Cleveland Browns vs Bengals Match Player Stats: Two Defensive Touchdowns and a Last-Play Szmyt Kick Lift Browns to 20-18 Win

Cleveland Browns vs Bengals match player stats rarely tell a clean story, and Week 18 was the messiest version yet. Cincinnati outgained Cleveland by 164 yards, won first downs 24-11 and still lost. Two defensive touchdowns and a 49-yard Andre Szmyt field goal on the final play flipped the box score. Here is every number that explains how.

The Cleveland Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-18 on Sunday, January 4, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 62,230. Szmyt, who missed a field goal and an extra point against these same Bengals in Week 1, connected from 49 yards as time expired to cap a 10-play, 40-yard drive.

Cleveland scored only six of its 20 points with the offense. Devin Bush Jr. returned a Joe Burrow interception 97 yards and Sam Webb scooped up a Noah Fant fumble for a 47-yard score, while Burrow threw three touchdown passes and Cincinnati missed two extra points and a two-point try. The Bengals finished 6-11, the Browns 5-12.

Browns vs Bengals Box Score: Match Overview

Core Match Statistics Overview

Pass Rush and the Myles Garrett Sack Record

• The Browns sacked Burrow twice, and the headline belonged to Myles Garrett, whose takedown of Burrow with 5:04 left gave him 23.0 sacks for the season, one-half sack past the Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt shared the previous single-season record of 22.5.
• Cincinnati’s pass rush answered with six sacks of Shedeur Sanders, which held the Browns to 82 net passing yards.

Turnovers and Defensive Scoring

• Cleveland lost one fumble. Both a fumble and an interception that Cincinnati lost resulted in touchdowns for the Browns.

• Those two returns produced 14 points, 70 percent of Cleveland’s total.

Rushing Efficiency

• The Bengals averaged 5.7 yards per carry, with Chase Brown (13 for 72) and Samaje Perine (8 for 42) moving the chains.
• Cleveland’s 4.9 yards per carry kept the game close, but the ground game produced a single scoring drive.

Period-by-Period Analysis

First Quarter

• Cincinnati’s Cam Sample sacked Sanders on Cleveland’s first series, forcing a fumble that Howard Cross recovered at the Browns 29. Four plays later, Burrow hit Chase Brown for a 4-yard touchdown, though Alex Wright tipped the extra point.
• With the Bengals knocking on the door at the Browns 7, Shelby Harris tipped a Burrow pass and Bush returned the interception 97 yards for a 7-6 Cleveland lead with 56 seconds left.
• Cleveland managed 28 total yards and one first down in the quarter and still led.

Second Quarter

• Fant fumbled after a reception at the Bengals 46, and Webb returned it 47 yards for a 14-6 Cleveland lead.
• Cincinnati chose to punt on fourth-and-1 at the Browns 45, a decision that looked costly in a two-point game.
• Burrow answered with a nine-play, 79-yard drive capped by a 13-yard touchdown to Tee Higgins with 29 seconds left. The Browns went to the locker room with 40 total yards and two first downs, yet led 14-12.

Third Quarter

• Cleveland’s lone sustained drive, 12 plays and 56 yards, ended in a 27-yard Szmyt field goal and a 17-12 lead.
• Chase Brown crossed 1,000 rushing yards for the season on a 4-yard run, but the Bengals punted from the Browns 44 later in the quarter.
• Cincinnati held a 262-123 yardage edge through three quarters and trailed by five.

Fourth Quarter

• Garrett’s record sack arrived with 5:04 remaining, and Cleveland’s defense forced a punt before Burrow drove 61 yards for a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase with 1:29 left. The two-point try failed, leaving it 18-17.
• Cleveland needed 10 plays and 40 yards to reach field-goal range, and Szmyt’s 49-yarder as time expired decided it.
• The Bengals’ three missing points on the extra-point and two-point attempts decided the outcome, since three made extra points would have produced a 21-20 Bengals win.

Cleveland Browns Player Statistics

Shedeur Sanders Stats

Sanders never found rhythm behind constant pressure, and his 26 rushing yards were nearly a quarter of his passing total. He protected the ball through the air, which kept Cleveland within reach of a defense-driven win.

Dylan Sampson

Sampson led the Browns in carries but found little room, averaging 3.2 yards per attempt. Cleveland leaned on Raheim Sanders (5 for 26) and Malachi Corley (3 for 18 rushing, 2 catches for 20 yards) to supplement the ground game.

Devin Bush Jr.

Bush turned a Cincinnati scoring threat into a seven-point swing, and the play ranks as the single biggest momentum shift of the afternoon. Cornerback Sam Webb added the second defensive score on a 47-yard fumble return.

Andre Szmyt

Szmyt finished as the game’s top scorer, and the 49-yarder as time expired was his redemption after the missed kicks in the Week 1 loss. His eight points outscored any individual Bengal.

Cincinnati Bengals Player Statistics

Joe Burrow Stats

Burrow posted a 74.4 percent completion rate and three touchdown throws, yet one interception cost seven points directly. His efficiency was good enough to win most games, and the pick-six at the Cleveland 3 changed this one.

Ja’Marr Chase

With 1:29 remaining in the game, Chase led all receiving and scored the game-winning touchdown. Cleveland had no answer for him on intermediate routes, and his 96 yards topped the Browns’ four leading receivers combined (73).

Tee Higgins

Higgins caught the 13-yard touchdown that closed the first-half gap to 14-12 on a 79-yard drive. Together with Chase he accounted for 163 of Burrow’s 236 passing yards.

Chase Brown

Brown scored the Bengals’ first touchdown and passed 1,000 rushing yards for the season on his 4-yard carry. He touched the ball 17 times for 90 scrimmage yards, with Samaje Perine adding 8 carries for 42 yards.

Statistical Leaders Summary

Why the Browns Won

Defensive Touchdowns Outweighed a 164-Yard Deficit

Cleveland’s offense produced no touchdowns. Two were produced by the defense, and it made all the difference.

Pressure on the Quarterback

The Browns’ pass rush produced the game-changing pressure on Burrow’s early throws, and Garrett’s sack late in the fourth forced a punt that preserved the lead.

Fewer Turnovers, Bigger Payoffs

• Cleveland’s lone turnover was a first-drive fumble, which Cincinnati converted into a touchdown within four plays.
• The Bengals’ two giveaways produced 14 Browns points, against 6 Bengals points off Cleveland’s one fumble, an eight-point net edge for the Browns.

Clutch Kicking

Szmyt had a flawless 2 of 2 record on field goals and 2 of 2 on extra points, which included the walk-off. Cincinnati’s kicker, Evan McPherson, saw one extra point tipped and another missed.

Why the Bengals Lost

Turnovers Became Touchdowns

Both Cincinnati giveaways ended in return touchdowns. Burrow’s interception came on first-and-goal at the Browns 7 and was returned 97 yards, a seven-point Cleveland score on a drive that had already reached the red zone.

Unsuccessful Two-Point Attempt and Missed Extra Points

Cincinnati did not convert any of the follow-ups despite scoring three touchdowns. Two kicks failed and the late two-point attempt did not work, which turned a potential win into a two-point loss.

Conservative Fourth-Down Call

The decision to punt on fourth-and-1 at the Browns 45 in the second quarter gave away a short-yardage chance in an otherwise dominant offensive game (24 first downs, 5.7 yards per carry).

Historical Context and Advanced Insights

2025 Season Series Breakdown

The two games were decided by a combined three points, with each team winning on the road, and both turned on Szmyt’s kicking. In September he missed a 36-yard field goal and an extra point; in January he made the deciding kick.

Advanced Statistical Insights

Cincinnati needed more than 20 yards for every point it scored, while Cleveland needed only 10, a gap created almost entirely by return touchdowns. Offensively, the Bengals were far more efficient on a per-play basis and still lost, a reminder that turnovers in scoring territory outweigh yardage. Sanders’ 21.4 percent sack rate is a figure few offenses survive.

Game Implications and Key Lessons

What This Means for the Browns

• Cleveland finished 5-12 with a win over a division rival and a record-setting season from Garrett.
• Sanders took six sacks, which makes pass protection the top offseason priority.
• Defensive playmaking carried a limited offense, which is not a repeatable winning formula.

What This Means for the Bengals

• Cincinnati ended 6-11, its first season with at least 10 losses since 2020.
• The Bengals’ offense was productive but their special teams and red-zone ball security were not.
• Defensive touchdowns allowed this season totaled nine, an unsustainable number.

Key Lessons

• Yardage does not decide close games, turnovers and return touchdowns do.
• Kicking reliability, including extra points, decides one-score finishes.
• A relentless pass rush can win a game even when an offense gains 200 yards.
• Red-zone interceptions are the costliest mistakes a quarterback can make.
• Fourth-down aggression matters in the middle of a close game.
• The two Browns-Bengals games this season were decided by three combined points.

Conclusion

The Browns beat the Bengals because they converted turnovers into touchdowns, finished in the kicking game and made one more play than Cincinnati when it counted.

Burrow’s 104.2 rating, Chase’s 96 yards and a 164-yard advantage were not enough to overcome two pick-and-fumble returns and three failed point-after attempts. Team-wide execution, not any one star’s box score, decided a game that finished with the narrowest of margins.