The Cincinnati Bengals will finish the year against the 4-12 Cleveland Browns. Despite both teams being eliminated from playoff contention, the game may feature history being made.
Cleveland star pass-rusher Myles Garrett has racked up 22 sacks on the season, meaning he’s one sack away from setting the new single-season sack record. The Bengals will look to avoid being the team that allows that record to happen.
The Bengals also arrive at Week 18 with some positive momentum, as they have won two consecutive games while outscoring their opponents by 47 points. On the year, the Bengals are 4-1 when Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase are active. All three of them are expected to play this Sunday. One of those four wins occurred against the Browns earlier in the year, but none of the three Bengals players had an impressive performance.
Myles Garrett Sends Message to Joe Burrow
For the Bengals, facing off against Myles Garrett twice a year has not been easy. The NFL’s current sack leader has sacked Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow 11 times, the most he’s sacked among any quarterback. Garrett was asked if he’s aware of Burrow being atop his sack leaderboard, to which he said, “I’ve seen his face on the ground, looking up at me,‘saying, ‘Hi Myles,’ and I, ‘Hi Joe,’ too many times, so yeah, I’d figured he’d be at the top.”
Garrett was also asked about his confidence level of getting the record against the Bengals. He said, “My confidence hasn’t wavered,” Garrett said of setting the record. “I’m fully confident that it will come.” Meanwhile, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said regarding Myles Garrett, “He’s more athletic than everybody else on the field. He’s bigger, stronger than everybody else, he has a mindset that he’s not too high or too low at any point, which is pretty unique for a defensive lineman. I think he’s probably got a unique mindset as far as that position goes, but it’s one that you can appreciate.” Burrow also added that he’s aware that he’s been sacked by Myles Garrett “a lot.”
Bengals vs Browns
The Cincinnati Bengals will face off against the Browns for the second time this season. Their first matchup occurred in Week 1 as the Bengals won 17-16. Despite the win, the Bengals offense struggled in that matchup as they only totaled 141 yards on offense. Meanwhile, the Browns totaled over 300 yards, but lost the turnover battle as quarterback Joe Flacco threw two interceptions in the game. On that occasion, Myles Garrett sacked Burrow twice.
Of course, the two teams look very different from their first encounter. For starters, quarterback Joe Flacco is now the backup to Joe Burrow in Cincinnati after a midseason trade between both teams. Flacco won a game as a starter for both teams this year. He became Burrow’s backup once Burrow was healthy enough to play. Starting for the Browns will be rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who will be making the seventh start of his career. Sanders is the third different starting quarterback the Browns have had this year.
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