It’s time to complete the AFC North sweep.
This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns take on the Cincinnati Bengals. Below, we analyze a few advantages, disadvantages, or general thoughts about the two teams before getting to our predictions for the game.
Game Analysis
Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
DTR’s Time to Shine
- With the Browns’ record at 3-11 and the way the season has gone, it is the right time to start QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Prior to the Chiefs game, 81% of fans said it was time for Cleveland to spend the rest of the season evaluating their youth. That was followed by 73% of fans saying they agreed that the team start DTR this week against the Bengals.
- It is kind of funny/weird that QB Jameis Winston will likely be the emergency quarterback for two games this season: both against the Bengals, with his minor injury being the excuse this time around. Last time, they did it for gameplan purposes, supposedly wanting to have a package of plays for DTR against Cincinnati. Then QB Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles, thrusting DTR into action sooner.
- DTR’s regular season stats over the past two years are not very impressive. However, he was thrown into the game in most of those games due to a quarterback injury, while the team was already behind. He managed the game fairly well in the team’s 13-10 win over the Steelers last year. Today is the type of day where we need to see him open it up through the air and have a big passing day.
- We’ve seen DTR look good in the preseason for two years in a row. Today, he faces a Bengals defense that is very porous. Against the Steelers a few weeks ago, there were so many short passes that Russell Wilson threw that turned into big yards after the catch. The team can also leverage his legs at the right time, but that has to be the part they are more careful with. I feel that DTR’s biggest faults in some games has been him thinking he can escape in moments when he can’t, leading to a big loss that ends up killing the drive. And right now, he’s not the type of quarterback who we should expect to confidently sling a pass down the field for a big gain on 2nd-and-25.
Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
Other Factors I’m Thinking
- The Browns may have lost to the Bengals back in October, but they still held Joe Burrow to one of his lowest outputs of the season at 181 yards passing. He is averaging 284 yards passing per game. The connection of he and Ja’Marr Chase has been on fire the past two months, but I’m hoping an old rival can get the assignment on him today.
- Cedric Tillman will now have missed more than a month with a concussion, which is concerning. It also sucks because this was a great time to develop him more. Against the Bengals, we’ll see if Michael Woods or Jamari Thrash get more time to shine.
- The Bengals yield a lot of yards to tight ends, which I’m sure is another reason why David Njoku is eager to play today despite his hamstring injury.
Quick Hitters
- Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey talked about the skill set for Dorian Thompson-Robinson:
You have traditionally called plays for a dual-threat quarterback, and you’ve called for Jameis (Winston), so how does this kind of allow you to use a lot of other things in your tool bag?
“Yeah, I mean, obviously Dorian’s a different player. He has a skill set different than Jameis. And guys see the game differently and you could talk about the same play and one guy sees it one way and another guy sees it another way. So, there’s that portion of it where there’s always a different element of how the offense evolves with each guy and that’s quarterback, receivers, that’s everybody, but especially the quarterback position. So, there’s obviously things that you constantly try to evaluate to make sure you’re giving yourself the best opportunity and taking advantage of a guy’s traits as well, and at the same time letting us play fast on offense and execute at a high level.”
- Defensive coordinator Jim Schwarz talked about the possibility of Denzel Ward shadowing Ja’Marr Chase:
Denzel Ward said he would love to be shadowing (Ja’Marr) Chase in this game, considering you got two young guys left at cornerback. Is that a possibility?
“Yeah, it’s always possible and we’ll have stuff where he’s on him we will have some stuff where he’s not. He shadowed (Xavier) Worthy a lot last week. I thought he really did a good job handling that. That was a matchup they were relying on Worthy for a lot of those plays down the field and one of the things that we had struggled with a little bit early in the year was some big plays allowed in the passing game, and KC (Kansas-City) certainly took their shots. They kept trying to get these balls down the field and our guys were there to defend them. And Denzel had a lot to do with that. So, again, this isn’t a game, though, that you can just take one player out. You can take Chase out and, they have good players around and they got a quarterback (Joe Burrow) that knows what he’s doing and like I said, a quarterback that can make some plays with his feet, too. So it’s going to take a team effort on defense. But Cam (Cameron Mitchell) stepped in, hasn’t played a lot of outside corner for us. Stepped in and did an admirable job. And Myles Harden had his first real playing experience, hadn’t played for a month, had some mixed results. But, you know, those guys battled.”
- According to the FanDuel Sportsbook, the Browns are 9.5-point underdogs against the Bengals.
Predictions
Here are predictions from multiple staff members at DBN.
Chris Pokorny: “The Browns have taken out the Ravens and Steelers this season, and it’s time they complete the AFC North sweep (as far as getting a win against everyone once goes). Cincinnati’s defense is the most optimal one for DTR to start against, and with how Cleveland’s pass defense looked last week against Mahomes and the hits they were laying on him, they will be hungry to officially end the Bengals’ playoff hopes.” Browns 27, Bengals 20
Jared Mueller: “Zero reason to believe the Browns will win against the Bengals but it is possible. Cleveland has mostly had Joe Burrow’s number but the defense continues to have injury issues and Cincinnati has to win every game to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
I’m also not confident that DTR can do much to keep the offense rolling even if he doesn’t turn the ball over as much as Jameis Winston.” Bengals 24, Browns 17
Curtiss Brown: “Could the Browns beat the Bengals. Possibly. Cincinnati’s defense has been porous all season but their offense has been on a heater. Quarterback Joe Burrow has been playing at an MVP level for a while now but he’s had his issues against Cleveland’s defense (which also gave Patrick Mahomes issues last week).
I don’t know how the offense is going to look with DTR under center. DTR getting a full week of practice might help considering whenever he starts it’s under adverse circumstances. DTR’s conservative style is different from Winston’s aggressive style. Who knows how this game will turn out?” Bengals 24, Browns 20
Damon Wolfe: “This is probably the Browns best chance to win another game this season. A win would also assure them a non-losing record within the division. Their chances sit squarely on the right arm of DTR and it’s anybody’s guess as to what he will play like. In the end, I think that he shows some promise and is able to move the offense and score points but the Bengals will outscore them in a shootout.” Bengals 35, Browns 31
Ez Weav: “This is probably the best matchup we have left on the schedule. And the league did us a solid by making not a TNF (road teams don’t do great). So it would seem like things can go ok.
I don’t know what else it is we really need to see with Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but we’re about to see it. I’m not especially enthused, as we’ll probably see a lot of the Jameis-induced improvements in things like pass protection melt away, and he’s left to his own devices trying to run an offense that’s not best suited for his skill set.
Defensively we’ll battle, but they’ll be able to do enough and we won’t.” Bengals 20, Browns 9
Who do you think will win, Browns fans? Let us know in the comments section below.