The game: Cleveland at Cincinnati (-11.5)
Johnny Manziel gets the start for the Cleveland Browns (2-6) with the nigh-impossible task of taking on the Cincinnati Bengals (7-0) on the road. With the Browns’ issues in the secondary and pass rush, this one may get ugly fast.
The History
As rivalries go in the NFL, this one gives you about all you want. The Bengals and Browns first met up in 1970, with the Browns winning 30-17.
The Bengals hold the advantage in the overall series, 44-39 and beat the Browns 30-0 last December.
The Browns last victory over the Bengals was last November in a 24-3 win at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Bengals longest win streak over the Browns was five games from Nov. 2004 to Sept. 2007.
The Browns longest streak over the Bengals was seven games from Dec. 1992 to Oct. 1995 and wasn’t stopped by the Bengals, but by the team packing up, moving to Baltimore and becoming the Ravens.
The new Browns, starting in 1999, only needed three games to pick up their first win over the Bengals with a 24-7 victory in the first game ever played at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Browns on offense
The standout stars of this Browns team came out of nowhere in wide receiver Travis Benjamin and tight end Gary Barnridge. Both men are on pace for 1,000 yard, double-digit touchdown seasons and to win me both of my fantasy leagues. With Josh McCown injured, Manziel once again can stake his claim to the starting quarterback job in Cleveland with some good performances. Cleveland can’t seem to find a running game and doesn’t have a back averaging more than 3.2 yards per carry. The Browns evidently tried to trade left tackle Joe Thomas this week before the trade deadline to the Broncos, so he’s got to be pretty bummed that didn’t pan out.
The Bengals on offense
The Bengals are completely loaded on offense with playmakers across the board, including Top Five wideout A.J. Green. The emergence of Tyler Eifert at tight end has only made the offense more dangerous and the Bengals can run at will with two starting caliber tailbacks in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard. The trigger man is Andy Dalton, having not only his best statistical season, but his best clutch performance season, leading come from behind victories over the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers to stay undefeated. Dalton is on pace to throw 34 touchdowns with nine picks and 4,553 yards this season. He has a 107.6 quarterback rating and is averaging a career-high 8.62 yards per completion.
The Browns on defense
The already down Browns defense will be without most of its starting defensive backfield in this game with cornerback Joe Haden and safeties Donte Whitner and Jordan Poyer all out. Tashaun Gibson is questionable but will probably play. Even with their players healthy, the Browns were the No. 30 ranked defense in the NFL and are allowing 27 points per game. To add to their pass defense troubles, the Browns are one of the worst teams in the NFL when it comes to rushing the quarterback with only 13 sacks this season.
The Bengals on defense
Cincinnati’s defense seems to bend, but rarely break and with their offense on, the fact that they allow 18.9 points per game shouldn’t hurt them. What the Bengals can do is rush the passer and are the eighth best team in the NFL in sacks, recording 20 as a team so far with Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap both on pace for double-digit sack seasons and trips to the Pro Bowl. Pac Man Jones is having a resurgent season at corner as is Reggie Nelson at safety, who already has three picks. Dre Kirkpatrick and Darquez Dennard are both young players at corner, just now coming becoming playmakers.
The pick: That 11.5 points is high for a Thursday night game, but the Browns defense is so undermanned, I just don’t see how they can even slow down Andy Dalton and the Bengals. With no pass rush, you need good corners and Cleveland is playing guys that probably should be shoving sandwiches into the toasting machine at Quizno’s. Bengals 34, Browns 13
