Key Matchups: Breaking Down Bengals vs Browns in the Battle of Ohio

The Bengals host the Browns on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.

Author:
Nicole Zembrodt
Updated:
Nov 6, 2021 2:29 PM EDT
Original:
Nov 6, 2021

The stage is set for the 96th edition of the Battle of Ohio. The Bengals hold the series record over the Browns 51-44.

Both teams are coming off disappointing losses in Week 8. Cincinnati was stumped by a one-win Jets team, while the Browns' offense stalled in Pittsburgh.

Joe Mixon, Jessie Bates, and Tyler Boyd addressed the media together following the defeat to affirm that the team’s performance against New York did not define who they are and share the message that they will bounce back as a team. Many players reiterated the message on their social media or during interviews this week.

Cleveland has been dealing with plenty of issues, including key injuries that have hindered their talented roster. A number of their key players are playing through injury or have been sidelined. Tensions passed the point of no return between the team and Odell Beckham Jr. this week. They'll officially release the star wide-out on Monday and he won't play against the Bengals on Sunday.

This is a must-win for both squads to get back on track and set the tone for the second-half of the season. Let’s take a look at the key matchups that will decide this game.

Joe Burrow vs. Browns Defense

The Browns defense brings pressure all day and they can force an offense to throw with their ability to stop the run. Opponents are averaging 220 yards in the air per game (seventh lowest in the league).

Avoiding pressure applied by Cleveland’s third-ranked pass rush, led by Myles Garrett, will be the key for Burrow to find success against the Browns.

Garrett has lived in opposing teams’ backfields this season. He is the league-leader in sacks (10.5) and has 20 quarterback hits. Garrett has at least one sack in all but one game this season.

Joe Burrow has fared well against the pressure this year, but will be in for a challenge against a defense who has 22 total sacks and tallies a pressure on 27.8% of dropbacks.

Against man coverage, Burrow is averaging 11.1 yards per throw with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions according to Pro Football Focus.

Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams, and Greg Newsome II lead the Browns secondary. Per PFF, no cornerback has graded higher than a 60.0 in man coverage.

Ward didn’t play last week and has been dealing with a hamstring injury. He has been limited in practice this week, but is expected to go Sunday.

A weak point of the Browns passing defense is touchdowns allowed. Opponents have thrown for 17 touchdowns against them, third-most in the league. This bodes well for Burrow’s eight-game streak of two or more touchdown passes.

Burrow has played some of his best football against divisional opponents this season. As a rookie last season, he torched the Browns’ defense for 722 yards and six touchdowns in two games.

A fire is lit under Burrow after last week’s loss. He knows the potential of this offense and believes they should be putting up 40 or more points each week.

Advantage: Bengals

Bengals Offensive Line vs. Browns Defense

Cleveland’s defense does not blitz much, relying on their line to employ pressure.

Garrett is the most talented pass rusher the Bengals will face this season (one could argue T.J. Watt). He is producing league-best numbers, but what makes Garrett special is his ability to be disruptive at any position along the defensive line. The Bengals can prepare for Garrett’s different looks, but will they be able to stop him if he jumps from edge to edge or from the outside to the inside to attack their weakness?

Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley are causing problems up front as well. Garrett (29%), Clowney (28%), and McKinley (27%) are all top-four in DE/OLB pass rush win rate. Cleveland, as a team, is second in the league in the category (53%).

Clowney returned to practice Friday after not practicing for most of the week. He’s dealing with multiple injuries (ankle/knee/hip). Clowney is expected to play after being listed as questionable for the game.

The Browns aren’t just winning with their pass rush, they are also stopping the run. They have 38 tackles for loss on the season.

Cincinnati is looking to have a Pittsburgh-like game. The offensive line was doubted going into the contest against the Steelers front, but the Bengals proved the doubters wrong by not allowing a sack. They gave Burrow time to throw and they beat the Steelers on the road for the first time since 2015.

Quinton Spain, Riley Reiff, and Jonah Williams have played well, but Trey Hopkins continues to struggle. Against the Jets, Hopkins allowed three pressures, one sack, and two tackles for loss. Expect Cleveland to attack Hopkins and Jackson Carman with Garrett at different points of the game.

Advantage: Browns

Bengals Skill Players vs. Browns Defense

The Jets held Ja’Marr Chase to a season-low three receptions for 32 yards and one touchdown last week. Burrow targeted the receiver nine times with two of the incompletions as drops.

New York played man-to-man coverage with a safety over the top to take away Chase as deep threat. Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd benefitted from the extra attention the Jets through at the rookie.

Higgins finished with four catches for 97 yards, including one for 54 yards. Boyd found the endzone for a second time this season on five receptions for 69 yards.

Chase could draw the same attention with Ward shadowing him and John Johnson III floating his direction in the secondary.

C.J. Uzomah is having a breakout season. His blocking abilities will be crucial to help open lanes for Joe Mixon and add a cushion in pass protection. Cleveland’s defense has managed pass-catching tight ends well thus far. Opposing tight ends are averaging 3.62 catches for 38.50 yards per game against the Browns and they've caught a total of four touchdowns.

Mixon’s rushing attack was slowed last week, but the running back has shown his ability to catch and run. Mixon is averaging 8.7 yards per reception with six first downs and two scores. If Cleveland is able to stop the ground game, Mixon could be a viable option out of the backfield for Burrow, especially if he's under pressure.

Advantage: Bengals

Baker Mayfield vs. Bengals Defense

Mayfield has been playing with a completely torn labrum in his non-throwing arm since Week 2. He fractured his humerus bone in the same shoulder after their loss to the Cardinals in Week 6.

The quarterback sat out Week 7 before being cleared by doctors to play last week. He is in a shoulder harness to secure and protect the joint.

Accuracy and deep ball has been a problem for Mayfield as he’s been bothered by his injury. Mayfield has thrown a number of poor throws and has completed 66.7% of his passes with a 96 quarterback rating in seven games.

Mayfield hasn’t turned the ball over relative to prior years. He's thrown just three interceptions and has two lost fumbles (four total).

Like Burrow, avoiding the pressure brought on by the Bengals pass rush, led by Hendrickson, will be key if Mayfield wants to find success Sunday.

He’s been a Bengal-killer in the past though. In six games, Mayfield is 5-1 with 1,529 yards and 17 touchdowns. Five of those touchdowns were thrown in the last meeting between the two teams.

With Mayfield’s accuracy problems, look for one of the Bengals to jump a poorly thrown ball or snag a tipped ball off a receiver’s hands. Both Jessie Bates’ and Germaine Pratt’s interceptions against the Jets were deflected off receivers’ hands before reeling in the turnover.

Advantage: Bengals

Browns Offensive Line vs. Bengals Defense

The Browns are first in the league in pass block win rate (73%), but injuries are starting to plague this group.

Different injuries to Jack Conklin have thrown Cleveland’s offensive line for a loop as the team has struggled without their All-Pro right tackle.

Blake Hance replaced Conklin when he missed time with a knee injury and last week after Conklin suffered a possible season-ending elbow injury.

Hance and Jedrick Wills Jr. allowed nine of the eleven pressures in their loss last week. Wills had a solid rookie season, but a lingering ankle injury has kept him from full potential this season.

Cleveland’s line has given up 23 sacks (Cincinnati has given up 21). The interior of the Brown’s line has been their strength with Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller.

Conklin, Bitonio, and Teller have opened holes along the line for the league-leading rushing attack averaging 5.2 yards per attempt.

Trey Hendrickson will line up against Wills on the outside. With Wills still aggravated by his ankle injury, Hendrickson will try to push Wills back, making him plant and shuffle on his ankle as much as possible.

Hendrickson has generated the highest pressure rate since 2020 (17.8%) according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Garrett is fourth (15.9%) on the list. Hendrickson is on pace for 16 sacks this season, which would be second in Bengals' history.

The best head-to-head matchup in the game will be DJ Reader, Larry Ogunjobi, and B.J. Hill against Bitonio, Teller, and center JC Tretter. On the interior, each group respectively has been dominant. This could be the difference maker of the game if the Bengals are able to collapse the pocket and close gaps or if the Browns can give Mayfield time to throw and unleash the running game.

Advantage: Bengals

Browns Skill Players vs. Bengals Defense

Whether Beckham Jr. was with the team or not, the receiver hasn’t made a difference for Cleveland’s offense this season.

Now that we know he'll be released, the Browns can move forward in hopes of getting their offense gelling again

Jarvis Landry and Donovan Peoples-Jones are receiving threats, but this offense operates through their running game and tight ends.

Cleveland’s rushing attack is first in the league averaging 161.1 yards per game. They also lead the league with 14 touchdowns on the ground.

Nick Chubb has missed two games and is still third in the league with 584 rushing yards entering Week 9. He is averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

Depth has shown at the position with Kareem Hunt on injured reserve since his injury in Week 6. D’Ernest Johnson went from RB3 to RB1 in Week 7, tallying 146 yards against the Broncos with both Chubb and Hunt out.

Cincinnati is holding opponents to 94.9 rushing yards per game and 3.9 yards per carry. A great deal of their pressure brought on by the line has translated into tackles for loss. The team has 44 tackles for loss with Ogunjobi (7) leading the way.

Austin Hooper, David Njoku, and Harrison Bryant form a dangerous tight end trio:

Hooper: 18 catches, 169 yards, 1 touchdown
Njoku: 20 catches, 323 yards, 1 touchdown
Bryant: 9 catches, 117 yards

Bryant is questionable entering the game after appearing on the injury report mid-week with an injured thigh.

Cincinnati has played well against tight ends. They have allowed just two tight end scores and have held them to around four catches and 42 yards per game. T.J. Hockenson and Mark Andrews are centerpieces in each of their respective offenses. They were both kept out of the endzone and held to under 80 receiving yards.

Advantage: Bengals

Evan McPherson vs. Chase McLaughlin

McPherson has had 18 total attempts (13 XPA, 5 FGA) and made them all since the Green Bay game in Week 5.

Cincinnati breaking the 30-point threshold in each of their last three games has set McPherson up to put points on the board.

McLaughlin has been a journeyman throughout his young career. The kicker has made all but one of his attempts, which was blocked. McLaughlin has made each of his four attempts from 50+ yards.

Cleveland’s offensive struggles of late haven’t given McLaughlin the opportunity to score points. Since Week 6, McLaughlin has made seven-of- eight attempts (5 XPA and 2 FGM/3 FGA).

Advantage: Bengals

This game will come down to the battle of the trenches. The team that can apply the most pressure and rattle the flow of the opposing offense will leave Paul Brown Stadium victorious.

A lot of emotion already goes into this rivalry game, but even more so after the weeks each team has had.

Undefeated in the AFC North and heading into the bye 6-3 would be the perfect formula to start the second half of the season for the Bengals.

Make sure you bookmark All Bengals for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

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