Next meeting TBA | Meetings total 87 | |
First meeting October 11, 1970
Cleveland Browns 30, Cincinnati Bengals 27 Latest meeting December 11, 2016
Cincinnati Bengals 23, Cleveland Browns 10 All-time series Cincinnati leads, 50–37 Largest victory Cleveland, 34–0 (10/18/1987); Cincinnati 37–3 (12/6/2015) | ||
The Bengals–Browns rivalry, dubbed The Battle of Ohio by fans, is a rivalry between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). It has produced 2 of the 8 highest scoring games in NFL history. The Bengals lead the series 50–37.
Geography and a shared heritage add to this rivalry. Cleveland (Northeast) and Cincinnati (Southwest) are on opposite corners of the Buckeye State, and essentially split Ohio. Both teams were founded by head coach Paul Brown, the namesake of the Original Browns franchise, who created the Bengals after he was fired from the Browns. The colors of each team are similar, since the Browns recently updated their colors to choose the same shade of orange used the Bengals.
In 1989, Bengals coach Sam Wyche told Cincinnati fans during a game between the Bengals and Seattle Seahawks at Riverfront Stadium, "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!" in response to debris being thrown from the stands.
The Bengals and Browns first played in 1970. Previously, the Bengals were a part of the American Football League. After the AFL–NFL merger the Bengals and Browns were placed in the AFC Central Division. They have played twice a year since 1970, except in 1982 due to Player's strike-shortened season and 1996–98 due to the Browns being inactive as a result of the Browns' relocation to Baltimore and a subsequent expansion franchise being awarded to Cleveland. The Browns and Bengals have never met in the playoffs.