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SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
TIME: 1 p.m., Sunday
PLACE: Cleveland Browns Stadium (Grass)
TV: CBS broadcast team of Kevin Harlan play-by-play and Solomon Wilcots analyst. Channel 12 in Cincinnati, Channel 7 in Dayton, Ohio, Channel 27 in Lexington, Ky.
RADIO: Play-by-play man Dan Hoard and analyst Dave Lapham on on flagships 1530-AM (ESPN) and 102.7-FM WEBN on the 25-station Bengals radio network.
INJURIES
CIN: CB Kelly Jennings (hamstring) practiced for the first time as a member of the Bengals on Friday after the trade from Seattle. S Taylor Mays (knee) worked on the side this week but didn't practice. RB Brian Leonard (finger) was limited.
CLE: Starting WL Chris Gocong (shoulder) was limited Thursday, as were RT Tony Pashos (ankle) and TE Benjamin Watson (hip). Backup SS Eric Hagg (knee) and backup MLB Titus Brown (ankle) did not practice Thursday.
» Complete Injury Report
THE SERIES
Bengals lead, 39-36; Browns lead, 22-15 in Cleveland.
NOTEWORTHY
» Marvin Lewis sets a Bengals record head coaching his ninth opener.
» Lewis won his first game as Bengals coach in Cleveland on Sept. 28, 2003 in a 21-14 victory in Cleveland. He has the most wins against the Browns in Bengals history with 11.
» With the trade of Chad Ochocinco and the retirement of Carson Palmer, there is no player on the roster that was in uniform for that first win.
» Andy Dalton becomes the first Bengals rookie quarterback to make his first NFL start in an Opening Day road game.
» Dick Jauron, who is calling his first game as the Browns defensive coordinator, broke into coaching when he was an injured Bengals defensive back during the Super Bowl run in 1981.
» The Bengals have their Cleveland connections, too. Starting safety Chris Crocker was a third-round pick of the Browns in 2003 and starting cornerback Nate Clements grew up in Shaker Heights.
» Browns head coaches are 4-8 in their first games against the Bengals. The last four haven't had much luck with Chris Palmer losing to Bruce Coslet in 1999, Butch Davis losing to Dick LeBeau in in 2001, and Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini losing to Lewis in 2005 and 2009, respectively.
» The only years the Bengals lost the opener and made the playoffs were 1973 and 2009 and the Broncos beat them both times.
» Dalton and Browns quarterback Colt McCoy met once in college and McCoy led Texas to a 34-13 win over TCU as he threw for 239 yards on 25-of-38 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. Dalton went 25-for-37 with 208 yards with no TDs and a pick.
NFL RANKINGS (2010 final)
CIN: 22nd in scoring, 20th in offense (27th rushing, 13th passing); 15th in defense (19th rushing, tied for 14th passing), tied for 25th in turnover margin at minus-8.
CLE: 31st in scoring, 29th in offense (20th rushing, 29th passing), 22nd in defense (27th in rushing, 18th passing), tied for 15th in turnover margin at minus-1.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
» 131 - Bengals games coached by Lewis on Sunday
» 132 - Bengals record for games coached by Sam Wyche
» 15-9 - Lewis's record against first-year head coaches
» 2-2 - Lewis's record against first-year head coaches on Opening Day (Beat Crennel and Edwards; Lost to Harbaugh and McDaniels)
» 3-5 - Lewis's record on Opening Day
» 2-3 - Lewis's record in road openers
» 4 - On Sunday, Lewis's total of starting QBs in 131 games
» 10 - Browns starting QBs vs. Lewis in 16 games (Couch, Garcia, Holcomb, Dilfer, Frye, Anderson, Quinn, Dorsey, Wallace, McCoy)
» 4 - Rookie QBs making their first NFL start and winning a road opener since the 1970 merger (Ferguson, Elway, Weinke, Sanchez)
» 1969 - Last time Bengals started three rookies on offense on Opening Day (Cook, Turner, Thomas)
» 5 – Bengals running backs gaining 100 yards vs. Browns since 1999 (Dillon, Rudi Johnson, Watson, Benson, Larry Johnson)
» 15-9 - Bengals record vs. Browns since 1999
» 7-5- Bengals record in Cleveland since 1999
COACHES
CIN: Marvin Lewis 60-67-1 regular season, 0-2 postseason in ninth season, 11-5 vs. Browns.
CLE: Pat Shurmur 0-0 in first season.
THE WEATHER
The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio is calling for Sunday's game-time temperature around 70 with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms and temperatures reaching the mid-70s by the end of the game under mostly cloudy skies. A light wind out of the west is projected at five to 10 miles per hour.
