The Browns running offense has been slow to get to form against the Bengals with the return of Peyton Hillis. The two teams are tied at 7-7 after the first quarter partly because of the Browns’ inability to run the ball.
Browns running back Chris Ogbonnaya, who ran for more than 100 yards last week, had just one carry in the first quarter. He took it for 11 yards. The returning Hillis has just 13 yards on five carries.
For the quarter, Browns quarterback Colt McCoy has completed three of six passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. A third-down scramble by McCoy on the team’s second drive came up just shy of a first down giving the Bengals the ball back with good field position.
Using the short field, the Bengals used a heavy dose of running back Cedric Benson to tie the game at 7-7. Benson has 64 yards on just nine carries in the first quarter. He’s touched the ball on 11 of Cincinnati’s 16 plays.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has been efficient, completing five of six passes for 65 yards. He connected on a 24-yard pass to fellow rookie A.J. Green to help set up Benson’s 16-yard touchdown run.
On the Bengals’ first drive, the Browns held strong stopping Bengals running back Cedric Benson on fourth-and-goal. The Bengals chose to go for it on fourth after quarterback Andy Dalton came up short on a third-dwn run. The Browns are getting pretty good at goal-line defense. The team stopped the Jaguars at the goal last week to close off a win.