Cleveland Browns look for season sweep against surging Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI − Winning a game in the NFL is a challenge. Even great teams will tell you beating a bad team isn't easy.

Beating a team twice in one season only adds to the degree of difficulty. Beating a team that is playing its best football at this time provides one more factor to make it even more of a challenge.

All of that is what faces the Browns (5-7) on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati. They're not just trying to sweep the Bengals for the third consecutive season, they're trying to do so as Cincinnati (8-4) is, yet again, finding its late-season stride.

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"I mean it's tough," All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said. "You come back a little bit differently. The first 15 is going to be different. They're always going to have different plans for us, especially defensively. But I mean you can't change who you are, you can't change your DNA, what you're good at. So just being able to, you know, weather the storm of the new plans they have for us, being able to attack them where we know they're weak at."

Garrett has been huge in doing just that for the Browns when the opponent has been Cincinnati, which has lost five in a row to Cleveland. The last time the Browns played the Bengals, back in Week 8 on Halloween, he had 1.5 of Cleveland's five sacks in a 32-13 win.

That was only part of the formula that led to success for the Browns. They also ran for 172 yards, Jacoby Brissett completed an efficient 17-of-23 passes for 278 yards and forced a pair of turnovers − a first-drive interception and a second-quarter fumble − by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

However, so much has changed for both teams since the last day of October. It's not just their record, either.

Both teams had a number of players who weren't on the field the first time around. Cincinnati was missing star receiver Ja'Marr Chase due to a hip injury, while the Browns were without right guard Wyatt Teller, tight end David Njoku, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and cornerback Denzel Ward.

While all of those players are back this time around, the biggest new face on the field will be the Browns' quarterback. Deshaun Watson returned from his 11-game suspension in last week's win at Houston, completing 12-of-22 passes for 131 yards and an interception.

Watson has spoken this week of still battling the rust which accumulated over 700 days of not playing in a regular-season NFL game. However, he also spoke of a belief that the second time out will be better than the first one.

“Because I was able to get the feel of the game and the speed of the game and how defenses adjust, how we going to be able to adjust at the same time," Watson said. "It's my first time in a live action with (coach) Kevin (Stefanski), so he's gotta feel how I feel. I gotta feel how he feels and we gotta be able to work on the same page and see the same thing through the same lenses. So it was fun to be out there, excited that we got the team win and we're looking forward to try to get another one this week.”

The problem the Browns may have is their own loss of a star receiver. Amari Cooper is listed as questionable by the team due to a hip injury he sustained late in Thursday's practice.

Cooper had a season-high 131 yards on five catches the first time the two Ohio teams met. If he can't go, that only puts more strain on Watson to find a rhythm with the likes of Donovan Peoples-Jones, Njoku and David Bell.

"I just let the game come to me," Watson said. "So if it allows me to make plays with my feet and my legs then I'm gonna do that. If I need to sit in the pocket and make the throws, I’m gonna do that. So I can't go into a game thinking I'm gonna do one more than the other. I just gotta let the game come to me so we can try to be successful."

That'll happen against a Bengals team that hasn't lost since it left Cleveland. Cincinnati has won four in a row, including last week's win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Burrow, the league's No. 5-rated passer, has once again emerged in MVP talks with his play. The quarterback, though, who owns the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes has never beaten the Browns, no matter who their quarterback may be.

“I think that definitely plays a factor, but I think that fuels him as well," cornerback Greg Newsome II said. "Knowing him as a great competitor, that’s going to fuel him as well. He wants to get a win against us too, so it’s definitely going to be a challenge going against those guys.”

Matchup to watch: Browns DE Myles Garrett vs. Bengals LT Jonah Williams

Garrett has terrorized a number of left tackles over his career. Williams may be up near the top of the list. The fourth-year offensive tackle allowed, according to Pro Football Focus, three sacks and four pressures the last time the two in-state rivals met. That includes 1.5 sacks by Garrett. The ability of the Browns' defense, specifically Garrett, to get pressure on Burrow has played a large role in their five-game win streak in the series and the quarterback's 0-4 record against Cleveland. If Williams can't keep Garrett out of Burrow's face, either one-on-on or, most likely, with the help of others, it could be the thing which tilts Sunday's game.

Cleveland Browns player to watch: QB Deshaun Watson

Watson was rusty and, quite frankly, ineffective in his debut in Houston. A lot of that could be explained away by the layoff and the emotions of the moment. Some of it, though, isn't going to be as simple as one game clearing the cobwebs away. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, speaking about Watson on Thursday, said, "I don’t think that is anything we have ever expected from him, quite honestly. I know there are expectations, but those are not ours. We understood that there was going to be some growing pains in through it. Coming back from not playing for that long, it is natural and expected.” That sounds like a coach who knows the challenge to get Watson back to his old Pro Bowl form, if it's possible, is likely something that extends through the remainder of the season. Still, what the Browns do need to see is some evidence of progress. For Watson, that may be as simple as better-looking passes than the ones that frequently were badly off-target or low against the Texans.

Cincinnati Bengals player to watch: DT D.J. Reader

D.J. Reader is a bit of a mystery to the Browns, because the Bengals defensive tackle has so rarely been available to play since signing with Cincinnati as a free agent in 2020. Reader has played just twice in five games against Cleveland in his Bengals career, with injuries being a key factor in that missed time. He was not on the field the first time the teams played in October due to injury, one of six games he missed while on injured reserve this season. However, when healthy and in the lineup, Reader will be a key factor in Cincinnati's ability to slow down Nick Chubb and the Browns' running game. Combined with defensive ends Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, that trio will be tasked with not allowing Chubb to have the kind of success he's traditionally had against the Bengals, which includes five 100-yard rushing performances.

Three numbers: Nick Chubb, King of the Queen City

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There's no team Chubb enjoys seeing more than the Cincinnati Bengals. He's rushed for 763 yards and seven touchdowns on 143 carries in eight games against the Bengals, which is the most against any opponent for the Browns running back. His 101-yard performance on Halloween was his fifth 100-yard rushing performance against the Bengals. The best day, though, Chubb's ever had against Cincinnati came the last time the Browns were on the banks of the Ohio River. On Nov. 7, 2021, he ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries in a 41-16 Browns win. It's his only 100-yard rushing day in three career games in Cincinnati.

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The Bengals are going to throw the football. It's what they do with Burrow and that stellar receiving corps. However, don't sleep on what Joe Mixon can do running the ball, because he's had success against the Browns before. The Cincinnati running back, in nine games against Cleveland, has rushed for 745 yards and six touchdowns on 157 carries. Mixon's missed the last two games due to a concussion, but has been cleared to play this week. With the Bengals finding the rushing yards to be more plentiful in the four games since they lost at the Browns, Mixon could factor in more than he did the first time around.

17

The Browns created four turnovers in last Sunday's win over the Texans. They turned those four turnovers into 17 points. That included two touchdowns scored directly off of the returns, one a fumble return by Denzel Ward and the other an interception return by Tony Fields II. Those 17 points are one more point than the Browns had scored off of their first eight takeaways of the season combined. In the first 11 games, they had turned eight turnovers into 16 points. They had only turned two turnovers into points, either directly on the return (a Ward recovered lateral vs. Pittsburgh in Week 3) or on the subsequent offensive possession (in Week 1 at Carolina).

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns look to sweep Battle of Ohio vs. surging Bengals