Written by Thomas Moore

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The winless Cleveland Browns travel to Cincinnati today to take on the winless Bengals in the 78th meeting of the so-called Battle of Ohio.

The Opposition

Cincinnati record: 0-1
Offensive rank: 19th overall/26th passing/9th rushing
Defensive rank: 29th overall/29th passing/22nd rushing
All-time record: Bengals lead 41-36, including a 25-14 mark at home and 13-5 with Marvin Lewis as coach, who has faced four Browns coaches during his time as Bengals coach
Last meeting: Bengals won , 22-23, last November
The line: Browns (+7)

What to Watch For

How each quarterback – Brandon Weeden for the Browns and Andy Dalton for the Bengals – bounces back from a poor Week 1 performance. That’s right, Dalton was almost as bad as Weeden last week (more on that in a moment).

It’s hard to envision a scenario where Weeden performs as poorly this week as he did against the Eagles (or maybe we just don’t want to think about it). The first step will be for him to take better care of the ball – the Browns simply cannot overcome four interceptions and two fumbles.

“It can’t be any worse than it was the first week and I mean that jokingly,” Weeden said when asked about his Week 1 performance. “We’re all going to have rough stretches. I think obviously mine was the first week. I look at the mistakes I made, and you guys saw them. Guys were wide open and I missed them. That’s not my character. That’s not the way I usually throw the football. I’m just really harping on the mistakes I made and trying to correct those going into this week.

“It’s one bad game. You put it all in perspective. If I continue to do bad things, that’s on me. But I got to continue to build. I think they have a lot of confidence in me and my abilities, and they wouldn’t have named me the starter if they didn’t.”

“I just got to prove to them that I’m the guy, continue to prove I can get better, not make the same mistake twice and go forward. I appreciate all the confidence they have in me, and I have the same confidence in myself. I just got to play better.”

The good news is Weeden will be facing a Bengals defense that gave up 430 yards of offense and 37 points to the Ravens in Week 1.

On the flip side is Dalton, whose numbers look better on the surface – 22-of-47 for 221 yards and an interception – but digging a little deeper reveals a different story. The Roadhouse completed just four passes of more than 10 yards, loss the ball on a fumble and threw a pick-six to Ravens safety Ed Reed.

Browns running back Trent Richardson is also looking to bounce back from a disappointing opening game. Richardson ran for only 39 yards against the Eagles in his first action since knee surgery in early August, but he also did not receive much help from the offensive line.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Richardson was hit in the backfield on seven of his 19 carries against the Eagles, gaining just four yards. On his other 12 carries he gained 43 yards, a 3.6 yards per carry average (not great, but certainly better).

“(The offensive line have) just got to play better,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said. “I think that’s safe to say. I anticipate that we’ll be improved from week one.”

Then there’s the little matter of Cincinnati linebacker Rey Maualuga, who earlier this week said Richardson’s performance was “nothing spectacular.”

“He can run you over and you can miss a tackle,” Maualuga said in an interview with CBSSports.com. “At the same time, from what we’ve seen, he didn’t do nothing spectacular. From running screens, missing passes, trying to find a hole when he’s running the ball, he just didn’t do anything spectacular from what I’ve seen. I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to get after it once he plays us.”

While it is hard to argue with what Maualuga said, it’s kind of funny to hear him talk about Richardson after the Bengals just gave up 5.3 yards per carry against the Ravens.

“I laugh at stuff like that,” Richardson told The Beacon Journal. “I ain’t got to have a debate about my game. I’ll just show him on Sunday. I think it’s funny. Somebody can try to talk about my game. I give all the glory to him. I believe in what he says – I’ve still got stuff to prove. And so Sunday we’re gonna see what’s happening.”

On defense, the Browns will have their hands full trying to figure out what to do about wide receiver A.J. Green – especially with cornerback Joe Haden starting his four-game suspension this week for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Last season Green hurt the Browns despite only catching four passes in two games between the teams. But among those catches was a 41-yard touchdown in the opener off a quick snap, as well as a 51-yard reception in the final minute of the game in Cincinnati that led to a game-winning field goal by the Bengals.

“Anybody that plays on A.J. Green is going to have a challenge, on any team I think in the league,” Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron said. “He’s really good so I can talk about Buster (Skrine) and Dimitri (Patterson) and their skills, but whoever plays on that guy is going to struggle. But both of those guys, they’re extremely competitive guys, they’re tenacious players, they’ll battle you on every down. It’s going to be a challenge for them.”

While a lot of the focus will be on Green, the Browns need to remember to pay attention to tight end Jermaine Gresham, who caught 11 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Cleveland last season. (Sometimes it seems as if the Browns haven’t effectively covered an opposing tight end since Mike Ditka was still in the league).

“Whoever we have out there, they’re going to have their hands full,” Jauron said. “Sometimes we put a safety on him, sometimes we have the coverage linebacker on him and particularly in nickel situations. Whoever is on him, he’s a handful. He’s a very, very talented football player, he’s got speed down the field, he’s got really good hands, he’s a big target so he can screen you with his body and catch the ball, that’s tough. And an accurate quarterback it’s a good combination for them, a bad combination for defenses.”

Finally, until they prove otherwise, there Browns rush defense is always going to be a question mark. The team gave up 5.0 yards per carry against the Eagles, while the Bengals ran for 4.6 yards per carry against the Ravens rush defense. If the Browns can’t keep someone like BenJarvus Green-Ellis under control, it will be a very long day indeed.

Browns vs. Bengals Fact That You Need to Know

The Browns and the Bengals have been playing each other twice a year since the AFL-NFL merger created the current NFL in 1970. This is the first time in the series that each team will start a red-headed quarterback.

The Prediction

While much has been made of the fact that the Browns are 1-12 in opening games since 1999, they have actually been respectable in Week 2, going 6-7 in the same span – with four of those six wins coming against the Bengals.

The Browns broke a three-year Week 2 losing streak last season when they beat the Colts to give Shurmur his first win as a head coach. Win this week and Shurmur will be on the same pace as “super coach” Eric Mangini was after 18 games.

The Bengals have won three in a row in the series and six of the last seven meetings, thanks in large part to their play in the second half. The Browns led at halftime of both games last year before the Bengals rallied to win, outscoring the Browns 30-6 in the second half. In fact, according to ESPN the last time the Browns scored a second-half touchdown against the Bengals was on Dec. 29, 2010, when Colt McCoy hit Brian Robiskie with a 46-yard pass (ah, memories).

Both defenses struggled last week, but the Browns found a way to keep the Eagles out of the end zone, something the Bengals were not able to do against Baltimore.

If Weeden can protect the ball and play like even an average NFL quarterback, the Browns have a very real chance to walk out of the game with their first win of the season. If not, it could be a long day as it’s not realistic to expect the defense to force five turnovers again this week and/or put points on the board.

The game should stay close, so we’ll take the Browns and the points.

Record with the point spread this season: 0-1

(Photo courtesy of ClevelandBrowns.com)