2003 · Week 17 · Division

Final

Browns

Cleveland

QB Tim Couch

22·14

Bengals

Cincinnati

QB Jon Kitna

Paul Brown Stadium · outdoors · grass · 56°F · wind 10mph

Closing spread

CIN -8.5

Total

42

Model margin

+5.3est.

CIN perspective

Push chance

None

half-point line — cannot push

Win probability

  • Bengals
  • Browns

How each play moved the game.

Bengals winsBrowns wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Brownsedge mapBengals
  • -0.100EPA / play+0.049
  • 43.0%Success rate43.9%
  • -0.069EPA / dropback+0.126
  • -0.144EPA / rush-0.053
  • 6.8%Explosive rate7.6%
  • 37.1%Third-down rate44.6%
  • 47.9%Red-zone TD rate62.0%
  • 1.31Points / drive1.83
  • 3.1%Turnover rate1.9%
  • -0.010EPA / play allowed+0.077

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

CIN lead 32–22 since 1999

Meetings average 42.7 points. CIN are 29-24-1 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W18CLE @ CIN2018CLE
2025 · W1CIN @ CLE1716CIN
2024 · W16CLE @ CIN624CIN
2024 · W7CIN @ CLE2114CIN
2023 · W18CLE @ CIN1431CIN
2023 · W1CIN @ CLE324CLE
2022 · W14CLE @ CIN1023CIN
2022 · W8CIN @ CLE1332CLE

Box score

Individual performances

Browns

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Tim Couch9/1811500

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Lee Suggs261867.22
Jamel White9546.00
Dennis Northcutt33210.70
Tim Couch1-1-1.00
Quincy Morgan1-7-7.00

Bengals

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Jon Kitna23/3517501

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Rudi Johnson14523.72
Corey Dillon8506.30
Jon Kitna199.00
Peter Warrick122.00

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line +8.56.3%7.4%3.2%5.0%3.3%3.0%

Positive margins favour Bengals; negative favour Browns.

Half-point at risk

1.29%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

63.2%

Expected total

45.8est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)+1.32
  • Home-field advantage+2.56
  • Quarterback adjustment+1.43
  • Rest differential0.00
  • Expected margin+5.32