The Cleveland Browns visit Paycor Stadium on Sunday to play the Cincinnati Bengals in their final game of the season. The Bengals will compete for a winning record and aim to avoid an unsightly 0-6 record in the AFC North, since there is no postseason spot at stake.
Cleveland has nothing at stake in this game. Kevin Stefanski says they will rest a lot of their stars because they are guaranteed a spot in the AFC Playoffs as the fifth seed. Cleveland’s only goal in this game is to exit healthy and wait to play their next AFC South opponent.
As strange as it sounds to say this in 2023, the Bengals are benefiting from Joe Flacco not being the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback.
Rather, the Bengals
Look for the likes of Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, and Amari Cooper to get rest days as well. It wouldn’t make sense for Kevin Stefanski to play any impact players in a Week 18 game with nothing to gain and a lot of health to lose.
The Bengals should have most of their starters on the field. Ja’Marr Chase is dealing with a shoulder injury but is two catches shy of the franchise record, so he may try to get that and then sit down.
Trey Hendrickson is also trying to become the first Bengals player ever to lead the NFL in sacks since it became an official statistic, as he’s currently tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ TJ Watt at 17.
With an important offseason looming, this could be the last time we see several players don the Bengal stripes like Chidobe Awuzie, Tyler Boyd, and potentially Tee Higgins
