Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns Matchup Preview 12/8/19: Analysis, Depth Charts, Daily Fantasy

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The first game of a two-game series in the battle for Ohio is this Sunday. The (1-11) Bengals picked up their first win of the season last week over the Jets. It has been a season to forget. The worst part is that they won’t even go down in the history books for this dreadful season now that they have a win. With A.J. Green still out with his preseason injury, there hasn’t been much for the Bengals to work with. Tyler Boyd has stepped up occasionally to fill his role but is not on the same level as Green. Auden Tate has impressed in his increased workload. They will need everyone to stay hot to take down the Browns this week. The (5-7) Browns are now out of range of the playoffs with their last loss to the Steelers. The only real good part of their game was on the ground with the mix of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Combined, they ran for 104 yards and through the air, they combined for 40 more yards with a touchdown for Hunt. Jarvis Landry was the only notable receiver with 76 yards on 6 receptions. With the Bengals have the worst run defense in the NFL, Chubb and Hunt should have a game. For odds movement and full matchup history, visit the Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns matchup page.

TV Schedule

Date: Sunday, December 8, 2019
Time: 1:00pm ET
Location: FirstEnergy Stadium – Cleveland, OH
Coverage: CBS

Injury Report

Cincinnati Bengals: CB Darius Phillips (IR), S Brandon Wilson (Q), TE Cethan Carter (Q), TE Drew Sample (Q), WR A.J. Green (O), LB Nick Vigil (Q), S Shawn Williams (Q), DE Sam Hubbard (Q)
Cleveland Browns: CB Greedy Williams (Q), S Eric Murray (Q), OT Chris Hubbard (Q), WR KhaDarel Hodge (Q), G Wyatt Teller (Q), C JC Tretter (Q), TE Stephen Carlson (Q), DE Olivier Vernon (Q), WR Odell Beckham Jr. (Q), Jarvis Landry (Q), TE Demetrius Harris (Q), OT Greg Robinson (Q), QB Baker Mayfield (Q)

Cincinnati Bengals Analysis

The injury to A.J. Green was a killer for the Bengals this season. As a result, they sit in dead last in the NFL with a 1-11 record. For the most part, Joe Mixon has also been a disappointment. He has had a couple of stand out games, but then he has a game like Week 7 against the Jaguars where he ran for a total of 2 yards on 10 carries. Yes, he averaged 0.2 yards per carry. In that game, he also had 2 yards on one reception. Recently, it hasn’t been that bad, but this has been the story of the Bengals this season. Nothing coming together until last week.

To beat the Browns this week, it will most likely have to take place on the ground. The Browns’ secondary is filled with talent which has made them one of the top pass defenses in the NFL. They are below average against the run, so this is a game where Joe Mixon can get back to what he is capable of. But my honest opinion is that the Bengals don’t have much of a chance this week.

Cincinnati Bengals Depth Chart

QB: Andy Dalton
RB1: Joe Mixon
RB2: Giovani Bernard
WR1: A.J. Green
WR2: Auden Tate
WR3: Tyler Boyd
TE: C.J. Uzomah

Cleveland Browns Analysis

The Browns have had a major boost from the addition of Kareem Hunt to the team. After serving his suspension, he has averaged just above 60 yards of total offense per game, being a factor in both the run and pass game. Having Hunt along with Chubb provides an elite pair of running backs that the Browns can rely on moving forward. With Odell Beckham Jr. having such a slow season, most of the offense has come from Chubb’s crazy year. This will be all more important in this week’s game against the worst run defense in the NFL.

The Bengals have been almost incapable of stopping the run this season. Teams have averaged 157.6 rushing yards per game. To add to that, they have allowed the third-most touchdowns per game with 13. That is over one a game, so you can almost guarantee one for either Chubb or Hunt this week. Don’t throw out Baker Mayfield though. It’s not like the Bengals are good at covering the pass either. They’ve allowed more touchdowns through the air than on the ground, so he could be busy in the red zone this week.

Cleveland Browns Depth Chart

QB: Baker Mayfield
RB1: Nick Chubb
RB2: Dontrell Hilliard
WR1: Odell Beckham Jr.
WR2: Jarvis Landry
WR3: Rashard Higgins
TE: Demetrius Harris

Daily Fantasy: Chubb and Hunt

As I have mentioned plenty in this article, I expect Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to have a day this week. The Bengals have been the worst team against the run all season long and with two elite tier running backs, the Browns should run all over them. It is the Browns so you have to be careful with what to actually expect, but the stats are lining up perfectly for them. In every game they have played so far, they have combined for over 100 yards rushing with Chubb doing it himself twice. Either of these two could go off, but who is unknown.