Dawgs By Nature
This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns take on the New England Patriots. Below, we analyze a few advantages, disadvantages, or general thoughts about the two teams before getting to our predictions for the game.
Last week, we saw the Browns win a football game in convincing fashion by a score of 31-6. It’s easy to see how the Dolphins played into the formula that fits Cleveland’s team the best. They don’t throw the ball long, they don’t get the ball out quick, and they made a lot of dumb mistakes (penalties and turnovers). You could see the confidence grow for the Browns’ defense as the game went on — each person was hungry or expecting an interception.
That’s the type of jolt this defense needs. On one hand, it was against the lowly Dolphins, but on the other hand, sometimes that little nudge of confidence can assure them that they can be the ones who produce a win via domination each week, and the offense is just capable enough to finish some of those short drives.
The issue this week is with the Patriots. How real are they at 5-2? They absolutely deserve credit for taking care of business, but victories over the Dolphins, Saints, and Titans would make anyone look and say, “Well, those are the worse three teams in football.” They also lost to the Raiders. I think they are a solid, middle-of-the-road team that is getting sharp quarterback play from Drake Maye and good coaching from Mike Vrabel. However, this is the toughest defensive test that Maye will face, as the Browns are back to being ranked No. 1 in the NFL. One offensive stat that stands out about the Patriots is how they push the ball down the field. Stefon Diggs is averaging 11.7 yards per reception, Hunter Henry is at 12.9, and Kayshon Boutte is at 17.8. I imagine that New England won’t want to back away from their passing attack, but you also have to imagine that these Browns defensive backs are going to be salivating at the opportunity of being challenged.
The biggest story of the game is, “What will the Browns’ offense do?” Last week, they got away with still being pretty tame, but executing on the ground with Quinshon Judkins on some short fields. This week, they face a Patriots defense that ranks 3rd against the run and 24th against the pass. If you go back to each week, New England has held starting backs to 38 yards (2.0 YPC), 30 yards (2.7 YPC), 47 yards (2.6 YPC), 49 yards (4.9 YPC), 49 yards (3.3 YPC), 31 yards (3.1 YPC), and 22 yards (4.4 YPC). The consistency is impressive, and they do a good job coming up to tackle against the run, and a really good job at now allowing the big run. They also have a physical breed of football on both sides of the ball. With that said, with the teams they’ve faced, you often...
