Bengals still clinging to playoff hopes as they host the struggling Browns

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals still have something to play for in this disappointing season, a slight chance of slipping through the back door to the playoffs.

The Cleveland Browns, on the other hand, are playing out the string. They'll try to avoid a season sweep by the Bengals in the second leg of the Battle of Ohio on Sunday.

Cincinnati (6-8) is on the AFC playoff bubble and in danger of falling off. The Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins have identical records and similarly rocky paths to the postseason.

The Bengals must first beat the Browns (3-11) and win their remaining games, against the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, and get some help from other teams to have a chance. Facing Cleveland at home should be least challenging of the three.

“They’re certainly playing at a high level, scoring a lot of points, putting up a lot of yards,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said of his team's AFC North rivals. “They're guys that are supremely talented, understand what they’re doing in their scheme. So, it’s a very, very difficult matchup as you see week in and week out.”

With quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja'Marr Chase having career seasons, Cincinnati's late ascension is not totally out of the question. If the Bengals can beat Cleveland, it will be their first three-game win streak this season.

Coach Zac Taylor doesn't want to hear about streaks.

“For us, really our message right now is just winning one in a row. Just focus on this one,” he said. “This one is obviously the most critical game we’ve had at this point.”

Meanwhile, the Browns are unsettled at quarterback. Mistake-prone veteran Jameis Winston was benched this week in favor of second-year QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who will make his fourth career start.

Cleaning up

The Bengals won a messy one last week at Tennessee. They had three turnovers and 14 penalties but beat the Titans 37-27.

“The 14 penalties is not us,” Taylor said. “We addressed every single one of those. There are things we can continue to clean up, because a lot of those were pre-snap and had nothing to do with Tennessee.”

On the corner

Denzel Ward thrives on challenges — the tougher, the better. Cleveland’s star cornerback will face his toughest in 2024 when he matches up against Chase.

Cincinnati’s fleet wideout leads the league in receptions (102), yards receiving (1,413) and touchdowns (15) and is hoping to finish on top in all three categories to win receiving's triple crown.

Burrow finds a way to get the ball to Chase no matter the coverage, and Ward said that’s OK with him.

“You put me on him, I want all those targets that he’s going to get,” said Ward, who is leading the league with 19 defensed passes in his best pro season. “So as many targets as he gets, I’m going to get those targets and just able to make plays on the ball and help the team as best way as I can.”

In 2021, Ward jumped a route in the end zone on a ball intended for Chase and returned it 99 yards for a TD. Ward called it the “No. 1” play of his career.

No harm, no foul

Network cameras caught Burrow and Taylor in what appeared to be a heated exchange on the sideline late in Sunday's game. Burrow shed more light on it this week.

“I can probably do a better job of keeping my emotions in check in that situation,” Burrow said. “Like I said, it wasn’t directed at Zac. It was just a frustrating — just a display of frustration of the day that I had, that we had as an offense in how sloppy it was.”

Taylor said he and his quarterback have moved on.

“He’s got an edge to him that is what makes him who he is,” Taylor said. “And I don’t want to change that for one second, because who he is and what makes him tick is what makes Joe Burrow different from everybody else on this planet.”

Kicking it

Kicker Dustin Hopkins returns to the lineup after the Browns gave him last week off to hopefully get beyond a troubling slump.

Hopkins has missed six of his last nine field goal attempts. He’s 16 of 25 overall after going 33 of 36 last season, when he also went 8 of 8 from 50 yards and out.

The Browns signed Hopkins to a three-year, $15.9 million contract extension last summer and are standing by him.

“Just like we talked about, want him to work through this,” Stefanski said.

Stefanski said the decision to return to Hopkins came before Atlanta signed Riley Patterson to its active roster from Cleveland’s practice squad. Patterson kicked against Kansas City last week, making an extra point.

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AP Sports Writer Tom Withers contributed to this report.