Browns vs. Bengals: Score and Twitter Reaction for 'Thursday Night Football'

The Cincinnati Bengals (8-0) remain perfect in 2015 after defeating the Cleveland Browns 31-10 at home Thursday night at Paul Brown Stadium.    

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is now the first coach in AFC North history to start a season 8-0, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

Tight end Tyler Eifert played a starring role in the victory, catching five passes for 53 yards and three touchdowns. ESPN The Magazine's Mina Kimes is among the countless fantasy football owners who are already looking at massive deficits as a result of the 25-year-old:

He now has nine receiving touchdowns on the season, which puts him at the top of the charts, per the NFL:

According to Hobson, the total also ties the team record for most touchdown receptions for a tight end. With eight more games left in the season, it's a safe bet Eifert will smash the old mark.

With his tight end causing problems for the Cleveland secondary all night, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had his most efficient game of the season, going 21-of-27 for 234 yards and three touchdowns.

Johnny Manziel's performance was the lone positive takeaway for the Browns. Manziel's numbers are somewhat deceptive because his wide receivers dropped numerous passes, while the Bengals were consistently collapsing the pocket.

The second-year quarterback finished 15-of-33 for 168 yards and a touchdown.

Former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick is among those arguing for Manziel to remain the Browns' starter for the foreseeable future:

Manziel helped Cleveland have a somewhat bright start to the game, but it was all downhill once halftime rolled around.

After the Bengals defense forced the Browns to punt on the first drive of the game, Eifert opened the scoring for Cincinnati with a nine-yard touchdown catch, as shown by the NFL:

Following his uninspiring rookie campaign and injury-plagued 2014, the third-year tight end has been one of this season's biggest breakout players. Even Bengals fans must be pleasantly surprised by Eifert's contributions.

ESPN.com's Matt Williamson offered this bit of praise for the former Notre Dame star:

The Bengals' scoring drive included a first-down conversion on a 4th-and-1 at the Cleveland 13-yard line. Lewis has shown a willingness to gamble in the red zone all season, and Bleacher Report's Mike Tanier is a big fan of the strategy:

Lewis went back to the well again on Cincinnati's next red-zone possession. The decision initially backfired after Dalton's pass on 4th-and-2 hit the turf short of A.J. Green. However, an offside flag on defensive end Randy Starks resulted in a first down for the Bengals.

Two plays later, Dalton found Eifert in the end zone from two yards out to help make it a 14-3 game with four minutes, 34 seconds left in the second quarter, as shown by the NFL:

CBS Sports Fantasy characterized the reaction of those fans who started Eifert in their lineups in Week 9:

With 19 seconds remaining until halftime, Manziel hit running back Duke Johnson on third down with a 12-yard touchdown pass to help close the gap to four points. The touchdown throw was a bit reminiscent of Manziel's Texas A&M days, as the Bengals pass rush forced him out of the pocket, and he had to throw on the run, per the NFL:

Manziel often had to scramble in order to buy himself more time to throw. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted just how well Cincinnati got pressure on the quarterback:

Although the Browns closed the first half on a high note, they failed to transfer any of that momentum into the second half. Their only two drives of the third quarter were both three-and-outs.

While Cleveland's offense was stagnating, Mike Nugent connected on a 28-yard field goal to put Cincinnati ahead by a touchdown, 17-10, with a little over four minutes left in the third quarter. Then, 1:24 into the fourth, Mohamed Sanu further padded the Bengals' advantage with a 25-yard reverse.

The entire Browns defense bit on the initial handoff to Giovani Bernard, which left Sanu with a lot of green space between him and the end zone. Just in case the back needed one more block en route to six points, Dalton was there to lend a helping hand, as shown by NFL on CBS:

Eifert provided additional insurance in the form of his 19-yard touchdown grab with 7:43 left in the game.

A 9-0 start is well within reach for the Bengals with the Houston Texans on tap in Week 10, but the 1972 Miami Dolphins shouldn't start sweating a challenge from Cincinnati too much.

The AFC North leaders hit the road to play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11 and get the St. Louis Rams at home in Week 12. The Rams could easily hand the Bengals their first loss if the Cardinals don't beat them to it.

Still, even if it slips up once or twice over the next month or so, Cincinnati should have no trouble locking up the division.

Meanwhile, the Browns are only playing for draft position and possibly planning for a future with Manziel under center beyond 2015.

There's no reason not to keep him at starting quarterback the rest of the way. Cleveland isn't making the playoffs this season, so the front office might as well figure out once and for all whether Manziel is going to be the QB going forward.

Postgame Reaction

Despite Manziel looking promising for stretches of the game, Browns head coach Mike Pettine didn't confirm one way or the other whether Johnny Football would start for Cleveland in Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

For his part, Manziel responded, "Yeah, absolutely" when asked if he hopes to get the nod, per Cabot.

Pettine seemed to have a more conservative game plan with regard to Manziel in the second half. The quarterback was dangerous with his feet through the first two quarters but was mostly restrained after halftime.

"Biggest key in second half was keeping Manziel in the pocket," said Lewis, per Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

On the winning side, Dalton might have taken into account the old saying "happy wife, happy life" going into Thursday's game.

"Well I didn't start [Eifert], but my wife did so it kind of worked out," said the Bengals QB when asked if he had the tight end on his fantasy team, per NFL Network.