The last time the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Browns in Cleveland, Joe Burrow wasn't even in the NFL. In fact, it was three years before he was drafted.
The Bengals haven't won a game in Cleveland since 2017
Since Burrow was drafted in 2020, that means that Cincinnati's last win in Cleveland came in 2017. That's six straight seasons that the Bengals have lost in Cleveland, as they play there once every year. Head coach Zac Taylor has never won a game there, and obviously neither has Burrow.
The Bengals are aiming to snap that streak in their upcoming Week 7 matchup with the Browns, and in case any Bengals players were unaware of the team's abysmal record in Cleveland recently, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo made sure to remind them.
“It’s terrible,” Anarumo said of the Bengals’ record in Cleveland. “I made everybody aware of it this morning in our defensive meeting room that we have yet to get on the bus happy. They are aware of what that building presents, what that team presents to us and the challenges. We have to step it up and do better.”
The Bengals should be motivated enough to get a win since their playoff hopes could depend on it, but their recent struggles in Cleveland should add some fuel to the fire. Plus, the Bengals are already 0-1 in division games on the season after their Week 5 loss to the Ravens, and they don't want to drop to 0-2 in the division.
In order to get a second consecutive win, Burrow wants to see the Bengals lean into the ground game -- something they haven't done too much so far this season.
"I think we’ll be able to run the ball well on Sunday. I like the run game plan," Burrow said. "We’ll see how it plays out. We’ll be ready to drop back 50 times if we need to just like always, but be nice to have a big time game on the ground."
In terms of matchups, Burrow is expecting a similar game to Cincinnati's 17-7 win over the New York Giants last week.
“It's going to be a very similar game to last week," Burrow said. "Really good defense, great front, good secondary, so we're going to have to be smart with the ball, take our explosives when they are there, stay on track. We can't get behind the sticks because of how good their front is. It will be a challenge, but we're going to be ready for it.”
Ideally, the Bengals will be able to replicate their defensive performance from last week when they allowed just seven points while also bouncing back on offense after a relatively underwhelming output against the Giants. If they can do that, they should be able to snap the streak of consecutive losses in Cleveland.