What to watch for: presented by House of Blues

11.24.2009

The Browns make their annual trip to Cincinnati on Sunday where they will complete the regular season series with the Bengals. The Browns won their last game in Cincinnati 20-12 on September 28, 2008.

The Browns are 35-36-0 all-time against the Bengals and are 14-22-0 in Cincinnati. The Browns are 4-6 in Cincinnati since returning to the NFL in 1999.

In the first meeting of the season, 60 minutes were not enough for the Browns and Bengals to settle things. With the clock running out in overtime, Bengals kicker Shayne Graham hit a 31-yard field goal to give Cincinnati a 23-20 win.

As the game unfolds, here are several things to keep an eye on:

Browns linebacker David Bowens. The 11-year NFL veteran continues to make plays for the Browns defense. Bowens registered 1 sack of Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford Sunday and totaled 6 tackles in the loss. Bowens, who also forced a fumble, has registered 3 sacks over the last 2 games and has 36.0 in his career.

Quarterback Brady Quinn. Quinn completed 21-of-33 passes for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Lions. It marked the first time in his career where Quinn threw for more than 300 yards in a game. Quinn connected with 8 different players against the Lions, with 7 of those making catches of 10 or more yards.

Rookie wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi. Massaquoi caught 5 of Quinn's passes for a team-high 115 yards and 1 touchdown Sunday. In the first quarter against the Lions, Massaquoi sprinted past cornerback Phillip Buchanon and caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Quinn.

Massaquoi did well in his first game against the Bengals this season. He caught 8 passes for 148 yards, with the long play going for 30 yards. Massaquoi was nominated for the Pepsi Rookie of the Week Award for his efforts against the Bengals.

Running back Jamal Lewis. After his 24-carry, 75-yard performance against the Lions, Lewis needs just 77 yards to pass Ricky Watters for 20th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list. Lewis has 10,682 career rushing yards.

Of Lewis' 36 career 100-yard games, 9 have come against the Bengals. Lewis last posted a 100-yard game against Cincinnati on September 16, 2007 when he gained 216 yards in a 51-45 Browns win.

Rookie running back Chris Jennings. Jennings gained 36 yards on 10 carries and caught 5 passes for 38 yards against the Lions Sunday. Jennings posted a career-high 16-yard run in the first quarter, which helped set up Quinn's 40-yard touchdown pass to Chansi Stuckey. Jennings' career-long 19-yard reception led to a Browns field goal at the end of the first half.

Kicker Phil Dawson. With his 44-yard field goal on the Browns' first drive of the game last Sunday, Dawson moved into second place on the franchise's all-time field goals list. Dawson passed Don Cockroft with his 217th career field goal. Dawson trails only Pro Football Hall of Famer, the late Lou Groza, who kicked 234 field goals in his career with the Browns.

Wide receiver/return specialist Joshua Cribbs. Two plays after Eric Wright intercepted Matthew Stafford in the first quarter Sunday, Cribbs caught his second career receiving touchdown. Cribbs also caught a 35-yarder from Quinn on the Browns' final scoring drive of the game.

With the Lions aware of Cribbs' special teams skills, he was only able to return 3 kicks for 57 yards. However, that effort was good enough for Cribbs to pass Tamarick Vanover for 16th on the NFL's career return yards list.

Cribbs has 6,484 kickoff return yards and 6 kick returns for touchdowns in his career. He is 1 kickoff return touchdown away from breaking a first place tie on the NFL's all-time list.

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. Palmer has completed 192-of-312 passes (61.5 percent) for 2,217 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. Against the Browns earlier this year, Palmer completed 23 passes for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns.

In 9 career games against the Browns, Palmer is 197-of-313 (62.9 percent) for 2,145 yards and 22 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

Bengals rookie running back Bernard Scott. Scott is coming off his first 100-yard game in the NFL against the Raiders Sunday. On 21 carries, Scott gained 119 yards, including a 61-yard run in the third quarter.

Scott is also dangerous in the kick return game. He has gained 276 yards on 8 returns and took a kick back 96 yards for a touchdown in the Bengals second win of the season over the Steelers in Week 10.

Third down conversions. The Bengals have converted 58-of-141 (41.1 percent) of their third down chances, while holding opponents to a 34.6 percent conversion rate in their first 10 games this season.

The Browns go into Sunday's game at 1-9 after a 38-37 last-second loss to the Lions in Ford Field last weekend. The Bengals are 7-3 and lead the AFC North Division despite a 20-17 loss to the Raiders on Sebastian Janikowski's 33-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining last Sunday.

CONNECTIONS

Bengals safety Chinedum Ndukwe and Browns quarterback Brady Quinn have known each other for a long time. After playing football together at Dublin Coffman High School, both played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame from 2003-2006. During their time in South Bend, the Fighting Irish went 30-19 overall and 19-6 combined over their final two seasons.

Browns offensive lineman Eric Steinbach was drafted by the Bengals in 2003 and played his first 4 NFL seasons in Cincinnati before signing with the Browns on March 2, 2007.

Browns safety Abram Elam made his first career start against the Bengals on October 21, 2007 as a member of the Jets. He led the team in tackles in the game.

Before signing with the Bengals in the offseason, wide receiver Laveranues Coles spent the previous 4 seasons with the Jets, including the last 3 under current Browns and former Jets coach Eric Mangini. During those 3 seasons, Coles caught 216 passes for 2,594 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Bengals free safety Chris Crocker spent the first 3 seasons of his career in the Browns defensive backfield. Crocker totaled 3 interceptions and returned 1 for a touchdown during his time in Cleveland.

Bengals linebackers Rey Maualuga and Keith Rivers played college football with Browns rookie linebacker Kaluka Maiava at the University of Southern California.

MEDIA

Fans can watch Sunday's game on local CBS affiliate WOIO-TV 19. Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon (analyst) will be on the call.

The game is also available along the Browns Radio Network with Jim Donovan, Doug Dieken and sideline reporter Andre Knott providing the call.