The Bengals won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball first — which wound up being unfortunate for Brandton Tate, aka "Glass Joe." The return specialist again went down to injury and was lost for the entire game.
But Andy Dalton and the offense kept their heads held high as they took the field. And it didn't take long for the red-headed quarterback to find Jermaine Gresham deep for a huge 68-yard gain. This would get the Bengals all the way down to the Cleveland two-yard line.
Dalton sneaked the ball in from that spot for the touchdown and the early 7-0 lead for Cincinnati.
But the Cleveland offense came right back with a score of their own as a trick flea flicker play found Josh Gordon wide open in the end zone for the 34-yard score. This tied things up at 7 apiece.
On the next Bengals drive, it looked as if this game was turning into an air raid battle as a Dalton bomb found Mohamed Sanu deep in Browns territory.
The completion got Cincinnati to the 18-yard line but that's as far as the Cleveland defense would allow them to go. So Mike Nugent came out onto the field for the 35-yard field goal attempt.
It was good, and the Bengals found themselves again with the lead at 10-7.
On the ensuing Cleveland drive, they would make it into Bengals territory before they ran into the brick wall known as Rey Maualuga.
The Browns would have to settle for a field goal, which was drilled by kicker Billy Cundiff.
This evened things up again, 10-10, and that's what the score would remain as the game entered halftime.
In a quick first half, there wasn't a whole lot of offense on the stat sheet. Dalton had 106 yards through the air and was actually leading the team in rushing with only six yards. Since it was the Cleveland Throwback Game, they welcomed back Trent Richardson who mustered 36 yards on the ground.
Anxious for second half action to get underway, Bengal fans and Brown fans alike put together a stadium-wide wave that really had the place buzzing.
The Browns would get the ball first in the second half looking to break the 10-10 tie. But a quick Bengals interception ended their drive quickly.
Cincinnati was unable to take advantage of the turnover, however, punting it away following four straight downs.
The Browns suffered a quick three-and-out of their own punting it right back to the Bengals. But back-to-back sacks of Andy Dalton would end the Bengal drive and the third quarter as well. The game remained in a tie at 10-10.
On the following Browns drive, they turned to their old faithful flea flicker play which found Jordan Cameron in the end zone this time. This would give the Browns a 17-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
So Cincinnati would take over with 1:54 left to play needing seven points for the tie.
It was Orson Charles this time who was the benefactor of a deep Dalton pass. He got all the way to the Browns 22-yard line before he was taken down.
Needing 22 more yards for the score, the Bengals called "The Law Firm" who swept around the Browns defense for a touchdown scamper.
This would again tie things up at 17-17 as the game entered the final minute of regulation.
And the Bengals defense held strong that final minute as another Rey Maualuga sack ended the Cleveland drive and the fourth quarter.
Since four quarters weren't enough for the Battle of Ohio, the game headed into overtime with both teams knotted up at 17.
The Bengals would win the coin toss and took possession of the ball first.
Some fine BJGE running got the Bengals to about the Cleveland 38-yard line but that's where the drive stalled out. They would bring out Nugent for the 55-yard field goal attempt.
It had the distance but bounced off the goal post before it could go through. So the Bengals would hand the ball over to Cleveland giving them decent field position to take their stab at winning the game.
But the Bengals defense would be clutch yet again as they forced a fumble and recovered it down around the Cleveland 32-yard line.
In a game of back and forth, the Bengals were finally able to end it as Andy Dalton found Jermaine Gresham in the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
This would make the final score in overtime the Bengals 23, the Browns 17.
Green-Ellis woke up in the second half following a dismal first half. He ended up with 62 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Neither team put up much yardage through the air other than the few Dalton bombs and the Brown flea flickers.
The win helped to give the Bengals some breathing room in the division, and some much-needed momentum as they head into their bye week next week.
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