The Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals are both out of playoff contention in the AFC this year. But they will try to secure one last victory in Week 18 in Cincinnati. We get a very interesting quarterback matchup in this game, with the Browns starting their highly-touted rookie and the Bengals starting the face of their franchise in a meaningless game. Here, I take a closer look at this matchup and give you my Browns vs Bengals prediction for Sunday afternoon.
Our Browns vs Bengals Pick
| Pick: | |
| Confidence: | 3/5 |
Game Snapshot
- Matchup: Cleveland Browns vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Date & Time: Sunday, January 4, 2026, 1:00 PM ET
- Venue: Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
- Broadcast: CBS
Key Storylines
The Browns come into this game after one of the more surprising results of the season last week. Cleveland defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-6 in Week 17, shutting down Aaron Rodgers and the passing game of Pittsburgh. Myles Garrett didn’t get his sack to reach the single-season record, but he could do so in this game against another division foe.
Cincinnati vowed to play hard at the end of the regular season despite being eliminated from playoff contention and they have done exactly that. The Bengals have outscored the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals by a combined margin of 82-35 over the last two weeks and the Bengals will be expected to close out their regular season with another win here at home.
Quarterback Play
Shedeur Sanders will start at quarterback for the Browns in Week 18. Sanders has had his growing pains in his rookie season in the NFL, throwing seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions so far. And while the bad throws have looked really bad, the good moments have looked really good, and Sanders will try to finish strong here.
On the other side is Joe Burrow, who missed much of this season due to injury, but has finished strong down the stretch for the Bengals. Burrow has six touchdowns and no interceptions over the last two games for Cincinnati. And while it would probably be smarter for the Bengals to rest Burrow this week to avoid risking injury, Burrow is going to keep airing it out this week.
Betting Trends & H2H
- Cincinnati defeated Cleveland 17-16 in the first week of the regular season.
- Cincinnati is 8-8 against the spread so far this season.
- The Browns are 7-9 going into the final week of the regular season.
- The Bengals have gone over the total in 9 of their first 16 games.
- Cleveland is 8-8 in the over/under market entering Week 18.
Browns vs Bengals Model Projection
Final Thoughts
