CINCINNATI — Well, the preseason is over.
Oh, wait a minute — that wasn't a preseason game?
Well, the regular season is over, and the Browns' wait for the playoffs is also over. Time to get serious, and it's time to head to Houston next week to take on the AFC South champion Texans. More on that in a moment.
Here today from Cincinnati, it was all Bengals. It was early, it was often, and it was over very quickly.
The Bengals win it by a score of 31-14. Joe Mixon had a big, big game, especially early — a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, he had huge runs in the first half which put him over 1,000 yards for the season.
When you think about it, it could've been his last game as a Bengal. A lot of these Bengals are up as far as contracts are concerned. They'll be a much different looking team next year.
For them, a disappointing season, topped off with Joe Burrow missing so much time at the end of the year with the injured wrist. They finish at 9-8.
Can you imagine this? How good is the AFC North? Every team in the AFC North finishes with a running record, three teams end up in the AFC playoffs. Baltimore is the No. 1 seed, the Browns then come in second in the division with the fifth overall seed, and the Steelers (with a late push) end up getting into the playoffs.
Three of the four teams go to the postseason. That is a very, very tough division.
Coming into today's game, Jeff Driskel was the surprise starter at quarterback for the Browns. After all, they just brought him in.
But you wonder if, maybe, they were looking at him deeper — that if he really played well, could they make him the backup quarterback for the postseason behind Joe Flacco?
I don't know if he did a lot to help his cause in this game here this afternoon. Late in the ballgame — against the Cincinnati second and third-teamers — he finally got the offense moving, threw two touchdown passes to David Bell, and showed what a lot of people think is a big strength of his with his athleticism, as he ran pretty effectively.
But in the game, he really struggled locking onto receivers, and really had a tough time throwing a couple of interceptions.
That would be a decision that the Browns are going to have to make: Will it be P.J. Walker behind Joe Flacco, or would it be Jeff Driskel behind Joe Flacco?
But thank heavens it's Joe Flacco going into the game next week, because nobody has more victories going into the playoffs than Joe Flacco — seven bigtime wins when he was a Raven that got them all the way to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game.
So it's going to be quite a matchup. The young Houston Texans will be the opponent, and it will be a much different Texans team that the Browns will see than the one they saw on Christmas Eve.
Remember, C.J. Stroud was in concussion protocol, but now he's ready to go, and launched them into the playoffs with a big win on Saturday in Indianapolis. He's ready.
Will Anderson — the other top draft pick, the big defensive lineman coming out of Alabama — he didn't play on Dec. 24. He's playing now, although not 100% with a high ankle sprain.
Nico Collins is also back, and so the Texans will be a much different team for the Browns to face coming up next week in the opening round of the playoffs. They're young, the Browns are a little bit older, certainly at quarterback.
And that's no jab at 38-year-old Joe Flacco. We're thankful that we have him.
So the Browns end the regular season at 11-6, and now get set for the playoffs. What a week it's going to be.
Listen to Jimmy's calls from today's game: