It’s the battle of Ohio, as the winless Browns host the winless Bengals in a ‘who is more shameful to our state’ game for the ages. Will you stay up late in the UK to watch this contest? Yeah, me either.
The Browns were smothered in week 1 by a rampaging Ravens squad who hit them with everything, leaving them bloodied and bruised. The Bengals stayed in tight with a off-kilter Chargers squad, eventually losing when their kicker pulled a hammy mid-kick and saw their chance at OT float away.
How will these two teams fair on TNF?
Bengals (0-1) vs Browns (0-1)
Line: Browns by 6
O/U: 43.5
Cleveland Browns
Baker Mayfield looked lost on Sunday, with the Ravens not only locking down the secondary, but also causing plenty of problems for his o-line. There were times that he looked like he was in control and marching down then field, then making horrible decisions to give up the ball. The Bengals won’t give Baker the same pressure he face on Sunday, but they won’t just roll over and play dead either. Cinci has a pretty good secondary, so they should cause further blockages & messes for OBJ and company. Where they might find success in moving the chains is using Chubb and Hunt to their full running and option potential. Chubb & Hunt. Sounds like either a great 80s cop duo or a cheesy 90s strip club.
Cincinnati Bengals
Oh so close for the Bengals last weekend, as they were able to keep pressure on Tyrod Taylor while avoiding a beating. There were times where Joe Burrow showed potential, and other times when he looked like he was running away from a schoolyard fight. It was his first NFL game, so not a bad result for his first go. The Bengals still suck though, and their O-line is porous and weak. Burrow will spend a lot of time running in this game if he isn’t able to get the ball off to some of his speedy receivers. The Bengals D should be able to keep the pressure on Baker, but stopping that running game will be much trickier.
Prediction: Browns will be looking to pump up their home crowd of puppets and cut-outs to take their first home win of the season. They will make some ugly plays, dumb calls and at times feed it right into the Bengals hands, but they should cover this spread. I won’t be watching this game live, but it should be good to catch up over a few coffees on Friday morning.
Browns 24 Bengals 17
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I almost nailed the exact score last Thursday in my pick of the Chiefs, let’s see how I do this week.
