The first battle of Ohio of the 2011 NFL schedule went to the Cincinnati Bengals, but they had to come back to score a 27-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
NFL Scores Week 1: Andy Dalton’s Injury Doesn’t Stop Bengals Vs. Browns
It took two quarterbacks and late heroics, but Cincinnati got a win in the battle of Ohio against Cleveland.
Cincy got good quarterback play from both Andy Dalton, who threw for 81 yards and a touchdown before being injured, and Bruce Gradkowski, who led the Bengals to 14 fourth quarter points. But Cedric Benson was the constant for both signal-callers, rushing for 121 yards and salting the Bengals' win away with a 39-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. A.J. Green contributed a decent debut, too: the rookie receiver's only reception of the day Gradkowski's go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland's offense was good enough to rally back from a 13-0 deficit and claim a 17-13 lead in the third quarter, but not good enough to come away with a win. Colt McCoy completing just 19 of 40 passes for 213 yards was part of that struggle, but Peyton Hillis' underwhelming outing (17 carries, 57 yards) didn't help, and 11 penalties for 72 yards only set the Browns back.
For more on the Bengals, head over to Cincy Jungle; for more on the Browns, check out Dawgs By Nature. Stay tuned to our NFL Week 1 StoryStream for up-to-the-minute updates from around the NFL, head to the Week 1 NFL scores StoryStream for recaps of all the day’s games, and bookmark SB Nation NFL for regular news and analysis.
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