2026-01-04 Browns @ Bengals

This one’s not a playoff gate—it’s a Week 18 “evaluation + pride + draft order” game. Cincinnati (6–10) and Cleveland (4–12) are both out of the clinching math, so the “implications” are mostly how teams finish the year, who shows up in big moments, and what it does to draft positioning / offseason narratives.

On-the-field context: books have Bengals favored by about a TD (CIN -7.5, total ~45.5, CIN ML around -410).
And this doesn’t look like a “sit everyone” spot—more like normal availability management (injuries decide it, not seeding).
Also: Cleveland’s own preview framing is centered on protecting Shedeur Sanders, so the Browns’ offensive story reads like “QB eval + keep him clean.”

KTB Core (dominants, counts, angles, rulers, house notes)

ASC/DSC assignment (standard @ format):

• ASC (Home): Bengals — Taurus rising (02°09′)
• DSC (Away): Browns — Scorpio (02°09′)

Dominants / temperature of the chart

• Capricorn pile-up (Earth/Cardinal) near the MC: Sun–Venus–Mars all in Capricorn, tightly grouped and very close to the Midheaven (MC 18° Cap; Sun 14°, Venus 13°, Mars 15°). That’s a “serious business” signature: execution, coaching, trench discipline, and “who stays professional when the game gets weird.”
• Fixed-axis drama at the core: Moon in Leo (H4) applying opposition Pluto in Aquarius (H10) by 0°15′ = loud emotional momentum shifts, power swings, a big “turning-point” moment, and potential for a late narrative flip (especially if someone presses).
• Fog + misreads risk: Saturn–Neptune conjunct in Pisces (H12) + Mercury square Neptune = miscues, timing errors, bad angles, phantom pressure, or “why did he throw that?” moments.

Element / modality counts (traditional 7)

• Elements: Earth 4 (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars) | Water 2 (Jupiter, Saturn) | Fire 1 (Moon) | Air 0
• Modalities: Cardinal 5 | Fixed 1 | Mutable 1
  ➡️ This is Earth + Cardinal: structured, directional, “do your job,” but it can also get rigid—when the game breaks script, it can break hard.

Moon

• Moon in Leo, H4: pride/ego energy, home-field emotion, and “finish the story” vibes. With the 4th house emphasized, the end of halves / end of game matters a lot more than the opening feel.

Angular hits

• MC Capricorn 18° pulling that Sun/Venus/Mars cluster toward public outcome (10th-house themes) even though they’re placed in H9.
• IC Cancer 18° with Jupiter in Cancer 20° (H4, ℞) close to the IC: home-ground cushioning, crowd lift, or a “field position / bounces / comfort” factor that can favor the home side—but Jupiter retro can also show “it helps… until it doesn’t.”

ASC ruler / DSC ruler

• ASC ruler Venus (Bengals) in Capricorn H9 conj Sun (0°28′ applying) and conj Mars (1°39′ applying)
  • This is strong “visibility + drive,” but also high-pressure execution (Venus very close to the Sun can play like “spotlight heat”: great when calm, sloppy when rushed).
• DSC ruler Mars (Browns) in Capricorn H9 (exalted) conj Sun/Venus and opposing Jupiter (applying, wide)
  • Browns get real punch here: if they turn it into a grit game and keep it clean, they can absolutely make this uncomfortable.

House-based predictive notes (old-school style)

• Heavy 9th house focus (Capricorn in H9): gameplan, coaching choices, “strategy chess,” and sometimes officiating / rules / reviews becoming part of the storyline.
• 4th/10th axis lit up (Moon–Pluto + Jupiter at IC): swings in control, scoreboard pressure, and a higher chance of a late sequence deciding the “feel” of the whole game.

Pregame blurb (long)

If you want the astrology to talk football, it’s screaming “professionalism vs volatility.” The Bengals (ASC Taurus) get the “steady hands / ball-security / take what’s there” vibe by sign, and the chart ruler Venus being glued to Sun–Mars near the top of the chart is a classic signature for “home team has the stage.” That lines up with the market favoring Cincinnati by roughly a touchdown.

But this is not a calm chart. Moon opp Pluto (applying, very tight) is the signature I associate with: a sudden emotional spike, a momentum swerve, a “one play flips the room” moment (pick, strip, special teams weirdness, 4th-down swing, etc.). And with Mercury square Neptune, the chaos doesn’t have to be heroic—it can be self-inflicted (miscommunication, wrong route depth, busted coverage leverage, or a QB/WR not seeing the same picture).

Personnel-wise, both sides are dealing with real outs (not planned resting): Browns are missing David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. at TE, plus LB depth; Bengals are missing Joseph Ossai and Charlie Jones, with B.J. Hill questionable.
That matters astrologically because this chart already leans “foggy” (12th-house Saturn/Neptune) — so missing structural pieces can turn normal snaps into “why is that guy open?” snaps.

• Baseline lean = Bengals (ASC sign + ruler plugged into the Sun/Mars “finish strong” engine near MC).
• Upset window = Browns if they force the game into a grind, steal one high-leverage play (Moon–Pluto), and Cincinnati gets sloppy under spotlight heat (Mercury–Neptune).