10-31-2022, 09:51 AM
It's so weird because I would not have believed you if you told me, in 2017, that I'd be nervous about a game against the Browns coming off a Super Bowl and playing well enough that a Super Bowl is in serious discussion this season as well.
The idea of being nervous about a 2-5 Browns squad with an average QB, bad defense and key injuries in their secondary, offensive line and offensive weapons just would not have made sense to me.
Historically, especially since I began watching the Bengals in 2005, the Browns have generally been an easy out. From 2005 to 2017, the Bengals went an astonishing 20-6 against the Browns. Every year, no matter how bad we were, I went into each Browns game thinking "well, at least we got this one. I don't know about next week, but this week we're okay."
But, since 2018 and, largely, since Zac has taken over, we've really struggled. Zac has gone 1-5 against the Browns in his career here (And Lewis went 0-2 against them in 2018) and Joe Burrow is still winless against them in 3 starts, one of which was just 2 games after we dominated the Ravens last year (so we were considered "good" at that point).
No matter how little sense it makes, this game is going to be incredibly difficult to win. I hope they pull through and get to 5-3.
Cleveland is playing for their season right now. If they drop to 2-6, they're effectively done. They'd have to win out to get into the playoffs at that point. So they have a lot to play for. We do too. I'm excited but also incredibly nervous for the game tonight.
The idea of being nervous about a 2-5 Browns squad with an average QB, bad defense and key injuries in their secondary, offensive line and offensive weapons just would not have made sense to me.
Historically, especially since I began watching the Bengals in 2005, the Browns have generally been an easy out. From 2005 to 2017, the Bengals went an astonishing 20-6 against the Browns. Every year, no matter how bad we were, I went into each Browns game thinking "well, at least we got this one. I don't know about next week, but this week we're okay."
But, since 2018 and, largely, since Zac has taken over, we've really struggled. Zac has gone 1-5 against the Browns in his career here (And Lewis went 0-2 against them in 2018) and Joe Burrow is still winless against them in 3 starts, one of which was just 2 games after we dominated the Ravens last year (so we were considered "good" at that point).
No matter how little sense it makes, this game is going to be incredibly difficult to win. I hope they pull through and get to 5-3.
Cleveland is playing for their season right now. If they drop to 2-6, they're effectively done. They'd have to win out to get into the playoffs at that point. So they have a lot to play for. We do too. I'm excited but also incredibly nervous for the game tonight.
![[Image: oN5QAdY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/oN5QAdY.png)
