CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cincinnati Bengals, just like they did three weeks ago when they played the Browns, boast the worst run defense in the NFL. In their defense (no pun intended), Football Outsiders’ DVOA stat has them ranked No. 28.
Either way you look at it, the Bengals stink against the run. The Browns responded in the last matchup by running the ball six times in the first half. Not surprisingly, they scored on their opening second-half drive when five of their six plays were runs.
Freddie Kitchens’ explanation harkened back to when Hue Jackson once said he needed to be inspired to run the ball.
“The runs I called in the first half went for 2-3 yards,” Kitchens said after the game. “I need more than that.”
The Browns, of course, boast two of the best running backs in the league, the rushing champion from two seasons ago in Kareem Hunt and the likely winner this year in Nick Chubb. They complement each other well. Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield has struggled this season, but has been best passing out of play action.
Establishing the run feels so old school and cliche, but if the Browns are looking to win their finale, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Here are four more things to watch on Sunday:
2. Slow Joe Mixon
Staying old school here.
Joe Mixon had his best game of the season against the Browns, rushing for 146 yards three weeks ago and averaging 6.35 yards per carry. It was just the second time he went over 100 yards in a game. Mixon followed it up with No. 3 the following week, rushing for 136 against the Patriots.
The Browns have struggled stopping the run with their depleted defensive line and Mixon could have another big day in store. Finding a way to slow him and making the Bengals rely on their passing game, especially in the red zone, is important.
3. Which Andy Dalton will we see?
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Cleveland Browns defensive end Chad Thomas pressures Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, who threw the ball away in the first half. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
Dalton, since returning from his benching, has completed 58 percent of his passes in four games for 1,052 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. His rating is 77.
Nothing impressive, but the Dalton roller coaster will determine just how close this game will be.
He threw a pick-six against the Browns in their last meeting and followed it up with four interceptions and a 39 rating against the Patriots a week later. Last week, against Miami, it was four touchdown passes and a 104.5 rating.
This could be Dalton’s final game in a Bengals uniform. Is there such a thing as an Andy Dalton farewell game? Guess we’ll find out.
4. Strong finish for Baker and the offense
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield throws with Baltimore Ravens free safety Earl Thomas pressuring during the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Sunday, December 22, 2019. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
End-of-season momentum doesn’t really matter. The Browns finished 5-3 last season and will finish with a worse record in 2019 than in 2018. Go back to Eric Mangini’s first season, when the Browns rattled off four wins in a row to finish 2009. They started the following season 1-5.
It still would be nice to see Mayfield and the offense finish strong. A group most thought would represent one of the highest-powered units in the league has scored more than 20 points just seven times this season, is ranked No. 15 in the league in yards per play and has the 20th ranked offense by DVOA. They haven’t exactly gotten better as the season has progressed, either.
Mayfield didn’t play well against Cincinnati earlier this month, but in his two previous games vs. the Bengals he put up strong numbers. It might not mean much for the 2020 outlook, but it’s never a bad thing to leave on a high note.
5. Well, you know ...
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Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens against the Baltimore Ravens in the second half. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
There’s nothing on the line in this game other than a few draft spots determined by whether the Browns win or lose. Even the 2020 schedule isn’t impacted by the outcome as the Browns have locked up third place in the division.
The real thing to watch is what happens after the game and in the days following. The Browns have a decision to make between betting on continuity and Freddie Kitchens making a significant jump as a coach in Year 2 or choosing short-term instability in the hopes of finally finding the right coach.
We’ve all been through this before.
One thing’s for sure: if the outcome of Sunday’s game is the determining factor, the process is flawed to begin with. These types of decisions can’t rest on meaningless games at the ends of seasons.
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December 29, 2019 at 05:00PM
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Running the ball, stopping the run and 3 other things to watch when the Browns play the Bengals - cleveland.com
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