O-Line Love

Two sacks of Burrow in Cleveland on Opening Day started Garrett’s run. But this is not that offensive line. Four of the players are the same, but left guard Dylan Fairchild is making his 15th start instead of his first, and right guard Dalton Risner, who had been here all of a week back on Sept. 7, has brought a veteran’s soundness and stability starting the last six games.

Burrow says it’s the most comfortable he’s felt in the pocket during his career, and the numbers from his last five starts since he came off injured reserve support the feeling.

The Bengals are 10th in the league in sack percentage at 5.0 in those last five games, via Pro Football Reference. In his three full seasons, the Bengals were 19th (6.86) in 2024, 17th in 2022 (6.73) and next to last in 2021 at 9.02.

“I think they’re playing exponentially better than they were at the time. I know they’re excited about the challenge but I know their front is tough to deal with, starting with (Garrett),” Burrow said. “They have a lot of other guys, too, that can be very challenging to handle up front. I know they’re excited for it.”

QB Club

Sunday is a bit of a weird one. In the opener, Burrow beat his backup on Sunday in Joe Flacco’s 191st NFL start. Now he faces Browns rookie fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders in his seventh NFL start.

He’s learned from one and thinks the other one is on the right track, although he wouldn’t get into specifics about what he’s taken from Flacco.

“Certainly, when you get a chance to sit back and watch somebody else go have success the way he did,” Burrow said, “in a style that I don’t play and not a ton of people do play in the league anymore, you certainly take some things from watching that and apply it to yourself.”

Sanders is the sixth different starting Browns quarterback Burrow has faced in his six seasons and 10th game against Cleveland as he looks to get to 5-5 against them.

“I really enjoyed watching (Sanders) in college. I thought he made a lot of plays. I thought he could throw it,” Burrow said. “And then obviously, given who his dad is, he knows how to handle the media, knows how to handle the spotlight. He’s certainly been under more of a microscope than any other fifth-round pick that’s been in the history of football.

“Every clip that I see, he seems to be handling it well. Says most of the right things in the media. He is who is. He’s himself. That’s what you want out of a football player. Seems to be handling it the right way.”

The Bengals get Sanders two weeks after they beat a seventh-round pick in Dolphins quarterback Quinn Ewers.