NFL wild card implications full swing in Ohio for Week 14
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns host a pair of AFC foes that, like the Ohio duo, are in the thick of a large AFC playoff pool. Which teams will emerge as leaders of the wild card pack?
Here are keys to the Week 14 matchups:
Indianapolis Colts (7-5) at Cincinnati Bengals (6-6)
Sunday, Dec. 10 at Paycor Stadium, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Training wheels are off: It took all of one week plus two offensive series for newly minted QB Jake Browning to let loose and engineer an offense that was reminiscent of a Joe Burrow run unit. After Burrow’s injury, the Browning-led offense was far more conservative, producing all of 10 points against the Steelers. Last week at Jacksonville, however, after a couple of series in which Browning’s first nine passes traveled no more than four yards (Joe Mixon did gain 28 yards on a screen pass), the Bengals offense woke up.
Cincinnati scored touchdowns on six of its next ten possessions, including four touchdowns, two field goals and a kneel-down at the half. Browning finished with 354 yards, including passes completed to eight different targets – nine if you include Browning’s own reception. The running game averaged 5.0 yards per carry and Joe Mixon scored two tough TD runs inside the six-yard-line.
The Bengals also cut down on their sacks allowed last week, with the Jaguars getting just two, but the Colts are second in the league with 42 sacks, spread out over 13 different players. A notable distinction, however, is that while Cincinnati has been susceptible to the edge rusher, the bulk of Indy’s sacks come from down-lineman.
Minshew mania is still a thing?: When Colts rookie QB Anthony Richardson went down with a shoulder injury, no one was expecting Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck to walk through the door. But Gardner Minshew, who became a cult hero in Jacksonville during the 2019 season, has provided a steady-ish presence for the Colts, who have won four straight. This season Minshew has been prone to the occasional interception, throwing seven versus 10 touchdown passes, but those tendencies, along with sacks allowed, have declined over the last month.
An experienced presence in the pocket will be necessary against a Bengals defense that has a +9-turnover ratio, despite allowing a league high 388.2 yards per game, including 309 yards passing per game since Week 6. Since then no quarterback has thrown for fewer than 250 yards against the Bengals, who will also have to deal with Zack Moss in the backfield. Moss, who will fill in full-time for the injured Jonathan Taylor, is averaging 99 yards rushing per game as the Colts lead running back this season.
Line: Bengals 1 ½. O/U: 43 ½.
Prediction: Bengals avoid a post Monday-night hangover to outlast Indy, 27-24.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Cleveland Browns
Sunday, Dec. 10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Savvy veteran move: The Browns were smart to pluck Joe Flacco off the almost-forgotten, not-quite-retired, free-agent scrap heap. Flacco also put on a performance worthy of an encore. Sure, the Browns weren’t able to go toe-to-toe with the Rams arsenal of receivers, but Flacco gave the Browns a window into what a team could do offensively, which in many cases would be enough against equal or lessor offenses. The Jaguars don’t normally fall under that category, but if CJ Beathard starts in place of the injured Trevor Lawrence, it could and should be enough…. IF, Flacco starts.
On Friday head coach Kevin Stefanski said that because he doesn’t have to name a starting QB for this week’s game, he won’t until it’s necessary, publicly anyway. But Flacco took all the first team reps during the media portion of practice Friday. Dorian Thompson-Robinson has officially cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol but was unable to log full practices in earlier in the week.
Nevertheless, DTR’s best output this season was 165 yards passing in a lackluster win against the Steelers. He followed that up with 134 yards and exited the game early in a loss at Denver before PJ Walker added 56 yards.
In Flacco’s first action since January, he had 254 yards, pushed the ball downfield, had two TD passes and had the Browns down one point to the Rams midway through the fourth quarter. He was sacked twice and had one interception, but he gave the offense life, something it hadn’t seen in a few weeks.
Cleveland vs. Cleveland: Midway through the season, the Jaguars traded for OG Ezra Cleveland, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings. But with LT Walker Little nursing a hamstring injury, Cleveland (Ezra) will slide over to the tackle spot, a position he hasn’t played since his days at Boise State. His assignment? Myles Garrett.
Garrett, and the Browns for that matter, have been held without a sack over two consecutive games. Garrett was nursing a shoulder injury last week in Los Angeles and naturally faced double team blocking most of the game.
Which quarterback Garrett will face remains to be seen. Earlier this week it appeared it would be CJ Beathard, who has taken most of the first team reps, even while dealing with his own shoulder injury (non-throwing arm). But Lawrence (high ankle sprain) surprisingly participated in practice Thursday and Friday, albeit limited, and remains questionable for Sunday’s game.
Line: Browns 3. O/U: 33 ½.
Prediction: Flacco vs. Beathard, Browns 23-13. Flacco vs. Lawrence: Jaguars 20-17. DTR vs. Beathard: Jaguars 17-13. DTR vs. Lawrence: Jaguars 24-13.