CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Rookie Lee Suggs turned the Cincinnati Bengals back into the Bungles.
Needing a win to stay alive in the race for the AFC North title, the Bengals allowed Suggs to rush for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Cleveland Browns posted a 22-14 victory.
A fourth-round pick out of Virginia Tech, Suggs was activated from the physically-unable-to-perform list midway through the season and entered the game with 30 carries for 103 yards in six games. But on Sunday, Suggs was too quick for the Bengals, breaking off touchdown runs of 78 and 25 yards.
"It feels really good. I've been waiting for this the whole season," Suggs said. "I visualize having a good game before every game."
Bidding for their first division title since they had their last winning season in 1990, the Bengals (8-8) lost their final two games. But this one was especially disappointing because it came against state rival Cleveland (5-11) before a record crowd of 65,362 at Paul Brown Stadium and knocked them out of the playoff race.
The fans filed out silently after Jon Kitna's final pass was intercepted by Browns safety Robert Griffith with 41 seconds left.
The loss clinched the AFC North title for the Baltimore Ravens (9-6), who host Pittsburgh on Sunday night.
Rudi Johnson scored on a pair of touchdown runs for the Bengals, who quadrupled their win total from last season under rookie coach Marvin Lewis.
Ironically, Lewis' first win came at Cleveland on September 28 after an 0-3 start. However, it turned out to be the Browns who broke his heart.
"We didn't play well enough to win," Lewis said. "I told them to be proud. Don't let anything or anybody diminish what you did. This was a good year for our team but not a great year. I expected we could compete to win the division, and we did that. We have started to turn the corner. We're not around it."
Stopping the run was the main problem for the Bengals, who yielded 264 yards on the ground. Suggs did the most damage. His first career touchdown was the 78-yard gallop in which he started up the middle, cut to his right and outraced Rogers Beckett down the sideline, giving the Browns a 13-7 lead with 2:06 left in the second quarter.
The Bengals then squandered their best opportunity, reaching the Cleveland 3 on a diving catch by Peter Warrick. But after a three-yard loss by Johnson and an incompletion, the Bengals had just 10 seconds left in the half and no timeouts. On third down, Kitna dropped back to pass, held the ball too long and was sacked by Orpheus Roye as time expired, denying Cincinnati of a potential field goal.
"It was just a mental error," said Kitna, who completed 23-of-35 for 175 yards with an interception. "We played really well in some big games, but didn't get it done in December."
Johnson's second touchdown - a two-yard run 2:45 into the fourth quarter - put the Bengals ahead, 14-13.
But the Browns responded with an eight-play, 62-yard drive which Suggs capped with his second touchdown. Tim Couch completed passes of 18 yards to Andre Davis and 19 yards to Frisman Jackson on third-down plays to keep the drive alive before Suggs scored on a 25-yard run with 7:54 left.
