TIME: 8:25 p.m., Thursday
PLACE: Paul Brown Stadium (synthetic)
LOCAL RADIO: Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst) led by "triple cast," Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530) and WEBN-FM (102.7) on the 41-station Bengals radio network.
NATIONAL RADIO: Westwood One Sports with Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Tony Boselli (analyst)
TV: Cincinnati's Channel 12 and NFL Network. Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Phil Simms (analyst) Tracy Wolfson (sideline).
INJURIES
CIN:
OUT: RT Andre Smith (concussion) didn't work all week after leaving Sunday in the fourth quarter. He's just the second Bengals' starter to miss a game this season and is expected to be replaced by Eric Winston. QUESTIONABLE:Starting MLB Rey Maualuga (calf) didn't work Monday and Tuesday but was limited Wednesday after getting hurt on first drive of last Sunday's game. He looked pretty nimble during Tuesday's work on the side. LE Carlos Dunlap (shoulder) went limited all week. He left during the fourth quarter but came back to play in the last drive and forced Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to throw an incompletion out of the end zone on the last play of the game.
CLE:
MOST LIKELY OUT: Starting CB Joe Haden (concussion, ankle) declared out by head coach Mike Pettine earlier in the week. Starting SS Donte Whitner (concussion). He and Haden left on consecutive hits to the head. Starting WR Brian Hartline (concussion) and starting slot WR Andrew Hawkins (concussion).
THE SERIES
The 7-0 Bengals lead 2-6 Browns, 44-39, 27-15 in Cincinnati, 10-5 at PBS.
NOTEWORTHY
»» The teams return to the scene of last Thursday night's game on Nov. 6, 2014, a 24-3 victory for the 6-3 Browns that put them into a first-place tie in the AFC North with the Steelers. Cleveland won one game the rest of the way to finish 7-9.
»» That marked the Browns' first AFC North road win since Derek Anderson beat Bengals backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick at PBS, 20-12, on Sept. 28, 2008. The Browns got another one in OT, 33-30, in Baltimore this past Oct. 11.
»» The Bengals are trying to become the 33rd team in NFL history to start 8-0. The Browns did it once, in 1953, when Bengals founder Paul Brown coached them into the NFL title game and the 10-2 Lions beat the 11-1 Browns.
»» The Bengals are looking to tie their regular-season record of eight straight victories, when they won the last seven games of the 1970 season to secure their first play-off bid, as well as the 1971 opener.
»» Two Bengals from their 2013 AFC North championship team play for the Browns, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins and linebacker Jayson DiManche.
»» The Bengals opened Paul Brown Stadium on Sept. 10, 2000 against the team named for Brown, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns won, 24-7, when Cleveland rookie running back Travis Prentice, out of Brown's college of Miami of Ohio, scored the building's first regular-season touchdown on a 16-yard run.
NFL RANKINGS
CIN: 3rd in scoring, 6th in offense (14th rushing, 7th passing); 7th in scoring defense, 22nd in defense (18th rushing, 23rd passing), T-6th in turnover margin at plus-four.
CLE: T-25th in scoring, 18th in offense (31st rushing, 9th passing); 26th in scoring defense, 30th in defense (32nd rushing, 22nd passing), 26th in turnover margin at minus-four.
COACHES
CIN: Marvin Lewis 107-96-2 in 13th season, 16-8 vs. Browns.
CLE:Mike Pettineseason second season in Cleveland at 9-15, 1-1 vs. Bengals and Lewis.
PHILIP RIVERS WEATHER UPDATE
The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio is calling for temperatures in the upper 60s with a slight wind of six to seven miles per hour out of the south. There is a 20-percent chance of rain during the game with a slight shower. But the bulk of the rain is expected well after the game.
NUMBERS GAME
100 - Lewis' regular-season game coached at PBS on Thursday
200 - Lewis' regular-season game coached Thursday, 33rd on the all-time NFL coaching list
208 - Tony Dungy's regular-season games coached, 30th on the all-time NFL coaching list
107 - Career wins for Lewis, 35th on all-time NFL coaching list
111 - Career wins for Don Coryell, 34th on all-time NFL coaching list
.606 - Lewis's winning percentage at PBS
.750 - Lewis' winning percentage vs. Browns at PBS (9-3)
4 - QBs Lewis has started vs. Browns for Bengals (Kitna, Palmer, Fitzpatrick, Dalton)
14 - Starting QBs Lewis has faced vs. Browns (Couch, Garcia, Holcomb, Dilfer, Frye, Anderson, Dorsey, Quinn, Wallace, McCoy, Weeden, Hoyer, Campbell, Manziel.)
47 - Victories for Bengals QB Andy Dalton, fourth most in Super Bowl era of QBs in first five seasons
48 - Victories for New England QB Tom Brady in first five seasons
18 - Victories for Browns QB Josh McCown
39 - Career TD catches for Bengals WR A.J. Green, fifth on Bengals all-time list
41 - Career TD catches for former Bengals WR Eddie Brown, fourth on Bengals all-time list
67 - Games played by Green
102 - Games played by Brown
18 - Interceptions S Reggie Nelson has as a Bengal, seventh on club's all-time list
21 - Interception by former CB Tory James, sixth on Bengals' all-time list
114 - Dalton's career TD passes, fourth on Bengals' all-time list
154 - Carson Palmer's career TD passes as a Bengal, third on Bengals' all-time list
127 - Matt Ryan's TD passes in first five seasons, third most by a QB in Super Bowl era and one spot ahead of Dalton on list
