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KEY MATCHUPS
NOVEMBER 29, 2009
This Thanksgiving Weekend Bengals-Browns matchup at Paul Brown Stadium is shaping up more and more like a holiday bash with the relatives coming in from up state. The result is going to be warm and fuzzy, but there’ll be some hardcore angst along the way.
You know the Bengals are expecting a hard-fought, close-to-the-vest game with wide receiver 
Such is the way the Bengals.com roundtable sees the Bengals fending off the Browns to sweep the AFC North and set a franchise record with their seventh straight division victory.
“The Browns won’t give up anything big and they’ll play hard,” says The Sage, a former NFL player with double-digit years in the league. “But I think the Bengals have too much firepower and they realize what’s on the line.”
Big Bird, another former pro with a decade’s worth of skins in the league, knows exactly where this game is coming from the intangible aspect.
“Division game. Ohio rivalry. It’s going to be a tight game,” The Bird says. “But the matchups – the Bengals defense vs. the Browns defense and the Bengals offense vs. the Browns offense - favors the Bengals pretty clearly in most of them. The only way they lose is if they turn it over or Joshua Cribbs dominates them on special teams.”
The Eye, an NFL scout familiar with the AFC North, is intrigued with how the perception has changed on the Bengals since the beginning of the season.
“They were the bad team that good teams couldn’t put away at the beginning of the year and now they’re seen as a good team that can’t put bad teams away,” The Eye says. “If you look at the talent on the rosters, the Bengals get the edge, but they can’t let Cleveland hang around.”
He says they won’t and calls it, 28-14, for the Bengals. The Sage also goes Cincy at something like 28-17. Big Bird sees a 27-10 win. The Bengals are hoping a Bengals.com roundtable sweep foreshadows an AFC North sweep.
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Rogers is a beast, of course, but he can’t do it alone. A misnomer about the last time the Bengals played the Browns is that they couldn’t run it on them because they had seven straight series of an interception and six three-and-outs. But the Bengals ran for 154 yards at 5.1 yards per carry and it was rookie running back Still, Rogers can screw up a game plan and he’s just off a stout performance against his old teammates in Detroit. He must think that Bengals trade last year went through because he plays like these guys are his old mates. “I’ve seen games where he’s asking to come out of the game after some plays, but he doesn’t do that against the Bengals,” The Eye says. “Their front line is their strength on defense and he’s a big reason why. He’s big, he can move and he seems to be motivated.” The ex-players give the nod to Rogers, but not before saying they like what kind of year Cook is having and that he’s been solid. “He’s just not a guy that is going to take on a Rogers,” The Sage says. “He’s going to need some help from the guards.” | |
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Injuries have decimated the Browns linebacking corps and they are relying a lot on the rookie Maiava, a fourth-rounder out of USC. No one seems to know if Benson (hip) is going to play, or if Johnson is going to get his first heavy work as a Bengal, or both. But the Bengals have two big veterans who have each gone for 100 against Cleveland matched against a rookie. And somebody must be running it on the Browns. They are last in the league in defense and 26th against the run. Green Bay’s Ryan Grant went for 148 three weeks ago, followed by tandem jobs of Matt Forte and Garrett Wolfe in Chicago (31-143) and the Ravens’ Ray Rice and Willis McGahee (33-124). “They’ve got to run the ball against the Browns, because you know what their defense is going to do,” The Sage says. “They’re going to sit back and not let them go deep.” | |
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Benson is getting all the ink for being hurt, but what about the 200-pound Scott after a career-high 21 carries and cramping so badly at the end last week he couldn’t return kicks? Does he get fewer carries or is he even made inactive if the Bengals decide to go with both Benson and Johnson? It depends how beat up he is, but that wouldn’t seem to be an option. Plus, The Eye thinks he’ll be valuable Sunday because the Browns are going to want quarterback And note that in the Browns 38-37 loss to Detroit last Sunday, Lions running back Kevin Smith caught four balls for 104 yards underneath the double coverage of Calvin Johnson, including the kind of explosive 63-yard play that Scott has made in each of the last two games. | |
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Coles is immersed in some mystery this week. He missed two days of practice before going limited Friday with a chest injury and has been deemed questionable. But his old coach with the Jets, Browns coach Eric Mangini is convinced he’s playing. Here is what Mangini said about Coles in this week’s conference call with Cincinnati media: “He’s one of the toughest players I’ve ever been around. He’s played with some injuries that a lot of guys couldn’t come close to playing with. He’s fiercely competitive. When you talk to him, tell him I said hello because he was fun to coach. We had a little tough spot at the beginning, but when I got to know him, he’s a fun guy to coach.” Big Bird thinks he’ll play, too. “That’s what attracted Marvin (Lewis) to him,” The Bird says. “He’s a tough guy that’s not going to take practices off and he’s a reliable pro. I think he’ll have a good game. They’re going to take away Chad, but their secondary is really struggling. Coles has played well the last month after a slow start and he didn’t get much separation on that 40-yarder last week, but he was in position to make the play.” Brandon McDonald has been benched in favor of the 5-11, 200-pound Adams and The Eye says the Bengals receivers match up favorably with the Browns secondary “across the board." And The Bird thinks the Bengals have to exploit some of these matchups instead of sitting on leads. “I know there are ball control issues and trying to manage the game and help your defense,” Bird says. “But when you've got a chance to blow a team out, you’ve got to take the wraps off your $130 million quarterback.” | |
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Rogers literally nearly beat the Bengals with one hand tied behind his back the last time with the block of a field goal and an extra point. No surprise since Rogers has 16 career blocked kicks (13 FGs and three PATs), but bad snaps also contributed to the blocks and they are two of the reasons Brad St. Louis is no longer here and Harris is. So the 257-pound Harris has to keep the 350-pound Rogers occupied in his first exposure to this formidable sight. But Graham didn’t help things in Cleveland, either, with at least one low kick, and he’s looking to get back on the beam after missing a 37-yard field goal last week in a game the Bengals lost by three points. | |
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Boyhood friends vs. high school teammates vs. college chums. You’ve got it all here. How well do they really know each other when the chess game opens? Quinn is coming off a career game with four touchdown passes and 304 yards. Ndukwe has three of his four career picks against the Browns, but they were against Derek Anderson. “He’s more mobile than Anderson, but his arm isn’t as strong and his decisions aren’t as quick. Quinn tends to hold the ball,” The Eye says. “I thought Detroit gave him (99) yards passing with blown coverages on the first two touchdown passes. There was nobody near the receivers either time, and the third TD came after a turnover they got in the red zone. I think he played well, and he’s dangerous, but he still has to prove he can consistently drive a team down the field and score.” | |
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The rookie went off on the Bengals for 148 yards while they blanked Braylon Edwards. Edwards left the next day in a trade so now they can deal with Massaquoi by himself. Joseph is looking to make amends after dropping a pick last week that would have sealed a win and being in the area of an end-of-half TD pass. “They have good players there, but no one athletically like Braylon Edwards,” The Eye says. | |
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On paper it looks like a third-down mismatch. Rookie pass rusher vs. Pro Bowl protector. Big Bird likes it because he saw Johnson bury Steelers left tackle Max Starks with a hesitation move two weeks ago and was surprised Johnson didn’t see more time last Sunday in Oakland. “Yeah, Thomas is a Pro Bowler. But speed is the great equalizer,” Bird says. “I think that’s a good matchup for the Bengals and they’re going to have to get pressure on Quinn. A lot more than they did last week. He’s not experienced and you want him to make quick decisions. I think they’re going to have him get rid of it quickly, and I like the Bengals D-line in this matchup.” | |
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So says Bengals special teams coach Darrin Simmons as the Bengals try to corral the man who personally took that thing into overtime with 120 yards of punt returns on six shots and 103 yards on three kick returns. “The guy is 215 pounds. He runs hard. He’s a big physical man and that’s how we have to play,” Simmons says. "Tackle him.” That means Harris, who wasn’t in Cleveland. Yes, he has to cover (and Simmons says that is one of his strengths), but he can’t do what he did last week and snap it high to punter That means wide receiver “They’re the same kind of player,” Simmons says. “We need him to be faster and more physical than he was last week.” | |
Cook
Benson
Scott
Coles
Graham
Ndukwe
Hall
Johnson
Huber
