Gonna jump in on the Bengals after learning starting right tackle Jack Conklin, one of Cleveland's biggest offseason acquisitions, will only play in an emergency tonight. DE Olivier Vernon also is inactive. In what should be a fairly low-scoring game, points are at a premium. Back Cincy.

Tough call on Thursday night and not a game I would normally take. In this case, I see value with Cincinnati as I only have Cleveland as a three-point favorite in this game. Yes, Bengals rookie QB Joe Burrow is coming into this on a short week, which would usually spell disaster, but the Browns are injured defensively. I liked how Burrow handled himself against the Chargers front seven in his debut, which was essentially his first NFL action since there were no preseason games. (Also, Cincy should've won that game.) A lot of teams would have been run through by Baltimore, so I'm not faulting Cleveland for last week, but it should not be a touchdown favorite in this game.

Believing in the Browns is a great way to get your feelings hurt, and I'm not in the mood to get my feelings hurt. Neither one of these teams is good enough to be favored by this much against the other, so I'm going to back the team that has covered nine of the last 11 meetings.

Cleveland is looking to bounce back after an abysmal season-opening performance against Baltimore. On a short week, the Browns limp into a matchup versus the Bengals missing three starters on a defense that got gashed by Lamar Jackson. Now, I am not saying that rookie QB Joe Burrow is Lamar Jackson, but he may look like him this week as he'll have A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross III and Tee Higgins matched up against a secondary that was questionable heading into Week 1 and has been made thin because of injury.

Both teams come off awful offensive performances. But I can see the Browns being more polished in Week 2, working hard on a short week. The Browns are an emotion-driven team and last week it worked against them with the sulking, but I like it to work fin their favor against the last team they defeated, in Week 14 last season. The one thing the Browns did well last week was run the ball. Take the Browns to cover.

Despite only putting up 13 points, I was impressed by Joe Burrow in his NFL debut and I expect him to have a big day here against a much worse defense in Cleveland. The Browns are incredibly beat up already, with 10 players questionable or worse on the final injury report. That will help an improved Bengals defense slow down a Browns offense that's still finding its feet under Kevin Stefanski. The Bengals have lost 13 straight on the road but are 8-5 ATS in those matchups as well as 8-3 ATS in that stretch when 'dogs of at least four points. Look for them to cash once again in that situation here.

Everybody is raving about Joe Burrow but aside from the last drive I thought he was very ordinary. He'll be good eventually, but this is a game in which the Browns will assert themselves. They're more talented than they showed Week 1. Lay the points.

Yes, these state rivals combined for only 19 points in Week 1 losses, but both teams are missing key defensive players due to injury. Baker Mayfield can only improve off his effort in Baltimore, and Joe Burrow should also be better with an NFL game under his belt. The total has gone Over in four of the past five in this series with an average final score of 49.4 points. It should be in that ballpark again, but jump now at 43.5 before before it potentially rises back up to 44 (could see a 24-20 final score). Over is the play.

My simulations make the Browns -2.1 points better on a neutral field, 4.7 points better in a traditional home game, and 3.8 points better in a 2020 home game. I liked a lot of what I saw from Joe Burrow in his debut in a game they likely should have won without the questionable offensive pass interference in the end zone. The Bengals with the points are a must play considering the 2.2 point edge in the model.

Huh? The team that laid a giant egg in the league’s worst Week 1 defeat is laying more than five points? Plus, it emerges from that game beat up, with three players going down in the thrashing at the hands of Baltimore. The fates of three key members of the secondary who sat out the opener are unclear. Cincinnati came away from its opening loss reasonably healthy, and calm rookie QB Joe Burrow passed his first test with a conservative game plan that could be loosened up. Burrow won’t have to deal with the raucous Dawg Pound in what would have been an unsettling scenario.