The Cleveland Browns rarely have a game in which they don’t concern themselves with whether they won the contest or not. This was one of those games.
Cleveland had the fifth seed in the playoffs that begin with the Wild Card round next weekend. And nothing that happened in this game would change it. Their seeding was set.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals had the same scenario. They were already eliminated from playoff contention so there was nothing to play for.
With this information, it would make sense that both clubs would not play their starters at all.