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In almost any normal week, the Cincinnati Bengals would be the shaky-looking team coming off a loss to a bad Jets squad after letting a career backup pass for 400-plus yards.
But not this Battle of Ohio Week against these Cleveland Browns, apparently.
The Bengals face a must-win game at 5-3 after losing in major upset fashion. But they don’t have the drama and distraction of Odell Beckham Jr. trade drama.
For those who missed out on the show, Beckham’s team appeared to apply a full-court press attempting to get him out of Cleveland before yesterday’s deadline.
So much so, Odell’s dad posted a four-minute lowlight reel of Baker Mayfield not passing the ball to an open Beckham. LeBron James even got in on the action, begging the Browns to “free Odell.”
Then reports surfaced that the Browns had Odell trade talks with the Saints, but didn’t end up trading the disgruntled wideout.
This isn’t just a Tuesday distraction. For the rest of the week, all the questions and attention will be on the divide between the underperforming wideout, the underperforming quarterback currently playing through an injury and all of the outside drama.
Keep in mind the Browns are just 4-3 and 1-3 over their last four. While things seemingly fall apart over there and this week looks like one big massive distraction, the Bengals will be free of the limelight while attempting to cobble together a regrouping effort against a bitter rival.
If there’s a time to strike, rebounding in the playoff race and doing serious damage to a rival, it’s now.
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