NFL Week 10 Kickoff

by JASmius



I used to really enjoy this matchup back in the 1980s, when it was a fierce rivalry stoked by then-Bengals coach Sam Wyche and then-Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer.  It was the days of the "dawg pound" in the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and fans would throw batteries or snowballs (depending upon the season) at opposing players.  Indeed, the moment I fondly remember to this day was a Browns-Bengals game at what was then still called Riverfront Stadium after Browns players had been pelted by jagged pieces of ice during the game, causing the refs to stop play and threaten to award the game to Cleveland.  Coach Wyche got on the stadium PA system and said something like, "Whoever is throwing that crap, cut it out, you don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"  The crowd went nuts.

This was also the original Browns-Bengals rivalry, or what is known today as the Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals.  Do today's fake Browns have a rivalry with Cincinnati?  Well, they're in the same division, but beyond that....no, not really.

They're also both not nearly as good as their season records would indicate.  Ordinarily a matchup of 5-2-1 vs. 5-3 teams would look pretty good on the face of it, but in this case?  Hardly.  Cincinnati is #14 in my current NFL power rankings, and Cleveland is a big, fat #27.  That's what happens when (in the Bengals' case) you start out near the top, then get your heads handed to you by the Patriots (#1) and the Colts (#4) in the space of three weeks (by a combined 70-17), losses from which Cincy has yet to fully recover.  And (in the Browns' case), your five wins have come against either teams that were way down when you faced them (the Saints and Steelers, who have since taken off), and Oakland (#29), Tampa (#31), and Tennessee (#32).  And did I mention that the Browns lost to the Jaguars (#30)?  Indeed, the Browns are the most unimpressive 5-3 team that doesn't play in the Pacific Northwest.

So, given all of the above, and that the game will take place at "Paul Brown Stadium," you would probably suspect that I'm taking the Bengals and the points.

You would probably suspect correctly.

Cleveland
Cincinnati* (-6)

Though I can say one thing with confidence: I'm sure glad the Champs don't play Cleveland this year.