Eisen: Bengals Should "Dance on Top of the Elf Man" Week 1
The schedule for the NFL 2023 season was released this past week. The Cleveland Browns will host the Cincinnati Bengals to open the season. Rich Eisen, in his role as host of the Rich Eisen Show declared the Bengals should dominate the Browns.
Friday, Eisen was asked which would be the better matchup. Browns-Bengals or the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders. Eisen weighed in with the following.
"I'll do Raiders-Broncos. There's a lot of changes there and I think that's a jump ball. I still think the Bengals are better than the Browns."
Fair enough. But he then got a little chesty, saying, "The Bengals are one of the best teams in the AFC. They should go on the road and just dance on top of the elf man. That's what they should do and I think the better matchup going is Raiders-Broncos."
Eisen isn't wrong about the Bengals. They stand out as one of the best teams in the AFC and are looking to repeat as AFC North champs. However, what Eisen evidently doesn't know is that the Bengals with Burrow has only beaten the Browns once in his career, the second of their two matchups this past year.
That improved Burrow's record against the Browns to 1-4. For all of its flaws, the Browns defense has given Burrow and the Bengals offense trouble. Meanwhile, the Browns balanced offense has been able to find success against Lou Anarumo's defense.
Eisen did acknowledge the Browns are one of his biggest mysteries this season because of Deshaun Watson, given how he played in the six games last year, one of which was that loss to the Bengals.
Still, it's notable just how confident Eisen is in the Bengals. They shouldn't just win, but they should win big against the Browns to start the 2023 season. Since Burrow has joined the Bengals, this rivalry has been one of the more entertaining within the AFC North and this game looks like a great matchup to kick off the year.
Then again, Rich Eisen picked the Raiders to win the AFC West last year. They went 6-11.
