Bengals Won A Professional Football Game Despite Gaining 7 Yards Of Offense In Second Half

As everyone knows, the object of a football game is to score more points than the other team, and those points usually come from the offense.

For said points to be scored, the offense needs to move the ball down the field. Why am I starting this article by giving an incredibly remedial explanation of how football works?

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It’s because the Cincinnati Bengals forgot that basic concept of the game, yet somehow won on Sunday.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 07: Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals is sacked by Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns during the game at Huntington Bank Field on September 07, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

(Yes, I’m spoiling the ending, but just hang with me. These numbers are insane.)

Heading into the second half, the Bengals held a slight 14-10 edge on Cleveland. In the third quarter, they were able to get a field goal after the defense set them up on the Browns side of the field to go up 17-10. They gained 17 yards on that drive on the three plays that moved them forward.

That was the only drive Cincinnati had the rest of the half with multiple plays for positive yards.

I’m not kidding. Here’s a quick breakdown of how bad the offense was.

• Joe Burrow had 25 passing yards in the second half, less than a third of his first half production (88).
• Cincinnati ran 10 running plays in the third and fourth quarters. Five of them went for 0 or negative yards.
• The offense surrendered more sacks (three) than then it had positive plays (two) in the fourth quarter.
• Five of the six drives Cincinnati had in the second half were three and outs.

In total, that totaled…

I pity anyone who started anybody on the Bengals' offense in fantasy this week.

And yet, because their opponent was the Browns, Cincinnati won the game 17-16 because of a missed field goal just before the two-minute warning.

If that’s not the most Cleveland thing I’ve ever seen, I don’t know what is.

"Anytime you can win like this, kind of steal one. So we stole one today and have to do that," Burrow said.

Starting the season 1-0 ain’t bad. But they won’t win any other games if they can’t fix the offense.

Well, except for that final other game against the Browns…