Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns dropped their second consecutive game last week in a close loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
The Browns turned to rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, and while he put up a decent showing in his first NFL start, he was not able to break the team’s streak of games scoring 17 or fewer points, which has now reached a league-high 10 games.
Things will not get any easier this week as the Browns take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh, where the Browns have not won a regular-season game since 2003.
The Steelers currently lead the AFC North Division, but their three wins have come against teams that enter the weekend with a combined record of 6-9, so it is not as if they are a juggernaut.
On Thursday, Cleveland’s coordinators held their weekly meeting with the press, and here are the key takeaways from what they had to say about the upcoming game against the Steelers.
The Browns made a trade this week with the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire cornerback Tyson Campbell in exchange for cornerback Greg Newsome II. Campbell just arrived in Cleveland on Thursday, and while Schwartz is optimistic that the veteran could play on Sunday, there is a contingency plan in place:
“(Tyson’s) a veteran player (and) we’ve got players ready in less time than that. We have our intricacies, and we have a few things that we do uniquely, but we also do a lot of things that he’s done in the past. Late last night, (I) watched some film of him, and it’s just a matter of him getting terminology down, and he’ll lean on the safeties and the nickels to communicate to him.
“And then if we need to, we’re excited about Dom Jones also. You know, Dom is sort of, he’s leaped every hurdle we put in front of him since he was an undrafted player. He played well in practice, he played well against Carolina in the practices, played well in the preseason games. He’s big, he’s strong, he plays square, and he plays physical – all things that we like. So, we’ll see where it is and have a good plan for Sunday, whoever it is. But it’d be one of those two guys.”
The Browns will have to be aware of Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his ability to get the ball to his receivers and allow them to make a play after the catch:
“He’s putting the ball in positions that his guys can make plays, right? So, you’re a point guard and you’re getting the guys the ball, and they’re open, and they’re hitting layups, and they’re wide-open jumpers and things like that. Well, that’s the way he’s playing quarterback. I think it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 70% of their passing yards is run after the catch. And it’s like, that’s a ridiculously high number, but that’s a tribute to him.
“Number one, he’s...
