Cleveland Browns safety Duron Harmon sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron in the second half at Paycor Stadium.John Kuntz, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns were defeated by the Bengals on Sunday, 31-14, capping their season off with a record of 11-6 and a postseason spot. But that’s just the scoreboard.

Here are the real winners and losers from the game:

Winner: No. 28′s season highlight

When the Bengals and Browns met in Week 1, Joe Mixon finished with a mere 56 yards on 13 carries (4.3 per carry).

When both teams met again in the season finale, Mixon bested that total in the opening 12 minutes of gametime, with a 44-yard run that gave him 83 rushing yards by that point.

Mixon dominated in the season finale and finished with 111 rushing yards on 14 carries (7.9 per carry) and one rushing touchdown, along with a six-yard receiving touchdown.

This was his only game with 100 or more rushing yards.

Mixon has spent all of his seven career seasons in Cincinnati, so he’s prone to play Cleveland twice a season. His performance on Sunday became his fourth career game versus the Browns, where he finished with 100 or more rushing yards.

Winner: David Bell

The second-year wide receiver only saw action in nine games on the season, so it was nice to see him go out and catch all four targets on Sunday. Bell caught four passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

The Browns were scoreless through the first three-quarters, and it looked as though they’d finish the regular season with a shutout loss.

Instead, Bell and the offense of the old adage of ‘playing till the final whistle’, and he added a couple highlights to his season by catching a couple late game touchdowns from quarterback Jeff Driskel, avoiding the shutout.

.@jeffdriskel dropped it in over the defense on 4th down#CLEvsCIN on CBS & NFL+ pic.twitter.com/rdKVLFxTEd

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) January 7, 2024

Loser: Turnover Champion

After Jeff Driskel’s two interceptions, that placed the Browns atop of the list in turnovers on the season. They finish with 37 total turnovers, while ranking first in interceptions (23), and fourth in fumbles (14).

Since the 2000 NFL season, the Browns became the third team to post a winning record and lead league in turnovers (2003 Rams and 2010 Giants). And the second team after the 2003 Rams to make the playoffs while leading the league in turnovers.

It’s a bad habit that is prone to stay, but that’s the last of the team’s problems this season.

Winner: No stress needed

For the first time in a long time, fans of the Cleveland Browns entered the last week of the season with little to no stress.

Why?

Because the Browns had already punched their ticket for the postseason in the Week 17 win over the Jets, which allowed most of the starters to rest during Sunday’s game in Cincinnati

It could’ve been classified as a feel good Sunday outside of the fact they lost to the Bengals.

Since the franchise’s return in 1999, this is the third time the Browns have made the playoffs. The last two times the Browns made the playoffs, during the 2002 and 2020 seasons, the fate of the Browns’ playoff chances came down to the season finale.

When the Browns defeated Atlanta in Week 17 of the 2002 season, they finished with a record of 9-7; but so did Denver, New England and Miami. However, they clinched the AFC’s sixth and final seed instead of the prior teams due to having a better conference record of 7-5, compared to New England’s 6-6 or Denver’s 5-7.

When the Browns defeated the Steelers in Week 17 of the 2020 season, they clinched a Wild Card spot in the playoffs and finished as one of four teams with a final record of 11-5.

Week 17 of the 2023 season saw Cleveland’s starters chilling on the sideline sharing laughs and enjoying some rest while cheering on their teammates, who may have not seen as much time during the season.

Instead of Cincinnati, the only thought was who the Browns would face in the Wild Card round next week, which became the AFC South divisional champion Houston Texans.

Hopefully Browns fans enjoyed watching a game without worrying who needed to lose to put them in the playoffs.

Source : https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2024/01/winners-and-losers-from-the-browns-31-14-loss-to-the-bengals.html