Burrow and Bengals hope for fast start to season against Browns

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Joe Burrow and Zac Taylor spent the offseason talking about the importance of the Cincinnati Bengals getting off to a fast start. They get a chance to back it up on Sunday. The Bengals are 5 1/2-point favorites for their season opener at Cleveland. Last year, Cincinnati was a nine-point favorite at home against New England but lost 16-10. Cincinnati began 0-3 and ended the season on a five-game winning streak to finish 9-8. The loss to the Patriots loss loomed large as the Bengals missed the playoffs by one game. Cincinnati is 1-5 in openers under Taylor, including losses in its last three. It hasn't started 2-0 since 2018. "I feel comfortable with where we're at. I'm not worried about what questions people do or don't have about us. We just have to go out there and play well." Taylor said. It was a calm preseason for once for Burrow, who led the league last year with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdown passes. Wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have long-term contracts. Chase was the fifth receiver since the merger to lead the league in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and touchdowns (17). "Obviously, there's an emphasis on the start of this season and then having to win some of these games early, but that comes down to Sundays. Our prep has always been excellent in my opinion," Burrow said. Cleveland also has its own urgency after going 3-14 last season and dropping its last five games by an average of 16 points. The Browns brought back quarterback Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led them to a playoff berth two seasons ago. Flacco was with Indianapolis last season, when Deshaun Watson played in seven games for the Browns before suffering the first of two Achilles tendon injuries. "We have to be about our business. You're in the game week and you get to see these guys in the roles that they've earned," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. "But for me, it never moves past very far the idea that these guys have worked so hard for this and the games, this is the fun part for them." Who is the real Joe Cool? The Browns' social media team posted "Joe Cool leading the way" when Flacco was named the starter on Aug. 18. That upset some Bengals fans, who have given Burrow the same nickname. Flacco becomes the eighth quarterback to start in Week 1 at age 40 or older. He has a 3-1 mark when facing the Bengals in an opener, all when he played for Baltimore. Burrow lost five of his first six starts against Cleveland, but led the Bengals to a season sweep last year in the "Battle of Ohio" for the first time since 2017. Golden's debut Cincinnati's Al Golden is making his debut as an NFL defensive coordinator. He was the Bengals' linebackers coach in 2020-21 before spending three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame for three seasons. He'll try to turn around a unit that ranked in the bottom fourth of the league in most categories last season. The Bengals lost four games in which the offense scored at least 30 points. Golden had his entire starting defense practicing for the first time this week, including All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who agreed to a reworked one-year contract. Hendrickson led the league with 17 1/2 sacks and 92 pressures last season. "We spent time digging through film and trying to piece together situationally what can apply. But again, it's really about our guys operating what we do at a high level," Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said. Garrett's status Cleveland All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett missed Thursday's practice with a hip injury. Garrett has sacked Burrow nine times, his most against any quarterback. According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Cincinnati left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. has allowed Garrett to pressure the QB 13 times on 96 one-on-one pass rushes since 2018. Brown's average allowed pressure rate in one-on-one situations is 8.0%. Keep an eye on ... Flacco on intermediate throws. When he was with the Browns in 2023 and Stefanski was calling the plays, Flacco threw 10-19 yards downfield on 26% of his attempts. The Bengals struggled against passes of 10 or more yards downfield last season, allowing a 53.4% completion rate. ___ AP freelance writer Charlie Goldsmith in Cincinnati contributed to this report. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl