Browns, Bengals look to end season with momentum when they meet in the Battle of Ohio

Cleveland (4-12) at Cincinnati (6-10)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL odds: Bengals by 7 1/2.

Against the spread: Browns 7-9; Bengals 8-8.

Series record: Bengals lead 56-48.

Last meeting: Bengals beat the Browns 17-16 in Cleveland on Sept. 7, 2025.

Last week: Browns beat the Steelers 13-6; Bengals beat the Cardinals 37-14.

Browns offense: overall (30), rush (27), pass (29), scoring (31)

Browns defense: overall (2), rush (14), pass (2), scoring (14)

Bengals offense: overall (18), rush (31), pass (6), scoring (12).

Bengals defense: overall (32), rush (32), pass (27), scoring (31).

Turnover differential: Browns minus-8; Bengals minus-2.

DE Myles Garrett. With 22 sacks, the All-Pro pass rusher needs one to pass the single-season record held by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan (2001 with the New York Giants) and Pittsburgh’s TJ Watt (2021). Garrett, who also leads the league with 32 tackles for a loss, has sacked Joe Burrow 11 times in nine meetings.

QB Joe Burrow has completed 49 of 63 passes for 614 yards with six touchdowns, no interceptions and a 139 passer rating in the past two games. Burrow has a 4-5 record against the Browns, but has won his past three starts.

Garrett vs. Bengals LT Orlando Brown. Garrett has lined up on the right side as an edge rusher on 82.2% of his snaps, meaning most of his pass rush snaps will come against Brown. Garrett has been chip-blocked or double-teamed on 26 of 61 pass rush snaps the past two games. The Bengals have used chip blocks for Brown on a 14.5% rate this season, fourth highest among left tackles.

Browns: TE Harold Fannin Jr. (groin) and LB Carson Schwesinger (quad, ankle) have not practiced this week. TE David Njoku (knee) could miss his fourth straight game.

Bengals: RB Chase Brown (illness), TE Cam Grady (chest), WR Charlie Jones (ankle), DT B.J. Hill (ankle), CB Josh Newton (hamstring) and DE Joseph Ossai (ankle) have not practiced all week. Jones, Newton and Ossai are out.

The Bengals have won four straight. Cincinnati has a 32-21 edge since Cleveland’s return in 1999. Bengals coach Zac Taylor is 6-7 against the Browns. The Bengals have a 34-18 advantage in games played in Cincinnati. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski has a 6-5 record against Cincinnati.

Cleveland has a six-game losing streak in road division games. ... QB Shedeur Sanders is 2-4 as a starting quarterback. HIs 364 passing yards against the Titans on Dec. 7 are the most by a rookie quarterback in a game this season. ... RB Dylan Sampson had 93 scrimmage yards (29 rushing, 64 receiving) in the first meeting. ... WR Jerry Jeudy has at least five catches in four games. He had five receptions for 66 yards in the first meeting. ... TE Harold Fannin Jr. leads NFL rookies with 72 receptions. He has a touchdown catch in two straight games and four of the past five. ... The Browns have not allowed a 300-yard passer in 44 straight games, the league's longest active streak since the Colts had a 52-game run from 2005-08. ... LB Carson Schwesinger leads league rookies in tackles (156) and tackles for loss (11). ... CB Tyson Campbell is second in the league with 18 passes defensed. ... K Andre Szmyt, who missed a field goal and extra point in the first meeting against Cincinnati, has made 12 consecutive field goals. ... Cincinnati scored 82 points in wins over Miami and Arizona. It is the most it has scored in a two-game span since totaling 85 during Weeks 12-13 in 2004. ... RB Chase Brown has at least 90 scrimmage yards in six straight home games, including 141 last week. ... RB Samaje Perine has scored a touchdown in two straight games. ... WR Tee Higgins is tied for fifth in the league with 10 receiving touchdowns. ... The Bengals have forced 11 turnovers in the past five games, tied for third most (Jacksonville and Minnesota both have 12). ... LB Demetrius Knight is second among league rookies with 103 tackles. ... DE and first-round pick Shemar Stewart got his first sack last week. ... P Ryan Rehkow is second in the league in gross punting average (51.1 yards per punt). ... K Evan McPherson has made 12 straight field goals.

Cincinnati WR Ja'Marr Chase is third in the league in receptions (117) and fourth in yards (1,316). He has five games with at least 10 catches this season, but was held to two receptions for 26 yards in the first meeting.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett reacts after a play during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mississippi's scintillating breakthrough quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and his Rebels teammates have been saying for weeks that they have the chemistry, talent and confidence to carry on in the College Football Playoff without former coach Lane Kiffin.

Unlikely as that may have sounded after Kiffin left for rival LSU on Nov. 30, there's been little evidence to the contrary. The Rebels — having dramatically vanquished Southeastern Conference champion Georgia in a Sugar Bowl for the ages — are preparing for a Jan. 8 Fiesta Bowl date with Miami in the CFP semifinals.

“It’s a super tough group,” recently promoted Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said after the No. 6 seed Rebels (13-1) walked off of the Superdome field with a 39-34 victory over third-seeded Georgia (12-2). “They’ve got a lot of grit, and they love playing football, and they’re not tired of it.”

Georgia, the only team to beat Ole Miss this season back in October, was favored by about a touchdown and led by nine at halftime. The Rebels rallied to take a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, but still required late-game poise by their defense, a big throw by Chambliss and a clutch kick by Lucas Carneiro to pull it out.

Georgia scored 10 straight points in the last 7:03, but the Bulldogs were threatening to score a go-ahead touchdown when Mississippi's defense held them to a tying field goal with 55 seconds left.

Then, on a third-and-5 from his own 30, Chambliss delivered an accurate deep ball to De'Zhaun Stribling for a 40-yard gain to set up Carneiro's decisive, 47-yard field goal with 6 seconds left (a safety on the ensuing kickoff completed scoring in the final seconds).

Kiffin, who wanted to continue coaching Ole Miss in the postseason after accepting his LSU job but was not permitted to do so by Mississippi Athletic Director Keith Carter, spent part of Thursday night being introduced to the crowd at an LSU women's basketball game by Tigers' coach Kim Mulkey.

Later, Kiffin posted a message of encouragement to his former team on social media, stating, “Only two more to go.”

Since Kiffin flew out of Oxford on a private jet supplied by LSU, “Everybody stayed together and bought in and nobody got frustrated,” Mississippi linebacker Suntarine Perkins said. "I’m really excited about what this group has accomplished this season.”

In terms of their backgrounds, Chambliss and Miami QB Carson Beck could hardly be more of a study in contrast.

Beck is a high-paid, high-profile transfer from Georgia known for his taste in luxury European automobiles. In helping the Hurricanes stage a pair of CFP victories over higher-seeded Texas A&M and defending national champion Ohio State, he's fulfilling the promise with which he returned to his native Florida, where he was a consensus four-star recruit.

Now one more victory in the Fiesta Bowl will give Beck and the 10th-seeded Hurricanes (12-2) a chance to play for a national title in their home stadium on Jan. 19.

Chambliss has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the most compelling stories in all of college football — the Sugar Bowl being merely his latest chapter.

Last fall, Chambliss played at Division II Ferris State in his native Michigan. Before that, he says he nearly quit football in favor of playing point guard for a Division III basketball program. But after leading Ferris State to a Division II national championship, he took an offer to be a projected backup at Ole Miss this season.

An injury to season-opening starter Austin Simmons thrust Simmons into the spotlight, and his ability to run circles around frustrated pass-rushers while finding receivers breaking open downfield made him such a hit in Oxford, Mississippi, that fans there began flying flags of his namesake Caribbean island nation, Trinidad & Tobago.

“Sometimes I've got to pinch myself,” Chambliss said. "I never really thought I'd get to this point, to be honest, because I did have some doubt at Ferris State if football is really for me.

“It's been a crazy ride so far,” he added.

Next stop, Glendale, Arizona.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Mississippi platers and coach celebrate a win against Georgia after the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)