Key Matchups
Chris Harris Jr. vs. A.J. Green
A.J. Green will be making a return to the Bengals lineup on Sunday. He will likely be depended upon a lot for the offense. Jeff Driskel will look his way quite a bit. This means that Chris Harris Jr. will need to be on top of his game.
However, with how young Jeff Driskel is, it could be a field day for Harris Jr. He was able to intercept Big Ben and Phillip Rivers in consecutive weeks. Perhaps Chris Harris Jr. will get his third interception in as many weeks.
Speaking of Jeff Driskel…
Jeff Driskel vs. Broncos Pass Rush
Driskel instead of Andy Dalton is something that I did not expect going into this season. Injuries can be a fickle creature. What is interesting is that this will be the third different quarterback in four years that the Bengals have started against the Denver Broncos.
A.J. McCarron was the starter for 2015. Dalton did play in 2016 and 2017. And now Jeff Driskel. A new quarterback could mean more mistakes. And that is where the Broncos front seven can thrive. Especially with the Bengals offensive line dealing with quite a few injuries.
Look for the tandem of Bradley Chubb and Von Miller to feast on Sunday.
X-Factor: Domata Peko
We are going to bring back Domata Peko for our X-Factor. He is going up against his former team, but he will be key in stopping Joe Mixon on the ground. Stopping the run game could not be any more important for this team going up against a quarterback that will be making his first career NFL start.
Shut down the running game and force the young quarterback to throw, which could lead to mistakes by either getting sacked or committing turnovers. Domata Peko has a chance to show his old team that they made a mistake letting him go. I’d like to see him have a good game.