The Cincinnati Bengals will look for a season-best third straight win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive when they host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Both teams had high expectations when the NFL schedule came out in May. But both have endured disappointing seasons, and the game was flexed out of its original Thursday night spot.
The Bengals (6-8) are coming off consecutive road wins at Dallas and Tennessee.
The Browns (3-11) have dropped three straight and are making another quarterback change.
On Wednesday, coach Kevin Stefanski announced Dorian Thompson-Robinson as the new starting quarterback after Jameis Winston was benched during a 21-7 loss to Kansas City last weekend.
“A young player that’s really gotten better in every area,” Stefanski said of Thompson-Robinson. “He’s done a very, very good job of getting up to speed on all the nuance of the position. He’s done a very good job of keeping himself prepared for when a moment comes that he’s being put in there. So he’s really taken the preparation part of this really well.”
Winston threw 13 touchdowns and amassed 2,121 yards through the air. But the former No. 1 overall pick tossed 12 interceptions, including eight in the three-game skid.
Thompson-Robinson started three games as a rookie in 2023. This season, in four games, he is 15 of 34 for 100 yards with three interceptions.
For the Bengals, a 37-27 win over the Titans last week marked the 400th regular-season victory in franchise history and Joe Burrow set a new single-season team record with his 36th touchdown pass.
Ja’Marr Chase remains in contention for the receivers’ triple crown, as he leads the NFL in receptions (102), receiving yards (1,413) and touchdowns (15).
The Bengals created six turnovers last week but committed four themselves, while committing a season-high 14 penalties.
“I’m happy we won — I don’t take that lightly,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “There are a lot of really positive things that we highlighted with the team that we did well. We got turnovers, scored off those turnovers. So, there was a lot of really good stuff there. The 14 penalties is not us. We addressed every single one of those. There’s things that we can continue to clean up.”
Cincinnati enters this week with an opportunity to sweep the Browns for the first time since the 2017 season. The Bengals beat the Browns, 21-14, at Cleveland in Week 7, as Burrow threw a pair of TD passes in the third quarter and the defense held the Browns to just 77 net rushing yards.
Through 15 weeks, Burrow leads the NFL in completions (361), passing attempts (527), passing yards (3,977) and TD passes (36). He has passed for at least 250 yards and three touchdowns in each of Cincinnati’s past six games, joining former New England quarterback Tom Brady as the only players in league history to reach those marks in six straight contests.
The Browns continue to deal with bad injury luck, having already lost quarterback Deshaun Watson to a torn Achilles in Cleveland’s first game against Cincinnati on Oct. 20. In a home loss to Kansas City last week, the Browns lost running back Nick Chubb for the season to a broken foot. Jerome Ford will take his place.
Cleveland defensive end Shelby Harris (elbow) was ruled out for the Cincinnati game on Friday. Cornerback Martin Emerson (concussion), tight end David Njoku (hamstring), Cedric Tillman (concussion) and Winston (right shoulder) were listed as questionable.
The Bengals will be without defensive linemen Sam Hubbard (knee), tight end Tanner Hudson (knee) and Sheldon Rankins (illness). Left tackle Orlando Brown (fibula), wide receiver Charlie Jones (groin) and guard Alex Cappa (concussion) are questionable. Burrow was limited in practice all week due to right wrist and knee injuries.
–Field Level Media
