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The Battle of Ohio opened with a rock fight in Cleveland, and the Bengals slipped out with a 17–16 dub. Cincy didn’t light up the sheet, but when the moments got money, the stripes cashed the checks.

The script started old-school: Chase Brown punched in a five-yarder to set the tone, Raheim Sanders answered from the one, and Noah Fant snagged a red-zone score before half. Cleveland swung back after the break with Cedric Tillman toe-tapping a five-yard TD, but the hinge came when Evan McPherson drilled the go-ahead 35-yarder late in the third. (espn.com)

Box score betrayal was real. Joe Burrow managed just 14/23 for 113 and 1 TD, and the Bengals scraped together 159 total yards while Ja’Marr Chase (2/26) and Tee Higgins (3/33) were mostly muted. Across the way, veteran Joe Flacco spun it for 31/45, 290 and 1 TD, spreading it to Tillman (5/52/TD), Harold Fannin Jr. (7/63), and Dylan Sampson (8/64) — control of the tempo, just not the tally.

And here’s your twist: special teams and defense closed the deal. Browns kicker Andre Szmyt pushed an extra point and a late 36-yarder wide, and Cincinnati pocketed its first Week 1 win since 2021. (espn.com) Big Dill of the Game: Evan McPherson — the cool-legged closer, whose 35-yard dagger put the Bengals ahead for good. (espn.com)

I’m Dillon “Big Dill” Smith, and that’s a wrap from Big Dill Sports — where ballin’ is a big dill. Catch you next kickoff.