Cleveland Browns' slim playoff hopes take devastating hit with loss to Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI — The Browns couldn't keep the streaks alive.

They couldn't extend the modest two-game winning streak they had entering the weekend. They couldn't bolster the five-game winning streak they had in their series with the Cincinnati Bengals or build on their 4-0 record against quarterback Joe Burrow, either.

Those streaks ended in a 23-10 loss on Sunday, which likely ended any legitimate hopes the Browns had to reach the playoffs. They fell to 5-8 this season while Cincinnati won its fifth in a row to remain tied with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North at 9-4.

The Browns will host the Ravens at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

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If there was a silver lining on the field for the Browns, it came in Deshaun Watson's second start of the season. The Browns quarterback settled in as the game went along to complete 26-of-42 passes for 276 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

That was a vast improvement over his Cleveland debut last week in Houston, when he was 12-of-22 for 131 yards with an interception.

Jacoby Brissett makes cameo appearance in ill-timed play call by Kevin Stefanski

In Watson's first possession of his second start, he came out with a nice 18-yard pass to Amari Cooper and a 13-yard strike to David Bell. He later hit David Njoku for a 3-yard reception and kept another read option for 6 yards.

That all led to the Browns facing a fourth-and-1 from the Cincinnati 26-yard line. So what did coach Kevin Stefanski do? He actually called on Jacoby Brissett to come in for Watson.

Only, Stefanski didn't call a quarterback sneak for Brissett. Instead, he had him throw a corner route to Donovan Peoples-Jones, which sailed too long and gave the Bengals the ball back.

Browns penalties provide pathway to Bengals to break scoreless tie

The Bengals took a 7-0 lead when Burrow threw a 15-yard laser to Ja'Marr Chase with 9:43 remaining in the first half. It closed out a drive, however, which could have ended much earlier if not for a lot of help from the Browns.

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There were three huge penalties on the Cleveland defense that allowed Cincinnati to move down the field. The biggest of those came on fourth down from the Bengals 17, when Tony Fields II dropped Cincinnati's Drue Chrisman for a roughing the punter penalty and a fresh set of downs.

The Browns had two other penalties on back-to-back plays that also had a major impact. Isaiah Thomas was flagged for illegal hands to the face, negating a Jadeveon Clowney sack of Burrow.

On the next play, Denzel Ward was flagged for pass interference, a penalty which netted Cincinnati 33 yards to the Browns 30. Four plays later, Burrow threw the touchdown pass to Chase.

Running game keys impressive Browns drive that ends in field goal

The Browns managed to get points right after the Bengals' touchdown. Not a coincidence, it was also arguably their best drive in terms of running the ball.

The Bengals defense did a solid job all day keeping the Browns' rushing attack under wraps. However, Cleveland was able to run on nine of the 13 plays on its drive after Cincinnati's score.

That running game netted 27 yards on the drive. Watson also connected on a 12-yard screen pass to Nick Chubb and a 24-yard pass to Cooper.

All of that, however, ended with the Browns only getting three points. Cade York made a 26-yard field goal to cut the Bengals' lead to 7-3 with 2:59 left in the first half.

Another big defensive penalty aids another Bengals scoring drive

The Bengals took a 13-3 halftime lead thanks to another scoring drive, which was kept alive by another ill-timed Browns defensive penalty. This time, it was a third-down sack of Burrow that would've given the ball back to Cleveland, even with Cincinnati being flagged on a hold during the play.

However, safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. was called for defensive holding. That made it offsetting penalties and led to no play.

On the next snap, Burrow hit Trent Taylor for a 34-yard pass to the Cleveland 19. The drive then closed out with Samaje Perine bouncing off a would-be shoulder tackle by Deion Jones and running into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.

Bengals dive into bag of tricks to extend their lead

The Browns' over-aggressiveness on defense was taken advantage of by the Bengals to make the score 20-3. Burrow handed the ball off to Joe Mixon, who then flipped it back to the quarterback for a flea-flicker.

Browns safety Grant Delpit bit hard on the handoff, allowing Trenton Irwin to run wide open past the secondary. It became an easy pitch-and-catch for Burrow, who completed the 45-yard touchdown pass.

Deshaun Watson finds his favorite target, David Njoku

Watson's made a habit of looking to the tight end throughout his pro career, especially deep in opposing territory. So it wasn't a surprise that David Njoku played a big role in the quarterback's first touchdown pass with the Browns.

Njoku had three consecutive catches to cap the Browns' 10-play, 71-yard scoring drive to make it 20-10 Cincinnati with 2:17 left in the third quarter. The last of those catches was a 13-yard catch-and-run in which Njoku got just inside the pylon.

Watson completed 6-of-7 passes for 83 yards on the drive, and the one incompletion was overturned on a Cincinnati challenge when Cooper didn't hold onto a ball on the sideline. Watson had a big 21-yard throw to Peoples-Jones on the drive, which put the Browns in Bengals territory.

Missed tackle allows Joe Mixon to get free to set up field goal

The first play after the Browns' touchdown, Delpit had a chance to tackle Mixon for a short gain. However, Mixon bounced off Delpit and ran 40 yards to the Cleveland 35.

The Bengals turned that into a 30-yard Evan McPherson field goal for a 23-10 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Deshaun Watson finds some rhythm but can't get points

Watson settled into a bit of a rhythm as the fourth quarter went along. However, that wasn't enough to get the Browns any closer on the scoreboard.

The quarterback followed up a 16-yard strike to Peoples-Jones with an underthrown ball that Jessie Bates III intercepted with 13:39 remaining. The Browns would come up with their own pick by Jones to prevent the Watson interception from turning into points.

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Watson moved the Browns down to the Bengals 6 after that pick by completing 6-of-10 passes. With the Browns facing fourth down, Watson's pass on a fade route to Peoples-Jones was broken up to turn the last serious Cleveland threat away.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' winning streak ends with loss to Joe Burrow, Bengals