Cleveland Browns vs Cincinnati Bengals: Battle of Ohio

Bounceback opportunity

AFC North divisional matchup between two teams that should be trending upwards this season. Cleveland brought in a new coaching staff, which should be able to use all the talent that they have on the roster and make a winning team out of it. But that is not what happened in Week 1. They got mauled by Baltimore Ravens in a 38-6 rout. The final score was not as concerning as some of the issues in their passing game that we've seen last year under Freddie Kitchens. But to be honest, Ravens' defense is a handful for any offense in the league, so we'll give Cleveland the benefit of a doubt this time and make conclusions after seeing more games.

Vs Cincinnati, I expect them to get into a rhythm much easier. Bengals are missing Geno Atkins and Mike Daniels in the middle of that defensive line, which leaves pretty much only DJ Reader and Christian Covington in there. They're not bad players, but you need depth at those positions because those big guys can get gassed when on the field for too long, making it easier to run the ball against them. This is where I see an opportunity for the Browns. Establishing a running game through Nick Chubb (and Kareem Hunt), which will open up opportunities in the passing game as well.

Rookie is the real deal

On the other side, Joe Burrow was just a bit short in his NFL debut. Looking at the stats, you might think he had a pretty rough game, but it was not like that. Especially considering that they played probably against the best pass defense in the league, he looked really good on the film, despite putting up only 13 points. He was under pressure a lot (expected), but made some nice throws and not that many mistakes, which is always a great thing for rookie QB in the NFL. I am sure that he'll do much better in this game, statistically. Browns defense is solid upfront, but they have too many issues in the secondary with Greedy Williams and Kevin Johnson out. Other than Denzel Ward, those guys will struggle to keep up with AJ Green, Tyler Boyd and John Ross III.

Browns vs Bengals betting tips

Considering everything I said above, it's probably not a big surprise that I'm going with over 43 points here. I expect an exciting game, where Joe Burrow will show why he was drafted as the No.1 pick earlier this year. He has a plus matchup vs this Browns secondary and I don't think he will be too bothered by Cleveland's pass rush, because he is good at getting the ball out of his hands quickly and is also quite an athlete, capable of making difficult throws on the run or picking up first downs by running for it.

When it comes to player props, as always, I got an opinion on pretty much every player :) . But, for now, I'm placing only a bet on Tyler Boyd over 49.5 receiving yards. It is always tricky for receivers when a new QB comes to town. Some of them simply don't click that well with each other. Looking at Boyd's stat sheet from last week, 4 receptions for 33 yards might make you believe this is the case here as well. But I wouldn't be so sure about it. Chargers defense always causes a lot of problems to slot receivers. They have Desmond King playing in that nickelback spot and now they also have Chris Harris Jr. that is also very comfortable in there. That is why I'm not holding those 33 yards against Boyd too much. The presence of AJ Green will also benefit him IMHO. When you are not a focal point, it always makes things easier for any receiver. He might lose some targets to AJ, but Green will also draw away all the double teams and make this passing offense more efficient. It means more receiving yards to go around, so I expect Boyd to be at least as successful as he was last year. Also, Burrow throws a nice ball through the middle from those RPO plays. Those are just perfect for creating space for a slot receiver to work in between lines and catch balls.

I would also advise to be very cautious about the situation in Cleveland's backfield. There was a pretty much an even split in Week 1 between Chubb and Hunt. But Hunt did a lot of work in the garbage time when Stefanski wisely pulled his lead back. I expect Chubb's role to be more prominent in situations when his team is in a much better situation on the scoreboard.

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