CINCINNATI — Zac Taylor told his team that Sunday’s 20-18 season-ending loss to the Cleveland Browns was a fitting end to the season.
Ted Karras called the 2025 Bengals the “would-be kings.”
Ja’Marr Chase suggested that if anyone isn’t upset with the way this season turned out, they shouldn’t be on the team in 2026.
All of it applies after the Bengals failed to close out a game for the final time this season, letting an 18-17 lead slip through their hands in the closing seconds and letting Myles Garrett make NFL history in the process. Garrett had to wait until the final moments of the final game of the season for his NFL sack record, but it was his kicker that won the game as time expired to lift the visiting Cleveland Browns to a 20-18 win over the Bengals Sunday in Cincinnati.
Andre Szmyt, who missed a short field goal and an extra point against Cincinnati in the season opener, won the game with a 49-yard field goal as time expired for the win. By contrast, Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson missed a pair of extra points that turned out to be the difference.
Garrett got his record-setting sack on a day when his defensive teammates added a pair of touchdowns. With 22 sacks after 15 games, Garrett needed one sack entering the final two games against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to pass Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt for the NFL single-season record. Both Strahan and Watt were tied with the mark at 22.5.
With 5:04 left in the fourth quarter, Garrett rushed up the middle and Burrow slid to the turf for his 23rd sack, breaking the old mark of 22.5 by Strahan and Watt. The Cleveland sideline rushed onto the field to congratulate him, delaying the game for a minute.
Trailing 17-12 with 2:41 remaining, Burrow led the Bengals on a seven-play, 61-yard drive, capped by a four-yard scoring strike to Chase in the left side of the end zone to put the Bengals up, 18-17, with 1:29 left.
Rookie Sheduer Sanders completed 11-of-22 passes for just 111 yards but improved to 3-4 as a starter for the Browns (5-12), who finished with back-to-back wins against AFC North rivals. The Browns lost their starting center Luke Wypler to a knee injury as the Browns struggled offensively throughout the game.
Joe Burrow finished 29-of-39 passing on the day for 236 yards and three touchdowns while Chase Brown reached the 1,000-yard rushing milestone for the first time and caught a touchdown pass for the Bengals (6-11), who finished a massively disappointing season with a loss to their archrival.
The Bengals appeared to be in line for another easy day in their season finale before the home crowd when Joe Burrow found a wide-open Chase Brown for a four-yard touchdown in the flat for a 6-0 Cincinnati lead, after Evan McPherson missed the extra point. The touchdown was set up by a strip sack of Shedeur Sanders by Cam Sample and a recovery by Howard Cross at the Cleveland 29.
The turnover would be an omen of things to come.
Cleveland was forced to punt and Cincinnati drove to the Cleveland 7. But on first-and-goal, Shelby Harris tipped a Burrow pass intended for Tee Higgins and Devin Bush picked it off at the Cleveland 3 and returned it 97 yards for a 7-6 Browns lead. It was the fifth Cincinnati pass intercepted this season that was returned for a defensive touchdown, three by Burrow.
On the ensuing Cincinnati drive, Burrow found tight end Noah Fant for a five-yard completion at the Cincinnati 46. But linebacker Jerome Baker knocked the ball loose just before Fant hit the ground and Cleveland cornerback Sam Webb scooped it up and raced 47 yards for the touchdown. It marked the third time this season that a Fant fumble has been returned for a defensive touchdown.
Bengals fans became more restless in the second quarter when facing fourth-and-inches at the Cleveland 45, the Bengals decided not to go for it but instead took a delay of game trying to draw the Browns offside and eventually punted. The crowd showered the Bengals with boos after a punt.
The Bengals redeemed themselves a bit late in the first half when Burrow found Tee Higgins on a perfectly-placed fade pass in the end zone for Tee Higgins, who caught the ball for his team-leading 11th touchdown of the season. The score cut Cleveland’s lead to 14-12 at the half, with McPherson again missing the extra point, his third missed point after attempt in two games.
Needing 53 yards for a 1,000 rushing yards on the season, third-year Cincinnati running back Chase Brown concluded his best year with 72 yards on 13 carries.
Cleveland’s top corner Denzel Ward sustain a neck injury in the first half and did not return.
