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Joe Burrow did not look out of place whatsoever in his first NFL start. A late touchdown wiped off the board by penalty prevented him from helping Cincinnati pull off the upset against the Chargers. While Burrow didn’t officially throw a touchdown pass, he alertly ran one in from 23 yards out as part of a 46-yard rushing day. The successful return of WR A.J. Green after missing all of 2019 was also one of the game’s notable stories. The multi-time Pro Bowler posted a 5-51 line on a team-leading nine targets and would have notched the game-winning TD had he not been flagged for a controversial offensive pass interference penalty.

Click Here for Hank’s 2-0 Parlay: Bengals @ Browns

While the Bengals had a chance to at least send the game into OT until the very last play, the Browns were essentially out of their Week 1 contest by halftime. Cleveland looked as bad as it often did in 2019 under former head coach Freddie Kitchens. Mayfield’s 189-yard tally was a choppy one that featured just one touchdown pass and plenty of miscommunication or inaccurate throws. Of most concern was the third-year quarterback’s repeated inability to get the ball to presumptive No. 1 receiver Odell Beckham. The two connected on three occasions in 10 attempts for a scant 22 yards. To make matters worse, TE David Njoku, who’d been one of the few bright spots early with three receptions for 50 yards and a score, suffered an MCL sprain that knocked him out of the contest and will keep him sidelined into October, at minimum.

Perhaps the one silver lining was the team’s potent two-headed ground attack – RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined for 132 rushing yards on 23 carries. Both had runs of over 20 yards, and Hunt logged his highest number of rushing touches (13) in a Browns uniform yet.

This matchup sets up as one that appears to have the potential of either being a battle of two sluggish, inconsistent offenses, or, considering the potential of some of the skill players on either side, a higher-scoring affair than projected. On the Bengals side, Mixon certainly has to be lumped in with the likes of Burrow, Green and Tyler Boyd as a high-upside asset. As previously mentioned, he trampled Cleveland in last season’s finale. However, he was almost as good in the first meeting with them earlier in December, rushing for 146 yards and a TD on 23 carries.

For the Browns, Mayfield will be challenged to improve his ball security against a Bengals secondary that should ultimately be better than last season’s. Cincy picked Mayfield off five times over two meetings last season and limited him to a 45.1% completion rate, his lowest against any team by far. While Stefanski will undoubtedly look to get the passing game and OBJ going in particular, he’ll also do well to feed Chubb plenty – the star back averaged 5.3 yards per rush last season versus a Bengals defense that finished 32nd in the NFL with 148.9 rushing yards per game allowed.

Click Here for Hank’s 2-0 Parlay: Bengals @ Browns

THURSDAY FOOTBALL BETTING BREAKDOWN

The Bengals lead the all-time series with the Browns by a 51-42 margin. Despite last year’s aforementioned Week 17 loss, the Browns have won three of the past four games in the series, although prior to that stretch, they’d dropped seven straight games to Cincinnati.

The Bengals were 6-10 (37.5 percent) against the spread last regular season, including 4-3 (57.1 percent) as an away team. Cincinnati is 0-1 against the number thus far this season. Then, the Over was 7-9 (43.8 percent) in the Bengals’ games last regular season, including 2-5 (28.6 percent) in their away games. The Over is also 0-1 in Cincinnati’s games thus far this season.

The Browns were 5-10-1 (NFL-high 33.3 percent) against the spread last regular season, including 3-4-1 (42.9 percent) as a home team. Cleveland is 0-1 against the number thus far this season. Then, the Over was 8-8 in the Browns’ games last regular season, including 4-4 in their home games. The Over is also 0-1 in Cleveland’s games thus far this season.

Click Here for Hank’s 2-0 Parlay: Bengals @ Browns