AFC North Preview – Week 8

by Joe Kuzma (joe_kuzma) on October 28, 2017

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

With the Baltimore Ravens playing on a short week (and soundly shutting out the Miami Dolphins 40-0 on Thursday Night Football) the AFC North looks to London, as the Cleveland Browns attempt to win their first game in 2017 across the pond. They have a tall task against a stingy Minnesota Vikings defense.

The Cincinnati Bengals make a short trip to face a team that would be considered their rival if they played more often, the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals will attempt to bounce back after a humiliating second half of play against the Steelers.

AFC North Standings

AFC North Week 7 Standings

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Browns Preview

	Browns	Vikings
Last Week	L 12-9 (OT) vs. Tennessee	W 24-16 vs. Baltimore
Coach vs. Opp.	Hue Jackson: 1-0	Mike Zimmer: 0-0
PTS. For/Against	14.7/24.1	20.9/17.0
Offense	304.9	356.1
Passing	DeShone Kizer (R): 93-179-965-3-11-47.8 / Cody Kessler: 10-19-121-0-1-50.5	Case Keenum: 122-190-1322-5-2-89.0
Rushing	Isaiah Crowell: 91-287-3.2-0	Jerick McKinnon: 55-237-4.3-2
Receiving	Duke Johnson, Jr. (RB): 32-314-9.8-1	Adam Thielen: 43-529-12.3-0
Defense	304.7	283
Sacks	Myles Garrett (R): 4	Everson Griffen: 9 (3L)
INTs	Jason McCourty: 3 (T3L)	Harrison Smith: 3 (T3L)
Take/Give	-11 (8/19)	+1 (8/7)
Punting (Net)	Britton Colquitt: 49.8 (41.9)	Ryan Quigley: 42.1 (40.9)
Kicking	Zane Gonzalez (R): 29 (11/11 PAT; 6/9 FG)	Kai Forbath: 62 (11/14 PAT; 17/18 FG)

Game Notes

LEADER: Vikings lead all-time series, 10-4
LAST GAME: 9/22/13: Browns 31 at Vikings 27
STREAKS: Vikings have won 4 of past 5
LAST GAME AT SITE: First meeting in London
QB CASE KEENUM has 8 TD passes vs. 2 INTs for 94 rating in past 7 on road.
RB LATAVIUS MURRAY rushed for 113 yards & TD in Week 7. Had 139 rush yards & TD in last meeting (9/27/15 with Oak.).
RB JERICK MC KINNON has 302 scrimmage yards (100.7 per game) & 3 TDs (2 rush, 1 rec.) in past 3.
WR ADAM THIELEN ranks 4th in NFL in rec. yards (529) & 5th in catches (43). In past 4 on road, has 26 receptions for 381 yards (95.3 per game) & 2 TDs.
WR STEFON DIGGS has 5 TD catches in past 6. Has 275 rec. yards (91.7 per game) & 2 TDs in past 3.
Since 2016, TE KYLE RUDOLPH ranks 3rd among NFL TEs in receptions (109) & TD catches (9).
DE EVERSON GRIFFEN had 2 sacks & FF in Week 7. Has sack in all 7 games this season & is 6th player since 1982 with sack in each of team’s 1st 7 games. Has 5 sacks & FF in past 4 on road. Aims for 3rd in row on road vs. AFC with 2+ sacks.
LB ERIC KENDRICKS led team with career-high 13 tackles last week. Aims for 3rd in row with 10+ tackles. Has 31 tackles (10.3 per game) in past 3 vs. AFC.
LB ANTHONY BARR had 11 tackles & sack in Week 7. Aims for 5th in row with PD.
DE DANIELLE HUNTER has 3 sacks in past 4.
S HARRISON SMITH has 2 INTs & 1.5 sacks in past 3. Had INT in last meeting. Since 2012, is only NFL safety with 15+ INTs (15) & 9+ sacks (9).
CB TRAE WAYNES aims for 6th in row with PD.
QB CODY KESSLER has 95.9 rating in past 5 starts.
Rookie QB DE SHONE KIZER is 1 of 5 QBs with 125+ rush yards (126) & 2+ rush TDs (2).
RB ISAIAH CROWELL has 562 scrimmage yards (93.7 per game) with 4 rush TDs in past 6 vs. NFC.
RB DUKE JOHNSON, JR. has 314 rec. yards, 3rd most among NFL RBs. Has 146 catches since entering league in 2015, 2nd most among NFL RBs. Leads team with 32 catches & 314 rec. yards.
TE DAVID NJOKU (rookie) ties for lead among NFL rookies with 3 TD catches. Njoku (16 catches, 176 rec. yards) & TE SETH DE VALVE (16, 194) are 1 of 2 pairs of NFL TE teammates (JORDAN REED & VERNON DAVIS) with 15+ catches & 150+ rec. yards in 2017.
LB CHRISTIAN KIRKSEY had career-high 17 tackles & FF in Week 7. Has 27 tackles (13.5 per game) in past 2. Ties for 4th in NFL with 59 tackles.
Rookie DE MYLES GARRETT aims for 4th in row with 1+ sack. Has 4 sacks in 1st 3 career games, tied for 2nd most in player’s 1st 3 career games in past 20 years. Ties for lead among NFL rookies with 4 sacks.
LB JAMIE COLLINS, SR. had sack last week. Has 28 tackles (9.3 per game), sack & FF in 3 career games vs. NFC North.
CB JASON MCCOURTY aims for 3rd in row with INT. Is 1 of 2 NFL players (DAMARIOUS RANDALL) with 3+ INTs (3) & INT-TD (1) in 2017.
LB JOE SCHOBERT has 8+ tackles in 4 of past 5.
ON THE AIRWAVES
TV: NFLN (9:30 AM ET): Greg Gumbel, Trent Green, Jamie Erdahl (Field reporter)
NATIONAL RADIO: Westwood One: Tom McCarthy, Derek Rackley | SIRIUS: 93 (WW1), 81 (Min), 83 (Cle) | XM: 225 (WW1), 81 (Min), 83 (Cle)

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Bengals Preview

	Bengals	Colts
Last Week	L 29-14 at Pittsburgh	L 27-0 vs. Jacksonville
Coach vs. Opp.	Marvin Lewis: 2-5	Chuck Pagano: 1-1
PTS. For/Against	16.3/18.7	17.0/31.7
Offense	289	291.3
Passing	Andy Dalton: 121-189-1360-9-8-83.7	Jacoby Brissett: 120-201-1409-3-3-79.8
Rushing	Joe Mixon (R): 74-235-3.2-1	Frank Gore: 94-322-3.4-2
Receiving	A.J. Green: 35-545 (2L)-15.6-3	Jack Doyle (TE): 30-257-8.6-1
Defense	289	425.4
Sacks	Geno Atkins: 4	John Simon: 3
INTs	Many tied: 1	Rashaan Melvin: 2
Take/Give	-9 (4/13)	+1 (10/9)
Punting (Net)	Kevin Huber: 47.4 (42.3)	Rigoberto Sanchez (R): 46.0 (44.6)
Kicking	Randy Bullock: 32 (11/11 PAT; 7/8 FG)	Adam Vinatieri: 45 (9/11 PAT; 12/13 FG)

Game Notes

LEADER: Colts lead all-time series, 17-10
LAST GAME: 10/19/14: Bengals 0 at Colts 27
STREAKS: Bengals have won 2 of past 3
LAST GAME AT SITE: 12/8/13: Bengals 42, Colts 28
QB JACOBY BRISSETT aims for 3rd in row with 0 INTs. Ties for lead among NFL QBs with 3 rush TDs.
RB FRANK GORE has 180 rush yards (90 per game) in 2 career meetings. Ranks 7th in NFL history with 13,387 career rush yards.
RB MARLON MACK ranks 4th among NFL rookies with 4.88 yards per carry avg. (min. 30 att.).
WR T.Y. HILTON had 107 rec. yards in last meeting. Has
26 games with 100+ rec. yards since entering league in 2012, tied for 5th most in NFL over span. Is 1 of 5 in NFL with 400+ catches (401), 6,000+ rec. yards (6,373) & 30+ TD catches (31) since 2012.
TE JACK DOYLE leads team with 30 catches & ranks 3rd among AFC TEs. Has 89 catches since 2016, tied for 7th among NFL TEs.
WR DONTE MONCRIEF has TD catch in 4 of past 6 on road.
S MATTHIAS FARLEY had FF & FR last week. Is 1 of 2 NFL safeties (DEVIN MC COURTY) with 45+ tackles
(45) & INT (1) in 2017.
LB ANTONIO MORRISON had career-high 13 tackles in Week 7. Aims for 6th in row with 7+ tackles.
LB JOHN SIMON had sack in his last game at Cin. (11/16/15 with Hou.). Has 20 tackles, 3 TFL, sack & INT-TD in past 3 on road.
LB JON BOSTIC leads team with 49 tackles. DT JOHNATHAN HANKINS is 1 of 7 NFL DTs with 10+ sacks (11) & 3+ FFs (3) since 2014.
CB RASHAAN MELVIN ties for NFL lead with 11 PD. Has 4 PD in past 2 on road.
CB VONTAE DAVIS had 4 PD in last meeting.
S DARIUS BUTLER had FR last week.
QB ANDY DALTON has 9 pass TDs vs. 4 INTs for 103.2 rating in past 4. In 3 career meetings, has 4 pass TDs vs. 0 INTs for 94.3 rating. Has 110+ rating in 2 of past 3 vs. Ind. Has 151 TD passes since entering league in 2011 & is 1 of 9 QBs with 150+ TD passes over span.
RB GIOVANI BERNARD had 148 scrimmage yards (99 rush, 49 rec.) in only home meeting. Is 1 of 2 NFL RBs (MATT FORTÉ) with 175+ catches (198), 1,800+ rec. yards (1,834) & 8+ TD catches (8) since entering league in 2013. Rookie RB JOE MIXON ranks 5th among rookies with 235 rush yards.
WR A.J. GREEN has TD catch in 3 of past 4. Ranks 2nd in NFL with 545 rec. yards. Aims for 3rd meeting in row with TD catch. Is 1 of 3 players since entering league in 2011 with 500+ catches (516), 7,500+ rec. yards (7,680) & 50+ TD catches (52).
WR BRANDON LA FELL had TD catch in Week 7.
TE TYLER KROFT had TD catch last week. Has 3 rec. TDs in past 3. Ties for 3rd among AFC TEs with 3 TD catches.
DE CARLOS DUNLAP had 0.5 sack & FF in last meeting. Is 1 of 6 active NFL DEs with 50+ sacks (58) & 15+ FFs (16) since 2010.
DT GENO ATKINS aims for 4th in row at home with 1+ sack. Since entering league in 2010, has 56 sacks, most among NFL DTs.
LB VINCENT REY had career-high 16 tackles in last game vs. Ind.
LB VONTAZE BURFICT has 10+ tackles in 4 of past 5 at home.
ON THE AIRWAVES
TV: CBS (1:00 PM ET): Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta
SIRIUS: 121 (Ind), 112 (Cin) | XM: 387 (Ind), 227 (Cin)