Who's got the edge?

By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer




The latest line has the Bengals favored by three
points against the Browns today at Cleveland. The
spread should be greater.

If the 2005 Bengals truly fancy themselves the
team that will snap the franchise's 14-year
playoff drought, they should easily handle the
yet-again-rebuilding Browns.

The biggest Bengals advantage should be their run
offense against Cleveland's 3-4 defense. Browns
rookie coach Romeo Crennel made the switch to the
four-linebacker set even though he does not have
the personnel to play it.

Yeah, a one-point victory still would make the
Bengals 1-0 for the first time under coach Marvin
Lewis, just as the victory in the season finale
at Philadelphia over the Eagles' B-team lifted
the Bengals to a second consecutive .500 finish.

QUARTERBACKS

Carson Palmer posted a rating of 100-plus in his
final three games. He showed steady and sometimes
spectacular growth through his first season as a
starter. Never mind his uneven preseason.

The question in Cleveland is not if Trent Dilfer
yields to Charlie Frye but when. Even Crennel has
not been impressed and said this week, "If you
want me to sit here and say that Trent has lit it
up, he hasn't."

Edge: Bengals

RUNNING BACKS

Rudi Johnson opens his second season as the
featured back and should get off to a good
statistical start. Johnson figures to get a lot
of carries and could conceivably challenge his
single-game record of 202 yards against a better
Browns defense in 2004.

Bengals-slayer Lee Suggs is likely to miss his
third consecutive season opener, this time with a
high ankle sprain. Reuben Droughns and William
Green will share the load against a Bengals run
defense that gave up an average of 162.8 yards in
six division games last season.

Edge: Bengals

RECEIVERS

After investing a series of second-round picks in
wide receivers, the Browns finally have their
best duo, Antonio Bryant and Braylon Edwards,
since returning as an expansion team in 1999.
Edwards is still learning the playbook, so Dennis
Northcutt probably will start.

Chad Johnson had one of his two bad games of 2004
at Cleveland, dropping as many balls as he
caught, three. T.J. Houshmandzadeh should play
better as the No. 2 receiver now that Peter
Warrick has been released.

Edge: Bengals

OFFENSIVE LINES

The Bengals return all five starters from a line
that helped to account for 374 points in 2004,
the most since 1989. Tackles Willie Anderson and
Levi Jones still are nursing surgically repaired
knees but should have good days against a bad
Browns front seven.

Cleveland has three new starters in left guard
Joe Andruzzi, right guard Cosey Coleman and left
tackle L.J. Shelton. The line is big: all five
starters, except center Jeff Faine, weigh
320-plus pounds. Protection was good for the
flat-footed Dilfer in the preseason.

Edge: Bengals

DEFENSIVE LINES

Bengals coordinator Chuck Bresnahan shuffled the
line. Not one of the four starters (three
returning) is in the same position. The key (see
Isolation Booth ) is left tackle Bryan Robinson.
He is the vital space-eater against the run. If
the Bengals can slow the Browns' run game and
play with a lead, ends Justin Smith and Robert
Geathers could end up with a couple of sacks.

Crennel moved two defensive tackles, Orpheus Roye
and Alvin McKinley, to ends on the three-man
line. Jason Fisk is the nose tackle. The Browns'
best 3-4 lineman probably is backup nose tackle
Ethan Kelly.

Edge: Bengals

LINEBACKERS

David Pollack's contract holdout delayed Lewis'
plan of starting him at strong-side linebacker.
Steady second-year player Landon Johnson won the
job and, Lewis said, was one of two defensive
players to shine in the preseason. The other was
Robinson. Rookie Odell Thurman makes his debut as
the starting middle linebacker.

Crennel will rotate three players at the two-man
inside and outside linebacker positions. The best
of the bunch is Andra Davis, a solid run-stopper.

Edge: Bengals

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Bengals Pro Bowl cornerback Tory James had three
of his eight interceptions against the Browns.
Kevin Kaesviharn has to play better at strong
safety against the run.

Of the four Browns defensive backs receiving
special deliveries of Pepto-Bismol from Chad
Johnson last season, only cornerback Daylon
McCutcheon remains. Gary Baxter, the other
corner, who played in Baltimore last season, is
likely to miss the game with the lingering
effects of a concussion. Palmer should be able to
move the ball through the air.

Edge: Bengals

SPECIAL TEAMS

Much of the Bengals' roster was shaped by kick
coverage teams. All eyes today will be on kicker
Shayne Graham, attempting to return from a groin
injury.

Watch Browns rookie kickoff returner Josh Cribbs,
the former Kent State QB who had five preseason
returns of 30-plus yards.

Edge: Even

COACHES

In his third season, Lewis has assembled his
team. Crennel, long-overlooked for a top job, had
a more empty cupboard to fill than Lewis did two
years ago.

Edge: Bengals

CURNUTTE'S PREDICTION: Bengals 24, Browns 13

A LOOK AT TODAY'S BENGALS MATCHUP

Bengals cornerback Deltha O'Neal experienced one
of his season highs and one of its lows in
Cincinnati's two games against the Browns last
season. In the season's fifth game, at Cleveland,
O'Neal was beaten for the 99-yard Jeff Garcia
touchdown pass to Andre' Davis, since traded to
New England. In Game 11, O'Neal's 31-yard
interception return for a touchdown iced a wild
58-48 Bengals victory over the Browns in
Cincinnati.

Thievery pays

Tory James, O'Neal's running mate at corner, had
three of his eight interceptions last year
against the Browns. O'Neal (19) and James (21)
have the most combined interceptions of two
teammates in the league since the start of 2001.

The list

The Bengals-Browns game last Nov. 28 was the
second-highest scoring in NFL history.


1. 113 - Washington 72, Giants 41; Nov. 27, 1966
2. 106 - Bengals 58, Cleveland 48; Nov. 28, 2004
3. 101 - Oakland 52, Houston 49; Dec. 22, 1963
4. 99 - Seattle 51, Kansas City 48 (OT); Nov. 27,
1983

Upset stomach

Chad Johnson, who sent Pepto-Bismol medicine to
the Browns' defensive backs before the game at
Cleveland last year, didn't pull a practical joke
this week. But Johnson said his days as a
prankster are not done.

"Oh, yes," Johnson said when asked if there would
be more stunts. "The first game I can't do
anything. I have to get into a rhythm. Me and 9
(quarterback Carson Palmer) have to get into a
rhythm before I can start doing anything, and
then it starts coming out."

Johnson's joke last year backfired. He had three
catches and just as many drops in Cleveland
before rebounding with 10 catches for 117 yards,
including a 46-yard touchdown reception, against
the Browns in Cincinnati.

Infrequent flyers

With road games against regional opponents
Cleveland, Chicago, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and
Detroit, the Bengals will fly a league-low 7,263
miles this season.

Minority report

Opposing bosses Marvin Lewis and Romeo Crennel
are two of six African-American head coaches in
the NFL, the most in league history at one time.
The others are Tony Dungy, Indianapolis; Herman
Edwards, New York Jets; Dennis Green, Arizona;
and Lovie Smith, Chicago.

Between them, Crennel and Lewis own six Super
Bowl rings. Lewis won his as Baltimore's
defensive coordinator in 2000. Three of Crennel's
rings came as New England's defensive coordinator
and two were with the Giants, one as special
teams coach and the other as defensive line
coach.

Who are you?

There are 26 players on Cleveland's 53-man roster
who were not on it at the start of last season, a
turnover of 49 percent.

SERIES HISTORY

Today's game is the teams' 64th meeting. The
Browns lead the series 33-30 and are 20-11 in
Cleveland.

The last meeting between the teams, a 58-48
Bengals victory in Cincinnati Nov. 28, produced
the second most single-game points in league
history, 106.

Cleveland has won five of the past seven games in
the so-called Battle of Ohio.


"Tail-end Charlie in a Purple Heart Box"

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