The second Thursday night matchup of the season may not feature two high profile teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs or the Houston Texans like week one did, but it does feature two former number one picks going head-to-head against each other in Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals) and Baker Mayfield (Cleveland Browns).
Both of these teams are still looking to find their first win of the season, this comes after both teams suffered heart breaking losses in week one. While both of the teams did end up losing, they were heartbreaking for separate reasons.
The Browns started a second consecutive season losing by at least 30 points after the Baltimore Ravens gave them a beat down in Baltimore, but not only is it their second consecutive 30-point loss on opening day but dating back to last season this was their fourth straight game allowing 30 or more points. It’s safe to say that the new era under head coach Kevin Stefanski is not off to a hot start.
On the other side of the field there is the Bengals who suffered a much tougher loss in former Heisman winner Joe Burrow’s first NFL game. While the Browns faced a much tougher team in the Ravens in their loss, the Bengals had every single opportunity to win the game against the Chargers in their first game but a horrid fourth quarter nixed any idea of that happening. The fourth quarter saw three drives for the Bengals, two of which ended in turnovers (Fumble, Interception), and the other saw a missed field goal with an opportunity to tie the game after marching 84 yards down the field with seven seconds remaining.
Both teams have something to fight for and something to prove entering this week two matchup, however, it may mean a little bit more to the Browns. Last season was seen as a down year for Cleveland after completely revamping their team in hopes of making the playoffs, this year is supposed to be the year that things change, and they end up as a playoff team.
The Bengals still have their pride, but they are in the middle of a rebuild right now so it would not be as tough on them if they put a rough season under their belt, if the Browns do though then we could see yet another coaching change which now seems like an annual event.
The Browns have handled the Bengals very well over their last four meetings (two seasons) as they are 3-1 against the Bengals. Could this be a repeat of the past two seasons or will this game bring a different outcome in the battle of number one picks?
No matter what happens in this game, one of the former number-one picks will come out on top and maybe more importantly, it will be the first of two games to see who reigns supreme in the Battle of Ohio.
Thursday Night Football: Cincinnati at Cleveland
Kickoff: Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8:20 p.m. ET
TV: NFL Network
Spread: Browns -6
Bengals: (0-1)
While there may have been a good number of positives to talk about in the Bengals first game against the Chargers, it ended on a sour note. Going on a short week they will need to put that out of their head quickly and bounce back to face their AFC North division rival.
Joe Burrow showed some flashes as to why he was the number one pick, but there are still issues that need to be worked out. 23/36 for 193 yards, a rushing touchdown and an interception is not a terrible game for a debut, but even asking Burrow he graded himself a D after the game. He knows that there were things to work on, mainly being consistent with throws and not overthrowing easy throws. Burrow overthrew A.J. Green for a would have been touchdown in the first possession of the second half, then John Ross III for what could have been a game winning touchdown. The mistakes didn’t stop there, in the fourth quarter he was intercepted after attempting to make a something out of nothing play while attempting a shovel pass with 5:13 left in the game.
Burrow knows these are mistakes though and he has the work ethic and awareness that means these should be easily fixable, but the fact that Burrow took this so hard means that he expects perfection out of himself and that is something that should make every Bengals fan excited when looking forward.
However, Burrow cannot be expected to do everything by himself, especially if the game plan is going to be similar to week one. Joe Mixon was given an extension before the season started and now, he has to show that he was worth the extension. Mixon had 69 rushing yards on 19 attempts, not terrible but why not get backup Giovani Bernard more involved. Bernard ran for seven yards on one attempt meaning that the running backs combined for 20 rushes and 76 yards. Burrow added 46 yards on the ground, which is helpful, but this cannot turn in to a one-dimensional offense especially when deep passes are not part of the offense.
This backfield has an opportunity to be a two headed monster and the best thing to help a rookie quarterback is to establish the run. The run opens up the pass and even though the offensive line may not be the best, the team has to attempt to confuse defenses and not get caught in a trap like they did last week. The Browns secondary is not the greatest as the Ravens exposed last week, but if the Bengals become one dimensional then it becomes easier to defend.
The defense showed flashes of greatness too, then the fourth quarter hit, and one touchdown and one short field completely flipped the game on their head. Short fields are a defense worst enemy, but the Bengals did a very good job at not allowing it to completely ruin their chance to win. The Browns offense has more potential than the Chargers offense has, but if they can play in a similar fashion to how they did against the Chargers then the Bengals should have every opportunity to win.
Browns: (0-1)
To put it bluntly, the Browns did not deserve to be on the same field as the Ravens last week. In the first quarter the offense did not look terrible, yes, a first drive interception looks bad but the run game outside struck some of the Ravens weaknesses. The problem though, the Ravens completely dismantled the secondary of the Browns which meant the Browns had to pass to stay in the game. In the first quarter though it wasn’t even that the offense was bad, it was easily a part of the problem but bad play calling also became an issue.
On the second possession for the Browns, after they got intercepted on the first, the Browns faced a 4th down situation and decided to go for a fake punt on their side of the field, why? This came to be known as just another example of the Browns being the Browns and it led to the Ravens taking an early two possession lead. Once the Ravens were up by this much then the Browns had nothing else to do but pass.
While the Browns gave up on the run game way too early due to the score, they still ended up with 132 yards on the ground with the Chubb, Hunt duo. If this team doesn’t shoot itself in the foot early in the future, then this run game will open up the pass game for Mayfield and right now they need that. Even with the run game doing well they had to rely on the pass and one good thing is that the offensive line mostly held up, Mayfield did get sacked two times, but he also had nowhere to throw it against one of the best secondaries in the game.
Almost all of Mayfield’s passes on the day were short and his “best” weapon in Odell Beckham Jr. was held to three catches on 10 targets. Most of the time it was due to great defense, but Beckham dropped an easy first down which could have placed them in a better position to come back and that was the theme of the game for them. While Beckham may not have been reliable, Jarvis Landry was and so was David Njoku. Sadly, Njoku is now out for at least three weeks and now they will have to rely on the big offseason signing Austin Hooper for the reliable TE.
The offense has all the potential to be great, now they just have to prove that they can do it against other teams. The Ravens are a very good defense, but the Bengals showed that they can be as well, if the Bengals can stop the run, something that the Ravens did struggle with then the Bengals D could feast.
It’s tough to talk about the Browns D because the Ravens offense is at least top-five in the league and the Browns have a completely depleted secondary so we will get to see better how they will fare against the Bengals. Myles Garett still leads the line so the pass rush should be there and could give the rookie quarterback a rough first game against the division.
Finally, the big question will be how will the kicking game be? The Browns got rid of Austin Seibert after missing a field goal and an extra point, now Cody Parker is in. If Parker can make a field goal or extra point against the Bengals then he will already be an upgrade over what they had, and in this game, it could boil down to the kicker so let’s see what the new addition brings to the team.
Final Analysis
There is no more time for excuses in Cleveland, we get it, there is a new head coach but winning eventually needs to come. The Ravens completely embarrassed this team week one and now they should be out for revenge against any team. This is a team that could drop 20 points at will, so why can’t they? Maybe this offense is not as good as advertised, but they have a chance to make a big splash in the AFC North.
The Browns started off this way last season and facing a rookie quarterback in Joe Burrow they could easily have a rebound game. The Bengals have a lot to look forward to in the future, but it still may be too early. On paper, the Browns are much better than the Chargers are, and I think they will prove it this game and get the win although it will be close.
Prediction: Browns 24, Bengals 21