Who will take home the win in this first Battle of Ohio matchup?
The Battle of Ohio is back.
The Cincinnati Bengals will travel to Cleveland for the first Battle of Ohio matchup this season. Every matchup is important, but division matchups hit differently, especially the ones with bragging rights attached.
Arguably the most important matchup these two teams have had in the last few years, both sitting at the bottom of the AFC North, trying to fight their way out of a hole.
Cleveland is coming off a close loss to the Eagles on Sunday and is looking for a bounce-back win at home, while the Bengals are coming off an ugly win (yes, you heard that right), beating the Giants on the road.
The Browns are also coming into this game with a huge hole in their roster, as they just traded away their best receiver, Amari Cooper. He is heading to Buffalo to join the Bills. But they are also getting a big boost to the roster as star running back Nick Chubb returns from a knee injury that occurred last season. I can’t imagine the Browns will give Chubb a full workload in his first game back in a year.
Meanwhile, University of Cincinnati alum Jerome Ford left last week’s game with a hamstring injury and is out this week. That means the Browns could rely on Pierre Strong Jr. or Deshaun Watson’s questionable skillset.
Despite an ugly win on Sunday night, the Bengals’ defense looked like a completely new squad. They still allowed over 300 yards, but team chemistry was better. They made good plays throughout the game, so we know they can play well. Still plenty of room to improve, but baby steps.
Meanwhile, the offense struggled quite a bit, scoring only 17 points. Burrow only threw for just over 200 yards and led the team in rushing yards. This was the first game since the season opener against the Patriots where they didn’t score more than 25 points.
If the Bengals can get on the same page, offensively and defensively, they will have no problem.
I expect the Bengals’ defense to come in still on a high from last week, putting pressure on Watson and limiting the Browns run game. I also expect Burrow and the offense to fix their issues from last week and get back to their 25+ points p/game.
Final Score: Bengals 31, Browns 17
What’s your prediction for Sunday? Let us know in the poll below and in the comments section!
