BEREA, Ohio — The Browns know they have the luxury of relaxation when they head to Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon to play the Bengals in the regular season finale.
Cleveland will bench a number of important players, including as Joe Flacco, Myles Garrett, and Amari Cooper, and give some inexperienced players an opportunity to shine as they have already secured the No. 5 spot in the AFC and are eliminated from contention for the AFC North.
The Browns(11-5) have the luxury of a good finish, but there are a few plotlines to be aware of, along with my predictions for each
The best way to put it was when asked on Friday about Cleveland’s heavy reliance on its backups in this game by linebackers coach Jason Tarver.
He declared, “We earned it.” As a team, that’s fantastic because it means everything to earn the right to be ahead of the chains and have a game like that. It’s incredible because every play in an NFL regular season game is like a winning bar of gold; it’s impossible to replicate.
Younger defensive backs like Ronnie Hickman and D’Anthony Bell, D-linemen like Alex Wright and Siaki Ika, and receivers like Cedric Tillman and David Bell will have an opportunity to make an impact.
How I predict it will go: This line from Greg Newsome II, which was said early in the season, keeps coming to mind.
He remarked, “I think what sets us apart from the rest of the league is that when people say next man up, they really don’t believe in the next man up.” “No matter who is on that field, we all have faith in them.” We don’t care that he was upgraded from the practice squad because we genuinely trust the players who play. I believe that to be the most important factor. We simply have faith in the brothers who are playing at that moment.
Regarding playoff positioning, the Browns have nothing to gain, but given that they have already lost, I contend the Bengals have even less to lose. Cleveland’s youth are eager to seize the opportunity, and they have the potential to pull off an upset.
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