AFC North Preview – Week 14

by Joe Kuzma (joe_kuzma) on December 9, 2017

SCU’s AFC North Preview is a quick overview of the Steelers division opponents and their upcoming games.

It’s an odd week in the AFC North. The Cleveland Browns have been out of contention for a while now, while the Pittsburgh Steelers can win the division with a win over their rival, the Baltimore Ravens, or if the Buffalo Bills lose/tie with the Indianapolis Colts.

That leaves the Cincinnati Bengals, down three starters due to concussions, in the dust, as they prepare to play the lowly Chicago Bears.

The Browns, on the other hand, may feel lucky in the fact that they could face the Packers backup quarterback, as Aaron Rodgers has yet to be medically cleared to play.

Here’s a breakdown of the state of the AFC North headed into Week 14.

AFC North Standings

AFC North Standings Week 14

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Bengals Preview

	Bengals	Bears
Last Week	L 23-20 vs. Pittsburgh	L 15-14 vs. San Francisco
Coach vs. Opp.	Marvin Lewis: 2-1	John Fox: 3-3
PTS. For/Against	18.3/19.8	15.9/22.3
Offense	280.8	275.8
Passing	Andy Dalton: 222-360-2606-20-8-92.9	Mitchell Trubisky (R): 106-193-1237-5-4-74.5
Rushing	Joe Mixon (R): 157-518-3.3-4	Jordan Howard: 212-885-4.2-5
Receiving	A.J. Green: 60-886-14.8-8	Tarik Cohen (R) (RB): 39-306-7.8-1
Defense	334.1	333.2
Sacks	Carl Lawson (R): 7.5	Akiem Hicks: 7
INTs	Many tied: 1	Many tied: 1
Take/Give	-6 (11/17)	-3 (16/19)
Punting (Net)	Kevin Huber: 47.5 (40.8)	Patrick O’Donnell: 46.8 (39.4)
Kicking	Randy Bullock: 62 (23/25 PAT; 13/15 FG)	Mike Nugent (with Dal.): 29 (8/8 PAT; 7/9 FG)

Game Notes

LEADER: Bengals lead all-time series, 6-4
LAST GAME: 9/8/13: Bengals 21 at Bears 24
STREAKS: Bengals have won 2 of past 3
LAST GAME AT SITE: 10/25/09: Bengals 45, Bears 10
QB MITCHELL TRUBISKY completed 12 of 15 (80 pct.) for career-high 117.2 rating in Week 13.
RB JORDAN HOWARD has 275 rush yards (91.7 per game) in past 3 on road. In 2 career road games vs. AFC, has 339 scrimmage yards (169.5 per game) & TD catch. Aims for 3rd in row vs. AFC with 100+ rush yards. Has 100+ scrimmage yards in 4 of 5 career games vs. AFC. Rookie RB TARIK COHEN had 61-yard PR-TD last week. Is 1st player since TERRY METCALF (1975) & 1st rookie since HOFer GALE SAYERS (1965) with PR-TD, rush TD, rec. TD & TD pass in single season. Ties for 3rd among rookie RBs with 39 catches.
WR DONTRELLE INMAN had TD catch last week, his 1st with Chi. WR KENDALL WRIGHT leads team with 370 rec. yards.
DE AKIEM HICKS has sack in 2 of past 3 on road. Aims for 3rd in row on road vs. AFC with sack. LB CHRISTIAN JONES leads team with 82 tackles. Tied career-high with 13 tackles & had sack last week. Has 26 tackles & 2 sacks in past
3. LB DANNY TREVATHAN aims for 3rd in row with 11+ tackles. Has 16 tackles, sack & FR in his past 2 vs. AFC. In 2 career games vs. Cin., has 18 tackles & sack. CB KYLE FULLER ties for 3rd in NFC with 13 PD. Had INT in Week 13. Has 17 tackles & 6 PD in his past 3 vs. AFC. DE LAMARR HOUSTON had sack last week. Has 4 sacks, FF & FR in his past 6 vs. AFC. CB PRINCE AMUKAMARA set career- high with 10 tackles in only game vs Cin. (11/11/12 with NYG).
QB ANDY DALTON had 2 TD passes vs. 0 INTs & 96.3 rating in Week 13. Has 11 TDs vs. 0 INTs & 103.1 rating in past 6. Completed 26 of 33 (78.8 pct.) for 282 yards with 2 TDs for 97.2 rating in only career meeting. Aims for 3rd in row vs. NFC with 2+ TD passes & 120+ rating.
RB JOE MIXON (rookie) has rush TD in 3 of past 5. Ranks 5th among NFL rookies with 784 scrimmage yards. RB GIOVANI BERNARD had 96 scrimmage yards (77 rush, 19 rec.) in Week 13. Has TD in 2 of past 3 vs. NFC. In past 7 at home vs. NFC, has 726 scrimmage yards (103.7 per game) & 4 rush TDs.
WR A.J. GREEN had 2 TD catches last week, his 6th career multi-TD game. Ties for 4th in NFL with 8 TD catches. Had 9 catches for 162 yards & 2 TDs in only career meeting. In past 3 vs. NFC, has 26 catches (8.7 per game) with 300 rec. yards (100 per game) & 2 TDs. Has 4 TDs in past 4 at home. WR BRANDON LA FELL has 212 rec. yards (106 per game) with TD in past 2 vs. Chi. TE TYLER KROFT has TD catch in 2 of past 3.
DT GENO ATKINS has 7.5 sacks & 8 TFL in past 8 at home. Has 11 TFL & 7 sacks in past 9 vs. NFC. DE CARLOS DUNLAP had sack in Week 13. Has 3.5 sacks in past 3. In past 2 vs. NFC, has 1.5 sacks & 4 PD. Has 62.5 sacks, most in franchise history. CB DARQUEZE DENNARD is only NFL CB with 60+ tackles (66) & 2+ sacks (2). Rookie LB CARL LAWSON leads all rookies with 7.5 sacks.

On The Airwaves

TV: FOX (1:00 PM ET): Sam Rosen, Brady Quinn, Jenny Taft (Field reporter)
SIRIUS: 135 (Chi), 146 (Cin) | XM: 386 (Chi), 229 (Cin)

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Browns Preview

	Browns	Packers
Last Week	L 19-10 at Los Angeles Chargers	W 26-20 (OT) vs. Tampa Bay
Coach vs. Opp.	Hue Jackson: 0-1	Mike McCarthy: 2-0
PTS. For/Against	14.7/25.7	21.5/23.4
Offense	308.6	305.9
Passing	DeShone Kizer (R): 181-345-2038-6-15-58.1	Brett Hundley: 126-206-1269-5-8-70.6
Rushing	Isaiah Crowell: 155-595-3.8-2	Aaron Jones (R): 71-390-5.5-4
Receiving	Duke Johnson, Jr. (RB): 52-456-8.8-2	Davante Adams: 59-744-12.6-7
Defense	327.3	354.8
Sacks	Myles Garrett (R): 5	Nick Perry: 7
INTs	Jason McCourty: 3	Damarious Randall: 4
Take/Give	-19 (11/30)	+5 (20/15)
Punting (Net)	Britton Colquitt: 48.3 (40.8)	Justin Vogel (R): 44.9 (42.8)
Kicking	Zane Gonzalez (R): 54 (18/19 PAT; 12/17 FG)	Mason Crosby: 66 (27/29 PAT; 13/17 FG)

Game Notes

LEADER: Packers lead all-time series, 11-7
LAST GAME: 10/20/13: Browns 13 at Packers 31
STREAKS: Packers have won past 2
LAST GAME AT SITE: 10/25/09: Packers 31, Browns 3
QB BRETT HUNDLEY has 457 pass yards, 4 TDs & 0 INTs for 122.8 rating in past 2 on road. Had career-high 66 rush yards in Week 13.
RB AARON JONES (rookie) rushed for 20-yard GW-TD in OT last week. Has 4 rush TDs, tied for 2nd most among NFC rookies. Rookie RB JAMAAL WILLIAMS rushed for 113 yards & TD last week, his 1st career 100-yard game. Aims for 3rd in row with TD.
WR JORDY NELSON had TD catch in last meeting. Has 6 TDs in his past 7 vs. AFC. In his past 8 on road vs. AFC, has 658 rec. yards (82.3 per game) & 7 TDs. WR DAVANTE ADAMS has 22 catches for 340 yards (85 per game) & 2 TDs in past 4. In his past 5 vs. AFC, has 441 rec. yards (88.2 per game) & TD. Since 2016, Nelson (20) & Adams (19) rank 1st & 2nd in NFC in TD catches.
LB CLAY MATTHEWS had 2.5 sacks in Week 13, his 6th career game with 2.5+ sacks, tied for 3rd most among active NFL LBs. Aims for 3rd in row with sack. Has 5 sacks & 4 FFs in his past 8 on road vs. AFC. LB BLAKE MARTINEZ ranks 4th in NFL with career-high 109 tackles. Has 26 tackles, INT & FR in past 2. DE DEAN LOWRY had sack & 62-yard FR-TD last week, his 1st career TD. DT KENNY CLARK had 2 sacks & FF in Week 13, his 1st career sacks. CB DAVON HOUSE had INT & 3 PD in last meeting. S HA HA CLINTON-DIX has 3 INTs & 0.5 sack in his past 6 vs. AFC. Since 2015, is only NFL safety with 9+ INTs (9) & 3+ sacks (3.5).
QB DE SHONE KIZER (rookie) aims for 3rd in row vs. NFC with rush TD. Is 1 of 5 QBs with 2,000+ pass yards (2,038) & 300+ rush yards (308).
RB ISAIAH CROWELL has 775 scrimmage yards (96.9 per game) with 6 rush TDs in past 8 vs. NFC. Aims for 4th in row vs. NFC with 90+ scrimmage yards. RB DUKE JOHNSON, JR. has TD in 3 of past 5 at home. Is only RB with 50+ catches in each of past 3 seasons.
WR JOSH GORDON had team-high 85 rec. yards in Week 13. Has 525 rec. yards (87.5 per game) with 2 TDs in his past 6 vs. NFC. WR KENNY BRITT has 5 TDs in past 8 vs. NFC. Rookie TE DAVID NJOKU had TD catch last week. Ties for 2nd among rookie TEs with 4 rec. TDs.
LB JOE SCHOBERT leads AFC with 111 tackles. Had team-high 12 tackles, sack & FF in Week 13. Has 10+ tackles in 6 of past 7. Has 55 tackles (9.2 per game), 2 FFs & INT in past 6 at home. Has 18 tackles (9 per game) with sack, FF & INT in past 2 vs. NFC. LB CHRISTIAN KIRKSEY ties for 2nd in AFC with 101 tackles. Has sack in 2 of past 4. Aims for 6th in row vs. NFC with 7+ tackles. LB JAMES BURGESS, JR. has sack in 2 of past 3 at home. CB JASON MC COURTY had season-high 9 tackles & TFL last week. Leads team with 12 PD. Rookie DE MYLES GARRETT has 3 sacks in past 3 at home. DE NATE ORCHARD had FF in Week 13. DE CARL NASSIB has TFL in 4 of past 5.