QB Brandon Weeden rises but Cleveland Browns lose 34-27 to Cincinnati Bengals – NFL Recap
Proving true to the hopes of coach Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden rebounded strongly on the disappointed start to his pro league career and threw for 322 yards in a competitively played game against the Cincinnati Bengals
on Sunday, but unfortunately result of Browns' second game – 34-27 loss – was similar to their season opener.
As a matter of fact, the Bengals were quite relieved to have won the game as it was overall an undisciplined show put up by them. Wide receiver A.J. Green concedes:
"It's a relief. We had butterflies. We felt like we needed this one. Now we can just relax and go back to playing."
It was nevertheless a hard-fought game and the win has helped the Bengals equalise with Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens (1-1) in the American Football Conference (AFC) North as the Baltimore Ravens lost their game to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Weeden’s performance was a bright spot of the game. After having made a miserable start to his pro career, the QB bounced back, completing 26 out of 37 passes for 322 yards.
He said of his game:
"We're getting there. The running game definitely takes a lot of pressure off of me. It helps when you run the ball."
Brandon did not appear to be a player what he was during the preseason and then in the season opener, although the Browns had greater chances of a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, who had won at the end – thanks to a touchdown by their quarterback Michael
Vick into closing two minutes of the game, and he did the same to defeat the Ravens as well.
Weeden’s contribution in the game was supplemented to an extent by running back Trent Richardson who has become Browns’ first rookie to run for over a hundred (100) yards, and also to score on a run and a pass in the same game.
Trent, who returned from a knee surgery to debut the pro career, said:
"I had a big stat day and it was a much better game for me. I wouldn't call it a complete game. It's coming along. We did a good job, but I think we can be even better."
The Bengals, on the other hand, had rather a rough and tough game, irrespective of the result, and as Green notes they were lucky at the end to have won the game. It was down on the impressive performance from QB Andy Dalton once again.
Andy completed 24 of 31 passes for 318 yards. Other performances were not as significant as of the quarterback. A particular disappointing outcome for Dalton can be that he was sacked six times while he also sent an interception, and he must have another
look at his plays in the video recordings to rectify his mistakes.
Tags: