3 Cleveland Browns to watch in Week 14 battle against Bengals

The “Battle of Ohio” part two will happen this Sunday when the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals battle it out down along the Ohio River in a Week 14 matchup that has both teams geared up and ready to lay claim to bragging rights in the state of Ohio.

Despite the Bengals having success this season and having been to a Super Bowl a year ago, the Browns have dominated this series since 2018 as they hold a 7-1 record. The battle is not much of that at the moment.

Cleveland fans seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop but it hasn’t yet. Back on Halloween night, the Browns beat up the Bengals 32-13. The Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow is now 0-4 against them. His team is 8-4 while the Browns are only 5-7.

However, the Browns are 2-1 in division play so this game will have a lot more weight placed on it when the season comes to a conclusion. After this game, Cleveland returns home to play another division foe, the Baltimore Ravens.

Getting two division wins in the next two weeks could become a big advantage to Cleveland as they try and move back into the playoff picture. There will be several Browns players who will need to step and play well. Let’s look at three players that are a “must-watch” on Sunday.

Cleveland Browns – No. 3: Myles Garrett

Myles Garrett is the face of the Browns’ defense and he’s had his moments on both ends of the spectrum this season. The edge rusher has usually performed well against the Bengals in the past. He shares that 7-1 record against them, which is his best mark against anyone else in the NFL.

He’s collected nine sacks as well which is the most, he’s had against any other AFC North Division rival. In the first game against Cincinnati, he recorded one and a half sacks and pressured Joe Burrow four other times. This week, Burrow seemed to suggest he still has nightmares of Garrett in his sleep when he was questioned by the local media.

Based on that response, Garrett has done a nice job of winning the mental battle against the Bengals quarterback. Is Burrow psyched out? He very well could be. Come game time on Sunday, we’ll see just how much the psychology of the game affects the outcome.

The former No. 1 pick of 2017 has had a respectable season. He was involved in a serious car accident early in the season and has had his share of verbal spats with the Cleveland coaching staff when the players weren’t playing well, so that has made this season a bit of a dipsy do. He has collected 10 sacks to date this season and he’s still close to reaching his record of 16 sacks from a year ago.