Joe Burrow hits the nail on the head regarding how Bengals can avoid past failures vs Browns

Falling behind early is the recipe for losing against any opponent. You don't need to be Bill Belichick to know that. It disrupts game scripts and makes life a whole lot easier for the opponent.

There's no greater lesson the Cincinnati Bengals have learned over the years when playing the Cleveland Browns. When the game starts off poorly for Cincinnati, the recent results have ended just as bad.

The recipe for disaster is always cooked to Cleveland's liking. Forcing early mistakes on offense has allowed the Browns' run-heavy offense to thrive, and playing with a lead sets up a Myles Garrett-led pass rush to attack a Bengals offensive line that was never suited to contain him.

It's the common thread that best explains the Bengals' 3-7 record against their in-state rival over the last 10 meetings. Joe Burrow has played in six of those games and has only been victorious once. How history has unfolded in his defeats is not lost on him leading up to Sunday's installment of the Battle of Ohio .

"Yeah, it's very important," Burrow said of getting off to a fast start. "We know what they like to do offensively, we know like they do what they like to do defensively. They they like to run ball and they like to rush the passer, so if we can get out on them early, kind of makes them play play the game a different way than they have against us the last several years."

Sometimes it's not even about starting fast, but starting faster than them. Burrow's lone win over Cleveland late in the 2022 season featured both teams leaving the first quarter scoreless with a combined five punts and a Browns turnover. Burrow found Ja'Marr Chase in the end zone after 20 in-game minutes had already elapsed, and the Bengals never gave up that lead.

That game was in Cincinnati. Burrow has no such story to tell about his times in Cleveland as he's 0-3 playing in front of the "Dawg Pound." There's no question that the stakes are raised.

"This is one that we need," Burrow said. "It's gonna be a very similar game to last week. Really good defense, great front, good secondary. So we're gonna have to be smart with the ball, take our explosives when they're there. Stay on track, can't get behind the sticks because of how good their front is. It'll be a challenge, but we're gonna be ready for it."

Parallels to last week could very well be made. Burrow's legs put the Bengals on the board early with a 47-yard touchdown run , but the offense sputtered for most of the night afterwards against the New York Giants' imposing pass rush. Cincinnati's defense stepped up to the plate and maintained a one-score lead up until Chase Brown's game-sealing touchdown in the final minutes.

Enter another road game against an aggressive pass rush and an inept offense. Plug in the same variables to get the same result.

The Bengals are favorites in this game for valid reasons, but an early deficit can be just as damaging as it's always been against the Browns. It falls on Burrow to make sure that doesn't happen this time around.

"We'll play the game however it ends up playing out," Burrow said. "We'll be ready for it, but just like every week you want to get off to fast start."

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