CLEVELAND — Well, it finally happened. It finally happened.
The Browns played to all of their potential in a Monday-night wipeout of the Bengals, dominating Joe Burrow and Cincinnati — who came into Cleveland red-hot — 32-13.
That four-game losing streak is over. That losing streak at home? It's over. They're now 3-5 as they head to the bye week.
How dominating were they? Well, the game was sluggish in the first quarter, but the Browns established themselves defensively and showed they were going to be tough to be scored upon all night long.
Then finally, towards the end of the first half, the offense started to click and they clicked behind Jacoby Brissett, who played an exceptional game at quarterback. He was the better quarterback on this Monday night. Nick Chubb scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion, then a late field goal by Cade York made it 11-0 at the end of the first half.
Ah, but then it got even more interesting, because the Browns got the opening kickoff of the second half and they added to the lead, and they kept adding to the lead as they dominated the Bengals and wore them down.
We've been tough on the Browns' defensive all season long, deservedly so in many of these losses that they've had. But on this Monday night, the Browns' defensive scheme was perfect.
They sacked Joe Burrow five times. It was a night of textbook tackling and a great performance by rookie defensive back M.J. Emerson, who went in and played incredible cornerback for the Browns all night long against a very talented Bengals wide receiver core (even though they didn't have Ja'Marr Chase).
So, what's next? First things first: The trade deadline comes up Tuesday at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Did Kareem Hunt play his final game as a member of the Cleveland Browns? Is he really trade bait right now, and is some team going to give the Browns what they want in the way of a draft choice to make a deal? Or, does Hunt stay with the team until the end of the season?
More food for thought: Can the Browns turn this thing around? After all, they're 2-1 in the division, and they get the bye week and then head to Miami to take on the Dolphins.
Also, the pitch count continues on Jacoby Brissett. He's got three more games as the Browns' quarterback before he hands it over to Deshaun Watson at the beginning of December.
But boy, did this team and this coaching staff need a victory on Monday night over a team like the Cincinnati Bengals, who came in scoring points at a fever clip. The Browns dominated them, and a key statistic? Whereas Joe Burrow is beating a lot of teams in the NFL, he's never never beaten the Browns. He's now 0-4 against Cleveland.
A very special Halloween Monday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.