Cleveland’s offense, which has yet to score 20 points in a game this season, faces more questions with the trade of Cooper to the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday, but Chubb has been a big part of the team’s identity over the years and could be the boost needed. Myles Garrett told ESPN the Browns “have a great one coming back, hopefully (Sunday)” and that Chubb is capable of helping turn things around.
Chubb has caused problems for the Bengals since he entered the league in 2018, and they have struggled against the run this season while allowing 146.0 rushing yards per game. Only four teams have been worse trying to stop the run.
“I got the utmost respect for Nick Chubb, playing them so many times,” Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard said. “He’s an unbelievable player, what he’s battled through. So, we’ll be ready for it. You know, he’s going to present a challenge. They always do. They’re a great team, and it’s going to be our biggest game yet.”
The Browns are 9-3 against the Bengals since 2018, including 8-2 with Chubb on the field. He missed the regular-season finale “Battle of Ohio” game last year, a 31-14 win for Cincinnati when Cleveland rested starters for the playoffs, but he ran for 106 yards on 18 carries in the 2023 opener won by the Browns.
Chubb has six games with more than 100 yards rushing in his 10 matchups against Cincinnati, and all of those were wins for the Browns. In his absence this season, Jerome Ford has led the ground attack with 264 yards and one touchdown on 50 carries, while D’Onta Foreman adds 124 yards on 39 carries.
As Cleveland stays with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, Chubb could potentially open things up for a passing game that has produced just 143.0 yards per game, ranking third worst in the NFL. In Sunday’s 20-16 loss to the Eagles, Watson finished 16-of-23 with 168 passing yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He has 1,020 passing yards with five touchdowns, three interceptions and a quarterback rating of 22.3 this season.
Cooper, who was sent to Buffalo in exchange for future draft picks, had been Watson’s biggest target, recording 24 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns this season after leading the Browns with 72 receptions for 1,250 yards and five touchdowns last year.
Jerry Jeudy now is the team’s top wide receiver with 248 yards and one touchdown on 20 catches, and tight end David Njoku could become a more prominent feature in Cleveland’s offense moving forward, though he has just 89 yards receiving on 10 catches in his three games this season. The Browns just lost center Nick Harris for the season with a broken fibula.
Cincinnati won’t be assuming anything about the Browns, despite their slow start. The Bengals haven’t won in Cleveland since 2017, and that stat hasn’t set well with them.
“They’re a tough opponent for us for one reason or another,” Hubbard said. “We always have struggled with them in the past, and we know that. So, we just talked (about it), yeah, don’t want to say too much, but it’s a big week for us, probably biggest week of the year, division game. We got to put our best foot forward, because by no means does their record reflect what type of team they are. They’re a great team. Very physical. It’s gonna be the most physical game yet, and we got to be on point.”
Cleveland’s defense has been an obstacle for Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ offense even during their best seasons. During their AFC North title seasons in 2021 and 2022, Cincinnati averaged just 17.0 points per game in four matchups while going 1-3 against the Browns, featuring many of the same defensive leaders.
Myles Garrett has been a big part of that, recording six sacks in those games. He has 12.0 sacks in his 10 career matchups with Cincinnati. The Browns are allowing just 196.3 passing yards per game (ranking 11th) and 23.5 points per game (19th) this season, but have been missing players with Lakota West graduate and linebacker Jordan Hicks (elbow) and safeties Grant Delpit (concussion) and Ronnie Hickman (ankle) all out last week. Cornerback Denzel Ward was questionable with a hamstring issue last week but played.
The Bengals are trying to carry momentum from Sunday night’s road win over the New York Giants and turn it into a win streak.
“I think that you just got to take it one game at a time, and you know they pile onto each other,” Hubbard said. “If you try and think like, ‘Okay, now we’ve got to win 10 straight,’ it’s too much pressure. It’s too much daily on you to carry. All you can do is, ‘Alright, we got a game this week, let’s win this game, and let’s take it the next week,’ and that’s really the approach that you have to take. So that’s where our heads at.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Browns, 1 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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