Week 10 TNF: Cleveland Browns (5-3) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-2-1)

[OSUFan_88]

Massive game with huge implications. A Bengals win would put them firmly in the AFC North lead while all be destroying the Browns chances of winning the division.

A Browns win would put the Browns in first place for the first time since 1994, when Bill Belichick was the head coach.

Browns have struggled on the road this year, going down large in games against the Steelers and Titans only to come back in both of those games. They also lost to the Jags on the road, which is just a brutal loss.

Meanwhile, it's a prime time game, and the Bengals aren't exactly the best prime time team in the NFL. Dalton seems to struggle when the spotlight is on him, and the rest of the team seems to seize up.

I think, all things considered, this should be a very close game. The Browns need to figure out their running game fast, and how to stop the opposition running game. The Bengals, OTOH, have to deal with a lot of injuries, including Andre Smith who looks unlikely to play.

These teams are damn near identical. Hell, they have given up the exact same amount of rushing yards this year, 1117 yards on the ground.

All in all, I'd say this game should be...24-17 Bengals.

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

I don't think a loss would end the Browns divisional hopes. They'd be, at most, two games out. Pittsburgh is hot right now, but they could cool off quickly. Baltimore isn't exactly lighting in a bottle either. It will set the Browns back and make things difficult but to say it all but ends their hopes is a bit much.

I think the Bengals take this one. I think they're just that much better than the Browns on offense. Even against moderately good defenses the Browns offense struggles. I hope this game isn't a laugher but Thursday games generally are.

[redsrule]

Andy Dalton will throw 3 picks, fumble the ball a couple of times and continually make the wrong read on a read option play.

The Bengals are nowhere near 100%, Burfict is out, Gio Bernard is still a question mark and Andre Smith (who has sucked for a lot of the year) is likely out as well. The good news is Geno Atkins is looking closer and closer to the dominant DT he was before the ACL injury and Jeremy Hill is coming off a huge game against Jacksonville. Mohammed Sanu has really stepped up in the absence of Marvin Jones (and AJ Green) and the game is at home.

I'll say the Bengals win 20-17 in a very ugly game.

[bradtxmale]

Browns win this one. Its gonna be a tight one though. Here's my final score.

CLE 21
CIN 17

[OSUFan_88]

Former Browns WR Greg Little has beef...I guess?

Quote:

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Greg Little, who was picked by the Browns in the second round of the 2011 draft, is hell-bent on exacting revenge against his former team Thursday night. "Everything about this game is personal to me," Little told the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland.com and other media outlets Tuesday in the Bengals' locker room. "I'm going to go out and lay it on the line. "Somebody has to pay." The Browns waived Little in May. He compiled 155 catches for 1,821 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons with the franchise, but he also never lived up to the expectations placed upon him. Plagued by inconsistency, Little dropped 31 passes as a member of the Browns, according to ProFootballFocus.com. He also racked up speeding tickets in Northeast Ohio and totaled his Audi while, he told police, traveling 127 mph in a 55 zone. Now Little has beef with the Browns' new regime led by General Manager Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine. "They cut me," Little said. "They said that I wasn't good enough to play on their team. That's about all I need." Farmer, Little said, made the decision to sever ties with him. "It was for sure, 100 percent all him," Little said. But Pettine is the one Little threw under the bus. "I didn't get along with Pettine," Little said. "Pettine doesn't talk to any of his players. You will walk past him in the hallway, and he doesn't even speak to you. So to have that type of relationship for a coach is kind of odd. I can't go out and say that I'm going to lay it on the line for a guy that won't even speak to me if we are the only two people in the hallway." After the Raiders picked up Little in May, they released him in August. He was out of the NFL until the Bengals signed him Oct. 14 to supplement an injury-riddled receiving corps. "Greg came in here and he worked his tail off in the workout and showed that he was in good football shape," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Tuesday during a conference call. "We obviously have watched Greg when he was up there in Cleveland. He has a great ability to run routes, body control and so forth. He's a big man. He can go up and make contested catches that way. "He's hungry for an opportunity, and he's come in here and hit the ground running and spent a lot of time here learning what we do, how we do it, kind of getting up to speed [on] our way and how we practice and how we do things. Sometimes when you sit on the couch for a little bit, it gets you in gear." In three games with the Bengals, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Little has caught four passes for 55 yards. He dropped a pass in his first game with the team, according to PFF. Has the change of scenery re-energized Little? "I didn't need to be re-energized," Little said. "Being cut was re-energizing enough for me."

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-...o-pay-1.537988

I guess Greg Little seems to think he shouldn't have been cut. Which is astounding, considering how many times this moron would drop a key pass or commit a stupid penalty.

I hope he does something incredibly stupid to try and get something "back" on his former team.

[redsrule]

If Little didn't have stone hands he'd still be with the Browns. You can tell the talent isn't the issue there.

If the Browns do end up winning, I hope Andrew Hawkins has a big game for them. Always liked him and I wanted them to keep him last year, but I understand why they didn't with Green/Jones/Sanu in front of him on the depth chart.

[OSUFan_88]

Quote: Originally Posted by redsrule

If Little didn't have stone hands he'd still be with the Browns. You can tell the talent isn't the issue there. If the Browns do end up winning, I hope Andrew Hawkins has a big game for them. Always liked him and I wanted them to keep him last year, but I understand why they didn't with Green/Jones/Sanu in front of him on the depth chart.

Hawkins has been a godsend for the Browns. He has been our defacto #1 until Gordon comes back, and he has been fantastic so far, along with Austin and Gabriel.

When Gordon does come back, the Browns have one of the better WR cores in the NFL. Which is odd because coming into this season, many thought it was going to be far and away the worst without Gordon.

[BleacherBum2310]

Yeah, with Sanu's even more emergence you understand why they let Hawkins go. Also i hate this is a Thursday game.