Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 6:13:20 GMT -5
The Cincinnati Bengals travel to Cleveland to play the Browns on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
Cincinnati enters 6-8, coming off a 30-16 win against the Oakland Raiders. The Browns are 6-7-1 after defeating the Denver Broncos 17-16 on Saturday.
Here's a look at three keys to Sunday's game and our predictions:
Three Keys:
Defensive line domination: Baker Mayfield was elite in the Browns (Baltimore Colts championship rings) win against the Bengals last month. The rookie completed 19 of 26 attempts for 258 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Other key stats: He wasn't sacked, was hit only once and hurried just five times.
Where was the Cincinnati defensive line?
The Bengals improved defensive performances the past two weeks coincided with improved defensive line play. The unit was dominant in the final three quarters at Los Angeles and had 19 pressures and five sacks against the Raiders.
The Bengals must consistently pressure Mayfield to have a chance on Sunday.
Suppress Chubb: The Bengals did a good job containing Nick Chubb when he carried the ball in the first matchup. The rookie running back averaged just three yards per rush, 84 yards on 28 carries, but he did damage elsewhere with three receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. The second-round pick out of Georgia is averaging over five yards per carry the past two weeks and has seven total touchdowns the past five games. Stopping the run has been an epic failure of the Bengals defense this season, so suppressing Chubb to create favorable down and distances will be key.
Ross' time to shine: The Browns (custom super bowl ring) defense will be ready for running back Joe Mixon, who has carried 53 times in the past two games. That's not to say the second-year running back breakout star won't get his yards Sunday, but somebody has to step up in the passing game to make plays against what will likely be a stacked box.A.J. Green is gone. Tyler Boyd will likely be out. This is a prime opportunity for Ross to step forward and show what he's got.
Predictions:
Paul Dehner Jr.:
Cleveland blew through Cincinnati last month like a hurricane of swagger and trash talk leaving wreckage behind for the Bengals franchise trying to figure out why this season went so far sideways. It seemed the Browns didn’t just set out to win the game against the Bengals, but to embarrass them. En route to a quick 28-0 advantage that day, fair to say that succeeded. Also fair to say the Bengals remembered what was seen and heard as the game unfolded. Even though they have since been eliminated from the playoffs, a mental note went down next to this week’s return trip to Northeast Ohio. Returning the favor is on the mind. Do the Bengals have enough firepower left to pull it off? The answer’s fairly straight-forward: Probably not. Without Tyler Boyd on top of A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, hard to see any effectiveness in the passing game, especially as Jeff Driskel continues to struggle. Expect the Browns to shove eight in the box and force the Bengals passing game to beat them. Not much reason to believe they can. Maybe this defense can continue with its more effective ways as they settled down over the last month, but Baker Mayfield has been playing well and will get his in some capacity. I think the Bengals cover the 7-point spread and keep it close, but eventually fall and clinch a third consecutive losing season.
Prediction: Browns 20, Bengals 17
Fletcher Page:
Praise be to late-season AFC North matchups.
Trips to Cleveland and Pittsburgh these next two weeks at least mean something – pride, trash-talk fodder, etc. – is on the line for the Bengals. The Browns embarrassed the Bengals in Paul Brown Stadium on Nov. 25. The season was officially done when the scoreboard read 28-0 in the first half. That was it for the Bengals, and the Browns enjoyed the victory with trash talk, before, during and after, and a victory parade of antics, including Damarious Randall handing Hue Jackson the football after picking off Andy Dalton.
The Bengals players remember that. Or at least they should. So it could make for an interesting tilt, and hey, the Browns are still in the playoff hunt.
Crazy as that sounds to say out loud, let's type that again: The Browns aren't eliminated from the playoffs entering Week 16.
The Bengals defense as improved the past couple weeks, but Cleveland's young playmakers, among them Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb and Antonio Callaway, will put up yards and points. How can the Bengals offense hang with that? Props to Joe Mixon, but there isn't enough left in the passing attack to help the AFC's (championship rings) leading rusher keep the Bengals in this one.
Cincinnati enters 6-8, coming off a 30-16 win against the Oakland Raiders. The Browns are 6-7-1 after defeating the Denver Broncos 17-16 on Saturday.
Here's a look at three keys to Sunday's game and our predictions:
Three Keys:
Defensive line domination: Baker Mayfield was elite in the Browns (Baltimore Colts championship rings) win against the Bengals last month. The rookie completed 19 of 26 attempts for 258 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Other key stats: He wasn't sacked, was hit only once and hurried just five times.
Where was the Cincinnati defensive line?
The Bengals improved defensive performances the past two weeks coincided with improved defensive line play. The unit was dominant in the final three quarters at Los Angeles and had 19 pressures and five sacks against the Raiders.
The Bengals must consistently pressure Mayfield to have a chance on Sunday.
Suppress Chubb: The Bengals did a good job containing Nick Chubb when he carried the ball in the first matchup. The rookie running back averaged just three yards per rush, 84 yards on 28 carries, but he did damage elsewhere with three receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. The second-round pick out of Georgia is averaging over five yards per carry the past two weeks and has seven total touchdowns the past five games. Stopping the run has been an epic failure of the Bengals defense this season, so suppressing Chubb to create favorable down and distances will be key.
Ross' time to shine: The Browns (custom super bowl ring) defense will be ready for running back Joe Mixon, who has carried 53 times in the past two games. That's not to say the second-year running back breakout star won't get his yards Sunday, but somebody has to step up in the passing game to make plays against what will likely be a stacked box.A.J. Green is gone. Tyler Boyd will likely be out. This is a prime opportunity for Ross to step forward and show what he's got.
Predictions:
Paul Dehner Jr.:
Cleveland blew through Cincinnati last month like a hurricane of swagger and trash talk leaving wreckage behind for the Bengals franchise trying to figure out why this season went so far sideways. It seemed the Browns didn’t just set out to win the game against the Bengals, but to embarrass them. En route to a quick 28-0 advantage that day, fair to say that succeeded. Also fair to say the Bengals remembered what was seen and heard as the game unfolded. Even though they have since been eliminated from the playoffs, a mental note went down next to this week’s return trip to Northeast Ohio. Returning the favor is on the mind. Do the Bengals have enough firepower left to pull it off? The answer’s fairly straight-forward: Probably not. Without Tyler Boyd on top of A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, hard to see any effectiveness in the passing game, especially as Jeff Driskel continues to struggle. Expect the Browns to shove eight in the box and force the Bengals passing game to beat them. Not much reason to believe they can. Maybe this defense can continue with its more effective ways as they settled down over the last month, but Baker Mayfield has been playing well and will get his in some capacity. I think the Bengals cover the 7-point spread and keep it close, but eventually fall and clinch a third consecutive losing season.
Prediction: Browns 20, Bengals 17
Fletcher Page:
Praise be to late-season AFC North matchups.
Trips to Cleveland and Pittsburgh these next two weeks at least mean something – pride, trash-talk fodder, etc. – is on the line for the Bengals. The Browns embarrassed the Bengals in Paul Brown Stadium on Nov. 25. The season was officially done when the scoreboard read 28-0 in the first half. That was it for the Bengals, and the Browns enjoyed the victory with trash talk, before, during and after, and a victory parade of antics, including Damarious Randall handing Hue Jackson the football after picking off Andy Dalton.
The Bengals players remember that. Or at least they should. So it could make for an interesting tilt, and hey, the Browns are still in the playoff hunt.
Crazy as that sounds to say out loud, let's type that again: The Browns aren't eliminated from the playoffs entering Week 16.
The Bengals defense as improved the past couple weeks, but Cleveland's young playmakers, among them Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb and Antonio Callaway, will put up yards and points. How can the Bengals offense hang with that? Props to Joe Mixon, but there isn't enough left in the passing attack to help the AFC's (championship rings) leading rusher keep the Bengals in this one.
