***TNF IN THE SWAMP - BATTLE OF OHIO - CLE @ CINCY***

***CLEVELAND BROWNS @ CINCINATTI BENGALS***

I apologize for the delayed post everyone, the SwampMan was stuck in some bad traffic so I will make this short and sweet. We have an extremely tough game to cap on tap tonight as the so called Battle of Ohio will take place on the Prime Time stage. The lowly Cleveland Brownies are on the road facing their undefeated divisional opponent, the Cincinatti Bengals. There are a ton of unknown factors in this game which makes it very hard to get a feel for and try to predict. The fact that the Browns are forced to start backup controversial QB Johnny Manziel due to veteran Josh McCown being ruled out with an injury. It is quite obvious Manziel is facing tremendous adversity here as there probably couldn't be a worse scenario for him to try and attempt taking the reigns of this team. The Browns are on the road, it is Prime Time, division game, opponent is undefeated, and it is the very same team that straight up embarassed Johnny last year in his rookie debut. They literally taunted him all game while beating the crap out of him from start to finish. Will this be too much for Manziel to mentally overcome tonight? Possibly. However, I think he has shown signs of taking a different approach on the field this season since he crashed and burned both on and off the field during his rookie season. When he has come in relief this year he has been solid and has had some success. Throwing a touchdown pass in the in relief during the fourth quarter against a top Jet defense in week 1 I feel was a pivotal moment for him. He then started at home against the Titans and played lights out more like exciting the Johnny Football we were used to watching in the SEC. He has never been one to shy away from the spotlight and I think he should be able to answer the bell here and sieze this huge opportunity. That being said, I think his confidence has grown on the field and I'm sure he knows that is the key to his success. He needs to play HIS game and I know Head Coach Mike Pettine realizes this also. Look for them to call some plays to try and maximize his style versus a tough Bengal defense. On the other side of things real quick, I flat out don't think the Bengals are as good as their record states. Who have they really played this year? The Seahawks? Who have shown to be pretty average themselves thus far. Last week was their first real I feel like when they played Pitt and they should've lost that game in my eyes if Big Ben doesn't hand it back to them over and over in the 4th Quarter as he tried to shake the rust off and their start RB LeVeon Bell was carted off the field. I know the Browns DBs are banged up and they will be without CB Haden and S Whitner, but their backups are young talented DBs who I actually like to play fresh and hungry tonight. Anyway, I will end this by saying that 13 points is way too much to lay in a prime time divisional game, and I think the Browns rally around Manziel here as he will most likely be their QB moving forward this season and they know how much he will want some revenge against these Cats. The cherry on top for me is, I still don't like Dalton in the spotlight and under the lights like he will be tonight. I foresee a strange head scratcher on the big stage tonight. BROWNIES +13