Dillon Marshals Forces

CINCINNATI —  For more than a month, Corey Dillon hadn’t come close to 100 yards. He finally broke loose against the team he torments most often.

Dillon ran for a season-high 140 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown Sunday, leading the Cincinnati Bengals to a 24-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

A crowd of 64,217--the largest ever to see a sporting event in Cincinnati--groaned through a first half of ineptitude, then saw Dillon do what he usually does against the Browns, who decided not to pursue him as a restricted free agent in the off-season.

The bruising running back found big holes on draw plays and repeatedly muscled through a defense that had allowed only three touchdowns in its first four games.

“I guess it was the scheme,” said Dillon, who was held under 65 yards in each of the last three games. “Maybe it caught them off guard. They were cutting off the outside plays early, so we went up the middle and took advantage of that. We were just trying to see what worked.”

Both teams are 3-2.

Against the Browns, simply handing him the ball works best. Dillon ran for 168 and 192 yards in their return as an expansion team in 1999 and had 137 in a game last season.

Dillon’s five-yard run early in the fourth quarter that allowed a Bengal defense missing linebacker Takeo Spikes to dig in and prevent another fourth-quarter comeback by Tim Couch.