Browns must play well against the Bengals
By STEVE KING
After not doing anything since two Sundays ago – that is, eight days ago, way back on Nov. 11, when they upset the Atlanta Falcons 28-16 – it’s time for the Browns, coming out of their bye, to get the kinks out, wipe off the rust and finally get back to work after their nice, long rest.
That’s a good thing, for just as was the case after their emotionally-charged 21-17 victory over the New York Jets two months ago on Thursday Night Football, the Browns have an extended down time to get their feet planted firmly back onto the ground and their heads out of the clouds. If that had not been the case – if they had had to play yesterday (Sunday) – then they may have gotten caught looking backward, still celebrating their win, and would not have been ready.
The game against Atlanta represents the Browns’ high point of the season. They outplayed the Falcons by much more than the 12-point margin of victory would seem to indicate.
Now the next step in this young team’s development is for the Browns to do it again when they travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
Now, you can’t expect the Browns to play that well again, for it was pretty good – pretty impressive — but the Browns must play well against the Bengals. In fact, they have to play well for that effort against the Falcons to be legitimate and not just a flash in the pan – a shooting star, as it were.
That’s what the good teams do in that they stack good performances one on top of one another. It’s all about consistency, and that’s consistency.
The Bengals are hardly world-beaters. They are definitely beatable – absolutely, completely, definitely beatable.
Yes, to be sure, the Bengals have won the teams’ last seven meetings dating back to 2014, and all of them have been by lopsided margins. In fact, the Browns have scored no more than 17 points in any of those contests and have been held in single digits on three occasions.
But a good part of that was when Hue Jackson, who is, of course, now with the Bengals as assistant to the head coach, was head coach of the Browns. It was also all before quarterback Baker Mayfield was with Cleveland.
So, then, that stuff is ancient history in many regards.
But to make sure that it is really that – something that is fully stuck in the past and that which doesn’t represent this current team – the Browns must show it on the field. They must play well.
They’ll certainly be rested enough to do it, which is the benefit of having their bye extremely late, in the third full week of November.
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