The AFC North has proven to be the NFL's most unpredictable division in 2014. All four teams in the division are above .500, making Thursday night's showdown between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals one of Week 10's marquee matchups.
‘Thursday Night Football,’ Browns vs. Bengals 2014: The battle of Ohio takes center stage
Cleveland and Cincinnati enter the week separated by less than one game in the standings.
Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports
The Browns have been a pleasant surprise in the first half of the season. They split games with the Pittsburgh Steelers, upset the New Orleans Saints, and have won four of their last five contests. Still, despite the team's 5-3 record, questions persist about how good Cleveland really is. The Browns needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, and looked less than impressive the week before against the winless Oakland Raiders. This came after a 24-6 loss to Jacksonville, which remains the Jags' only win of the season.
Divisional rivalries -- especially in-state ones -- tend to bring out the competitive side of each team. The Browns, even with a 1-2 record in the division, have looked their best against their AFC North foes. The Bengals are 2-0 against the division, with both wins coming over the Baltimore Ravens.
No team began the year hotter than Cincinnati. The team raced out to an undefeated record heading into the bye, looking like world-beaters in the process. However, a deflating loss to the New England Patriots started a three-game winless skid. The Bengals corrected themselves with wins over the Ravens and Jaguars, and at 5-2-1, they hold a slight lead over the 6-3 Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC North.
With a win, the Bengals can maintain their top spot in the division, but the Browns will also be looking to vault into the No. 1 spot. This will be the first of two meetings between the Ohio teams this season. Last year, they spilt their two games, with each team winning on its home field.
Digits
A lot of attention has been paid to Brian Hoyer and his production. In eight games, Hoyer is on pace for over 4,000 yards, 20 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. Still, he's completing a mere 57.9 percent of his passes, a concern as the weather turns colder in Cleveland. The Browns' ground game averages a respectable 111.3 yards per game, but it's near the goal line where the three-headed monster of Ben Tate, Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell really excels -- Cleveland is fourth in the NFL in rushing touchdowns. Overall, though, only Crowell averages more than 4 yards per carry.
Cincinnati features one of the league's best and most balanced offensive backfields. Lead back Giovani Bernard missed the Week 9 matchup against the Jags with a hip injury. If he's ready to go Thursday, he presents a threat on the ground and in the passing game, rushing for 446 yards and catching 22 passes for 179 yards in seven games. If Bernard has to miss another week, rookie Jeremy Hill has shown he can be an excellent substitute. Hill ran for 154 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns last week, and his season numbers are comparable to Bernard's -- 74 carries for 349 yards and 14 catches for 140 yards. Meanwhile, quarterback Andy Dalton hasn't yet become the playmaker the Bengals hoped when they signed him to six-year, $96 million contract in August. Through eight games, Dalton has only eight touchdowns against six interceptions.
Both teams will most likely try to establish their ground attack against defenses that struggle to stop the running game. The Browns and Bengals are allowing an identical 139.6 rushing yards per game to their opponents, the second-worst average in the league.
Who to watch
Paul Kruger - Working opposite Terrell Suggs during Baltimore's last Super Bowl run earned Paul Kruger a sizable raise via a free agent contract with Cleveland. Unfortunately, Kruger failed to live up to expectations in his first year with the Browns, registering only 4.5 sacks. In just the first half of the 2014 season, he has six sacks, placing him on pace for the most of his career in a single season.
Mohamed Sanu - During the near month-long absence of top receiver A.J. Green, the Bengals turned to third-year wideout Mohamed Sanu to carry the load in the passing game. Sanu responded with two games of 120 yards or more and an average of 16.1 yards per catch. Even with Green returning this past weekend, Sanu remained a field tilter, catching four passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. With the Browns rolling coverage to account for Green, Sanu could have another huge game.
How to watch
Where: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati
When: 8:25 p.m. ET
TV: NFL Network
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
Online streaming: Verizon NFL Mobile
The venue
One of the newer stadiums in the league, Paul Brown Stadium has hosted Bengals football since 2000. It cost $455 million to build and seats 65,535 for football games. For its first 12 years, the field was composed of either natural grass or FieldTurf, but the Bengals have since moved to a different, more modern synthetic surface. On Saturdays, the field is used by the University of Cincinnati’s football team.
Odds
The Bengals opened as 6.5-point favorites at home, according to OddsShark, with an over/under of 45 points.
Preliminary Judgment
Nearly everyone is picking the Bengals to win this week. Of SB Nation’s experts, all but one sided with Cincinnati. Over at CBS Sports, it was a clean sweep with all eight picking the home team.
Further reading
For more on the Browns, check out Dawgs by Nature. For additional coverage of the Bengals, head on over to Cincy Jungle.
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