Bengals 27, Browns 17
A.J. Green, frustrated all day long by Joe Haden and the Cleveland secondary, made his first NFL catch a memorable one.
Green, a rookie from Georgia, got behind the Browns’ star defensive back with 4:28 left in the fourth quarter and hauled in a 41-yard touchdown pass to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to a 27-17 come-from-behind win at Cleveland in the season opener Sunday afternoon.
Needing just a field goal to tie it, Cleveland got the ball back two times in the final minutes but could not move the ball before Bengals running back Cedric Benson (25 carries, 121 yards) iced the contest with a 39-yard touchdown run with 1:49 to play.
Meanwhile, the Andy Dalton era didn’t last long in Cincinnati.
Dalton, taking over for Carson Palmer, who balked at returning to the team in the offseason, went 10-for-15 for 82 yards before leaving the game with a right wrist injury.
Bruce Gradkowski replaced Dalton - a second-round draft pick in April - and did little until finding Green wide open for the go-ahead score.
The Bengals raced out to a 13-0 lead, getting a pair of field goals from Mike Nugent and 2-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Jermaine Gresham.
But the Browns scored on consecutive possessions in the second quarter. Colt McCoy found tight end Ben Watson in stride down the middle for a 34-yard touchdown strike.
On their next series, McCoy threaded the needle to hit Evan Moore in the middle of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown to give Cleveland a 14-13 lead.
Phil Dawson booted a 20-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to make it 17-13 but it was the last points scored by the Browns.