Cleveland Browns snap losing streak in blowout win vs. Cincinnati Bengals on 'Monday Night Football'

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns came into Monday night's AFC North showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals carrying with them the demons of a four-game losing streak. They faced the specter of spending their bye week wondering what level of Hades their season was spiraling towards.

Turns out, they didn't need an exorcist to rid themselves of what they were possessed by over the first seven games. All they needed was easily their best all-around performance of the first half of the season in rolling to a 32-13 win over the Bengals.

The win was the Browns' eighth win in their last nine meetings against their in-state rivals. It's also their fifth consecutive win in the series, extending their longest win streak against Cincinnati.

The Browns followed the perfect formula to improve to 3-5 as they reach the bye week. They ran the ball well with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, hit some timely passes from Jacoby Brissett and put together their best defensive effort of the season to rattle Joe Burrow.

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Myles Garrett's big paw makes first big play for Browns

Myles Garrett talked about putting Joe Burrow "in the dirt" two days prior to Monday's game. Garrett's first step toward backing up that talk didn't involve a sack, but a deflection.

Cincinnati took the opening kickoff to the Cleveland 27, where it had a first down. Garrett would manage to get his hand up and deflect Burrow's pass on the next play.

The deflection went to cornerback A.J. Green, who came up with the interception at the Browns 16.

Browns defense puts Joe Burrow 'in the dirt' often

Garrett's deflection may have been the first big play by the Browns against Burrow. It was far from the last one.

In fact, it was the way the Browns pressured Burrow all night that allowed them to carry the shutout into the fourth quarter. It was really just more of what they've done to the Cincinnati star since he came into the league in 2020.

The Browns sacked Burrow five times Monday night. Coming into the game, the three previous times Cleveland had faced him, they had sacked him a combined 12 times.

Garrett, Sione Takitaki, Deion Jones and Isaiah Thomas along with a combination of Garrett and Taven Bryan, all had sacks of Burrow for the Browns. They also had seven hits on him.

Takitaki's sack was a strip of Burrow, which Tommy Togiai recovered.

Burrow finished 25-of-35 for 232 yards with two fourth-quarter touchdowns and an interception.

Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt spend a lot of time together

There has been a lot of conversation surrounding Kareem Hunt's future in Cleveland with the NFL trade deadline coming Tuesday afternoon at 4. His present as of Monday night, through, was spending a lot of time on the field, including time together with Nick Chubb.

Browns own mistakes prevent them from blowing game open early

The Browns eventually grabbed a double-digit lead at halftime. They eventually added to that lead in the second half.

They could've done that even earlier were it not for their own mistakes. There was a blocked 53-yard field goal in which the Bengals' B.J. Hill came off the left edge untouched on the Browns' first drive.

There was an poorly-thrown receiver pass by Amari Cooper that was easily intercepted by Cincinnati's Vonn Bell on their second possession. The third possession was derailed when a third-down catch by Cooper was overturned on a challenge by Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor.

There was also the strip-sack of Brissett just after the two-minute warning that negated another drive inside Bengals territory.

Cade York gets the best in battle of young kickers

Cade York's night didn't get off to the best of starts when Hill swept in and blocked his 53-yard try on the Browns' first drive. That would be about the only negative for the rookie kicker out of LSU.

York made up for that block on the final play of the first half, powering through a 55-yard field goal for an 11-0 halftime lead. He also made all three of his point-after kicks.

On the other side, Cincinnati's second-year kicker Evan McPherson had a rough night on the lakefront. McPherson pushed a 47-yard field goal wide right with 40 seconds left in the first half, and then shanked a PAT.

The two were in on six plays over the Browns' initial three possessions. It was the most they had been on the field together for since playing together for eight plays in the season opener against Carolina.

Whether they were together or separate, the two backs certainly had themselves a night on national television, and it started in the first half. Chubb had 40 yard and a touchdown on nine first-half carries, while Hunt coupled 11 first-half yards on three carries with 30 receiving yards on four catches.

Chubb finished the game with 23 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns, his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season. Hunt had 11 carries for 42 yards, plus four catches for 30 yards.

York got the best of McPherson the last time the two kickers were on the same field in college. That was in 2020, when York's 57-yard field goal in the fog helped his LSU team beat McPherson's Florida team.

Amari Cooper makes up big for early mistakes

Cooper had the bad pick on the second possession. He had the overturned catch on the third one. And all of that came after the pass interference flag in Baltimore negated the go-ahead touchdown.

Turns out, that was just some early adversity for some late heroics.

Cooper finished the game with 131 yards on five catches. That included two huge catches to set up second-half scores, and a nifty toe-tapping 4-yard touchdown catch to give the Browns a 25-0 third-quarter lead.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns rout Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football