CINCINNATI - It resembled a pickup game in a city park - felt like it, too.

More than 100 points. Almost 1,000 yards of offense. Thirteen touchdowns, most scored with outlandish ease.

Two-hand touch? No, this was the NFL. Really.

The Cincinnati Bengals beat the intrastate rival Cleveland Browns 58-48 on Sunday, a performance that rewrote both teams' record books and immediately became a classic - the second-most points scored in league history.

"It was an incredible game," said receiver Kelley Washington, who scored the first of Cincinnati's seven touchdowns. "It was one of those games where you could have gone out and marked up plays in the dirt, thrown the ball around and run up and down the field."

Up and down they went, all afternoon long.

The Bengals (5-6) got a career-high four touchdown passes from Carson Palmer and a season-high 202 yards and two TDs from Rudi Johnson.

On the other side, Kelly Holcomb passed for a career-high five touchdowns and 400 yards, keeping the Browns (3-9) in position for an improbable win until the very end. Deltha O'Neal's interception and 31-yard touchdown return provided the final points with 1:43 to play.

Even then, everyone was expecting more.

"It was like a pinball machine the way the scoreboard was lighting up," Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons said.

No one saw it coming.

It started as a referendum on the two head coaches, and quickly turned into a rewrite of the record books. The points came so fast that it seemed a recount might be needed to determine who won Ohio's bragging rights.

"In the middle of the second quarter, I just said, 'OK, it's going to be a shootout,'" Browns receiver Dennis Northcutt said.

The 106 points were the second-most in an NFL game, trailing only the Redskins' 72-41 victory over the Giants on Nov. 27, 1966. Until Sunday, the most points in a game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 was 99 - Seattle beat Kansas City 51-48 in overtime on Nov. 27, 1983.

Who knew these two teams had it in them?

Certainly no one expected it from the Browns, who had to change quarterbacks after Jeff Garcia hurt his shoulder a week earlier. They'd lost four in a row, and there was rampant speculation that coach Butch Davis was about to be replaced.

Plus, injuries forced yet another shuffle of the makeshift offensive line, which has used five combinations this season.

Nice week, huh?

"It was tough," Davis said. "It was very tough."

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis had a tough week, too. He'd screamed at his players after a feeble loss to Pittsburgh, and was looking to see how they responded to the outburst.

It wasn't exactly what he had in mind.

"We were attacking all of the time, but we didn't play smart all of the time," Lewis said.

The pattern was set early.

The Browns' usually reliable defense couldn't stop Johnson, who took advantage of huge holes and sloppy tackles. His big day included runs of 52, 21 and 28 yards.

The Bengals' up-and-coming defense had major problems in pass coverage, giving up eight receptions of 20 or more yards.

Overall, there were 15 plays that went for at least 20 yards, including five plays for 46 yards or more. When teams are picking up half of a football field in one chunk, the points are going to add up fast.

"Our mind-set was that they could not stop us - that we could only stop ourselves," said Palmer, who was 22-of-29 for 251 yards with three interceptions. "We knew we could keep scoring like we had done all game, and I don't think anyone thought for one second that we wouldn't."

The same went for Holcomb, who took over for Tim Couch and led the Browns to the playoffs in 2002 - Davis' best moment in Cleveland. Holcomb completed 30 of 39 passes for 413 yards, the second-highest total of his career.

One mistake decided it.

Trying to drive the Browns to a tying field goal or go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes, Holcomb saw tight end Aaron Shea by the sideline, guarded by O'Neal. Holcomb threw it anyway.

The way the defenses had been playing, who could fault him?

"I saw him, but I thought he was off far enough," Holcomb said. "I should have thrown it away, but that's one of those things that happens."

O'Neal broke on the ball, caught it cleanly and ran in untouched, effectively ending a game of endless offense.

"It was crazy," Johnson summed up. "Just crazy."

Notes:

Browns LB Andra Davis had a 30-yard interception return, but hurt his left knee in the second half. He'll have tests Monday to see if he tore a ligament, as feared. ... Browns TE Steve Heiden had seven catches for 82 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. ... Holcomb threw for 348 yards in the second half. His career high is 429 yards in the playoffs against Pittsburgh, also a loss. ... Cincinnati's Chad Johnson tied his career high with 10 catches, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh had his first two-TD game. ... The Bengals wore their orange jerseys for the second and final time of the season.