The Cleveland Browns maintained their surprising push for a play-off berth with a dominant 24-3 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday to climb into a rare share of first place in the division.
The Browns controlled the game on the ground and intercepted Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton three times to join Pittsburgh at the top of the AFC North.
Cleveland (6-3) has not been in first place this late in the season since 1986 and took another step toward a first playoff berth since 2002 by knocking Cincinnati out of the lead.
The Browns got touchdowns from running backs Ben Tate, Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West, who paced the attack with 94 rushing yards.
A Dalton interception led to Cleveland's opening score, a four-yard run by Tate, and they built on the lead with 10 points in the second quarter and a third-quarter score from West.
The Bengals (5-3-1), meanwhile, managed just 165 total yards on the night.
