Cleveland Browns vs Bengals: Predictions for Hue Bowl 2.0
By Randy Gurzi
Writer: Mike Lukas
The Cleveland Browns look good to win this AFC North Week 16 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals for a lot of reasons.
Some of those reasons are good, some are a little petty and one is sorta sad to admit.
Good Reasons the Browns will beat the Bengals
- The Browns are ranked better on both sides of the ball;
- The oddsmakers have the Browns favored by 9;
- Browns won in Week 12 and they’re even better now;
- It’s the last Browns 2018 home game;
- The Browns are on a win-out roll, the Bengals are on a bleed-out crash;
- Baker Mayfield is entirely Dangerous.
Petty reasons the Browns will beat the Bengals
- Better helmets, simple v. tacky;
- Better use of the color orange, somehow;
- Dawg beats kitty;
- Starter beats backup;
- Cleveland’s a bigger city near a bigger body of water;
- Hue Jackson is entirely Unlucky.
Sad to admit reason the Browns will beat the Bengals
It’s never respectable to gloat over another team’s injuries, but sadly (for them) it’s going to be a huge factor in why the Browns should win this one.
Just look at how banged up the Cincinnati Bengals are – their injury list is almost identical to their all star list:
- Franchise quarterback Andy Dalton (thumb): OUT, injured reserve.
- All-Pro receiver A.J. Green (toe): OUT, injured reserve.
- Fourth leading NFL rusher this season Joe Mixon (writst/thigh): QUESTIONABLE
- 1000+ receiver Tyler Boyd (knee): QUESTIONABLE
- And sadly the list goes on and on…
No disrespect meant to their replacements, but the Browns should be able to take care of business against a struggling team without its major stars.
Point is, the Browns have more than enough reasons to come out of this one with a woof woof win.
Final Prediction
Browns 31, Bengals 17