Bengals Beat The Browns in Battle For AFC North

Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns 23-10 in a thrilling Battle of Ohio on Sunday. It marked the first time that the Bengals have beaten the Browns since 2019 and it boosts the chances for Cincinnati making the playoffs.

Zac Taylor’s team are now tied with Baltimore Ravens at 9-4 at the top of the AFC North, and most of the best US sports betting sites will have the Bengals to get the AFC’s top wild card spot. This comes after the Ravens narrowly beat Pittsburgh Steelers 16-14 on the weekend.

Positive signs for the Bengals

After a dismal 0-2 start to the season, the Bengals have somehow managed to find their groove. Sunday’s game at the Paycor Stadium illustrated the fact that Cincinnati will find a way to win, even if it isn’t always pretty.

The Bengals started slowly and struggled offensively with the absence of two key players. Cincinnati’s wide receiver, Tee Higgins, was ruled out early after suffering from a hamstring injury on Thursday. This was compounded by Tyler Boyd experiencing pain in a finger just after the game had begun.

However, the Bengals managed to rotate their squad effectively and soon overcome these issues. This built on the team’s experience of finding ways to win, even without star players like Ja’Marr Chase earlier on in the season.

Chase was in fine form on Sunday. The wide receiver claimed a season-high record of 10 receptions for 119 yards that included a fine 15-yard catch to open the game’s scoring. Elsewhere Trent Taylor and Trenton Irwin picked up some quality receptions that helped overcome the injury problems in that area of the field.

Once again, the Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow, showed his precision and remains one of the best in the business. The Bengals running game was also on form with Samaje Perine gaining a six-yard touchdown to put Cincinnati 10 points ahead at halftime. As such, many Bengals fans will be picking up some prelaunch sportsbook offers for the team to progress in the playoffs if they can clinch that wildcard spot.

What went wrong for the Browns?

Many would say that the Browns were their own worst enemies on Sunday. The team gave away four reckless penalties early on that bagged almost 60 yards for their opponents. However, it was also a difficult day for Deshaun Watson with the quarterback throwing just 131 words, suffering one interception and landing no touchdowns.

It was Watson’s first start since he joined the Browns back in 2017 and he simply couldn’t handle the pressure from the Bengals defence. With two sacks, the quarterback only just brought his team to double-digits by the end of the game.

As a result, the Browns are now joint bottom of the AFC North with the Steelers on 5-8. While it would have taken some brave betting picks for Cleveland to advance to the playoffs, it looks like it’s going to be another disappointing season for the Browns.

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