The Browns fell in an early hole, struggled on both sides of the ball and failed to score more than a field goal Sunday in a lopsided loss to the Bengals.
The AFC North-leading Bengals scored 20 unanswered points in the first half and didn't let off the gas, sending the Browns to their seventh consecutive loss, 37-3, at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Browns fell to 2-10 with the loss. Cincinnati moved to 10-2 with its third straight win over Cleveland.
Second-year quarterback Austin Davis was up and down in his first start with the Browns and finished 25-of-38 for 231 yards and an interception. He was sacked three times, committed two intentional grounding penalties and was under constant pressure behind a Browns offensive line that lost left guard Joel Bitonio to an ankle injury early in the first quarter.
Isaiah Crowell led the Browns with 62 yards rushing and Brian Hartline caught eight passes for 83 yards.
The Bengals used a balanced attack to move down the field on six scoring drives. Andy Dalton threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another. Jeremy Hill led the Bengals on the ground with 98 yards and a touchdown.
A.J. Green spurred the Bengals' first two touchdown drives, hauling in his longest catch of the day on the first and making two big grabs on the second.
After Green's 57-yard reception, the Bengals moved the chains with a fourth-and-1 conversion and entered the end zone for the first time on a 3-yard Andy Dalton sneak up the middle with 3:45 remaining in the first quarter. Green followed a 22-yard reception with a 23-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter.
Green finished with five catches for 128 yards.
Mike Nugent nailed field goals on back-to-back possessions to stake Cincinnati to a 20-0 lead late in the first half.
The Browns moved the chains in the first half but repeatedly stalled once they crossed midfield. They turned it over on fourth down on two possessions, both of which set up the Bengals with favorable field position and led to Cincinnati points. Cleveland broke the shutout with a 46-yard Travis Coons field goal, which capped a 10-play, 50-yard drive to end the first half.
A circus catch by Green at the 1-yard line set up Hill's touchdown run in the third quarter and Marvin Jones hauled in a 21-yard touchdown near the end of the third quarter to extend Cincinnati's lead to 31.
Cleveland is back at home next Sunday against San Francisco.
