Sunday afternoon Carson Palmer and the 2-1 Cincinnati Bengals head to Browns Stadium to take 0-3 Cleveland in an AFC North match-up.
An upset against the reigning Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers last week has the Bengals brimming with confidence. Not to mention having a healthy quarterback is certainly a big part of that, and facing the hapless Browns may only help.
NFL odds makers have the Bengals as about a touchdown road favorite going into Cleveland. The Vegas line is sitting at Cincinnati -7 with the total in the game set at 38.
Palmer engineered a 16-play, 71-yard, game winning drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell with just 14 seconds left, gave the Bengals a 23-20 win over Pittsburgh last Sunday. The victory snapped a seven-game home losing streak to the Steelers and now has Cincinnati looking to do big things in 2009.
"It's a confidence booster," Caldwell said. "We're letting the world know that we feel we're a competitive team and we're something to be reckoned with."
The Brows will have a new starting quarterback this week as former starter Derek Anderson is back under center for Cleveland. Their top two running backs; Jamal Lewis and rookie James Davis will not play. Davis was Davis was put on injured reserve and Lewis is nursing a hamstring injury.
Jerome Harrison will get the start for the Bengals with rookie Chris Jennings backing him up.
There is just too much turmoil with the Browns offense. Take the Bengals and give the 7 points.