CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns are back in action this weekend after having last weekend off with one of the NFL’s latest bye weeks available. The Browns spent the first 12 weeks of the season battling adversity and injuries to a number of key players on both sides of the football.
Losing to the Baltimore Ravens prior to the bye week certainly put a dent in the playoff hopes for the Browns, but there is still a glimmer of hope. That hope would almost completely vanish should the Browns not find a way to win this Sunday against the Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Don’t let Lamar Jackson find his groove
Ravens quarterback and former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson hasn’t been great as of late for Baltimore. He certainly had some incredible early season heroics that have put the Ravens into the spot they’re in at 8-4 on the season, but in Jackson’s last three games he’s completed just 61 percent of his passes, averaging 218.7 yards per game through the air. He’s also had six interceptions and a fumble compared to just three passing touchdowns and no rushing scores. Jackson’s 4.7 yards per carry in those three games is also considerably below his yards per carry for the season of 5.8.
The Miami Dolphins figured out some sort of blueprint to slowing down Jackson, as they spent a majority of the game sending blitzes Jackson’s way, which coincides with their 38.1 percent of snaps in which a blitz is sent, the second-highest mark in the league. The Browns and Steelers -- the teams Jackson and the Ravens have played the last two weeks -- aren’t among the league leaders in blitz rate, but sent pressure much more than they had on average. Expect the Browns to repeat this formula again this week.
Run the ball
In the Browns' last game it was the first time since early October that the team had both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt on the field. Much was expected of the Browns offensively, but it was one of the team’s worst performances of the season. The Browns produced a season-low of just 40 rushing yards in the loss as both Hunt and Chubb were shut down by a stifling Ravens defense.
If the Browns are going to find a way to win this week, they’re going to need to run the ball much more effectively than they did two weeks ago. It’s probably not fair to expect a 200-yard rushing performance against a Baltimore defense that allows just 84.3 yards per game, but a Browns offense that averages over 147 yards per game on the ground needs to do much better than a measly 40-yard effort.
The hope has to be that Hunt is a bit healthier as he’s one more week removed from his calf injury suffered against Arizona and that during the week off the offensive staff was able to develop a better plan to run the ball this time around.
Hope the bye was at the right time
It’s no secret the Browns have dealt with a number of injuries throughout the 2021 season. The team has had nearly half of its active roster on the injury report at various points of the season, including key players Chubb, Hunt, Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Jadeveon Clowney, and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Having a week off should put the Browns in the healthiest position they have been all season long.
On Wednesday, Browns tight end Austin Hooper mentioned that he thought some guys were “out of gas” after playing 12 straight weeks to open up the season. The bye may end up being too little too late to save the season, but the team’s best hope has to be that guys are now rested and refreshed for the stretch run and any shot at the playoffs.