tying extra-point.

Another questionable call hurt the Bengals in the final 40 seconds of the first half when Burrow had Ja’Marr Chase on a fly route down the left sideline. But the pass interference call flag was picked up, ruled to be uncatchable.

The Bengals stopped Cleveland on 4th-and-2 on a Thompson-Robinson incomplete pass and drove 65 yards, highlighted by a 22-yard Chase Brown run around the right end and capped by an 18-yard fade for Chase’s sixth touchdown of the season.

Sam Hubbard grabbed his first career interception when a Thompson-Robinson pass deflected off the hands of Cedric Tillman. The Bengals could do nothing with the gift at the Browns 43.

The Bengals made it 21-6 when Burrow hit Tee Higgins on an in-slant on third-and-4 at the Browns 25 with 1:30 left in the third quarter.