After weeks of talking about the Cleveland Browns possibly making a big push in the AFC North, tonight is their chance. They'll visit the Bengals for a matchup on Thursday Night Football and Cincinnati is missing five starters due to injury.
Cleveland enters tonight with a 5-3 record and has won four of their past five games. Cincinnati is their biggest challenge yet, especially on the road, and if they can pull out a victory then they would slip into a tie for first place in the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And since Cleveland's injury report is much less extensive and significant than the Bengals, they have a good chance of doing that.
The Browns will be without tight end Jordan Cameron (concussion), who will miss his third game of 2014, as well as backup safety Johnson Bademosi (concussion). Wide receiver Andrew Hawkins (thigh), defensive end Phil Taylor (knee) and defensive end Billy Winn (toe) are listed as questionable after they were limited in practice all week. But that's about it for the Browns, as everybody else on the injury report is listed as probable and fully participated in practice: quarterback Brian Hoyer (glute), defensive end Desmond Bryant (wrist), outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo (shoulder), and wide receivers Rodney Smith (hamstring) and Taylor Gabriel (shoulder).
Cincinnati wasn't so lucky with injuries this week. They'll be without five crucial starters for tonight's game, including running back Giovani Bernard (hip), linebacker Rey Maualuga (hamstring), right tackle Andre Smith (ankle), linebacker Vontaze Burfict (knee) and cornerback Leon Hall (concussion). Bernard, Maualuga and Smith are listed as doubtful while Burfict and Hall were already ruled out. Defensive end Robert Geathers (shoulder) is listed as questionable and was limited in practice this week.
Burfict and Maualuga will miss their fourth game of the season while Bernard will miss his second and Smith his first.
Luckily for the Bengals, the three other starters on the injury report are listed as probable and should suit up tonight. Cornerback Terrance Newman (chest), guard Kevin Zeitler (calf), tight end Jermaine Gresham (knee) as well as backup cornerback Darqueze Dennard (hamstring) are among the probables.
After starting 3-0, Cincinnati quickly came back down to Earth, going 0-2-1 in their next three games before defeating the Ravens and Jaguars in consecutive weeks. At 5-2-1, they're second in the AFC North behind the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3) and they can take the sole lead in the division with a win tonight. On the other hand, the Browns can tie for the division lead with a win and Brian Hoyer can silence any speculation of Johnny Manziel taking over the starting quarterback position.
Check out the full injury report for all of the Week 10 games at NFL.com.