Jake-mania keeps rolling.
Quarterback Jake Browning pitched the Bengals back into the thick of the AFC playoff picture Sunday at sleet-streaked Paycor Stadium when he hit 75% more of his passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns to engineer 7-6 Cincinnati to a 34-14 victory over the 7-6 Colts.
Running back Joe Mixon ran for 79 yards on 21 carries and Pro Bowl right end Trey Hendrickson took over the fourth quarter. He had one of his two sacks and pulled Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew II’s arm on another snap to set up defensive tackle B.J. Hill’s first career regular-season interception as the Bengals defense suffocated Indy on 46 rushing yards. Half the 18 attempts went for two yards or less.
With the Bengals up, 28-14 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, Browning came running off the field holding his right thumb and kept running with Bengals athletic trainer Mike Houck into the locker room, where it was discovered he had a cramp.
A week after the Colts blocked two punts, the Bengals turned the special teams tables early in the fourth quarter when Isaiah McKenzie muffed a punt and rookie cornerback DJ Ivey recovered at the Colts 12. That translated into an Evan McPherson field goal for a 31-14 lead.
But not before No. 3 QB AJ McCarron appeared to throw his first NFL touchdown pass since he threw six for the Bengals in 2015 after Andy Dalton broke, of all things, his thumb. But wide receiver Tee Higgins (two catches for 72 yards) was called for pushing off and Browning was back, fresh off an IV, to hand off a 111-yard rushing effort in their first back-to-back 100-yard games of the season as he finished 18 of 24 and a 122.7 passer rating.
The Bengals built the lead to 28-14 when Mixon lined up at fullback in front of rookie running back Chase Brown and bulled inside the 5 to convert a fourth-and-one. Browning then went under center from the 1 and when tackle Orlando Brown folded down the entire left side, Mixon…
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