In the AFC North, the 2020s have belonged so far to the Bengals. Cincinnati has won two of the three division titles awarded this decade and the 2021 AFC title, and nearly repeated as AFC champions in ’22.
However, the Bengals have frequently been vanquished in the last three years by an unlikely rival: the Browns.
Cleveland, despite a mostly mediocre decade since its 2020 playoff appearance, is 5–1 against Cincinnati since ’20. Despite the Bengals’ struggles in the Battle of Ohio, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase brushed off suggestions that his team has a Browns problem.
