(Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND -- Today marked former Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson's first return to FirstEnergy stadium, and the Browns were fired up. After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Browns offense found their rhythm. Faced with a 4th and 4 on the Cincinnati 15-yard-line, Mayfield dropped back and found Jarvis Landry across the middle for the first down. Mayfield then followed up with a touchdown pass to David Njoku in the left corner of the end zone. On the following offensive drive, the Browns ran a reverse trick play, as Jarvis Landry stepped back and launched a 63-yard pass to Breshad Perriman, which set up another Mayfield touchdown.
Coming out of halftime, the sold out crowd at FirstEnergy Stadium was buzzing as the Browns found themselves leading the Bengals 16-0. The third quarter remained scoreless until Baker Mayfield drove the Browns down the field, eventually scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Rashard "Hollywood" Higgins. Cincinnati scored for the first time in the game with 15:00 left in the fourth quarter, as Bullock nailed a 51-yard field goal.
The Bengals found momentum in the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, as Driskel led the Bengals to back to back scoring drives, trimming the Browns lead to 8. Needing to either maintain possession for the remainder of the game, or score to put the Bengals to bed, Baker Mayfield had all eyes on him. On 2nd down and 4 on the Browns 32-yard-line, Mayfield dropped back and hit Njoku across the middle, then made a few defenders miss as Njoku took the ball down inside the opposing 5-yard-line. After the play, Mayfield stared down Hue Jackson as he trotted toward the end zone.
The Cleveland Browns swept the Cincinnati Bengals for the first time since 2002, and will look to close out the season with a win a win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns will travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens on Sunday, December 30th, at M&T Bank Stadium, kick-off set for 1:00 pm ET.