The Cleveland Browns are coming out of their bye week with a 2-4 record and a difficult date with the New England Patriots on the Week 8 schedule. They are looking up at the 5-2 Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, a team they soundly beat to improve to 2-2 and seize the division lead not so long ago.
How do the Browns get back into the playoff race and catch the Ravens? It will not be easy, but it can be done. Really. Here are four things they must do if Freddie Kitchens’ team is to pull off the epic comeback story.
Feed Nick Chubb the ball
Chubb has been the Browns’ best offensive player throughout 2019. Heck, he’s been one of the NFL’s best offensive players through the first six weeks. His ability to break any run for a touchdown from anywhere on the field is a dangerous and rare weapon in today’s pass-happy NFL.
The second-year RB is fourth in the league in rushing yards, averaging over 100 yards per game on the ground. At 5.3 yards per clip, Chubb has proved he can make positive things happen on every down-and-distance combination.
Right now, Chubb is averaging 19 carries per game. That’s actually high for the modern NFL, where it’s rare for a back to consistently top 20 rushes per game. But Chubb is a special back and can handle the uptick in carries. The offense needs it a lot more than it needs Dontrell Hilliard getting blasted out of the way in pass protection or Demetrius Harris getting five targets in the passing game.
Stop the preventable penalties
Penalties are going to happen. The officials make judgment calls all the time, and the humans in the black-and-white stripes make mistakes in those judgments on things like holding and pass interference.
But not every penalty is a judgment call, and the Browns struggle with those, too. Cleveland has committed 18 pre-snap penalties in six games, a rate of three per game – fourth-worst in the league. There is no officiating judgment involved in a false start, an illegal motion or lining up offsides, all things the Browns are guilty of committing way more than the league average.
Personal fouls are also largely (but not entirely) preventable. The Browns have five roughing the passer penalties, second-most in the league. There are two unnecessary roughness calls. Unnecessary penalties are either offensive drive-killers or demoralizing free yards for the opposing offense. These Browns cannot afford to give up yards like that.
Come out of halftime better
The third-quarter offense has been wildly hit-or-miss. Odell Beckham’s 89-yard TD reception came in the third quarter against the Jets, and Chubb’s 88-yard run against the Ravens was too. But overall, too many drives come up empty.
In fact, the Browns go three-and-out on offense in the third quarter more than any other team. From NFL Inside Edge:
The inability to sustain drives in the third quarter has negatively impacted the defense later in the game. It isn’t helping the defense in the third quarter, either. The Browns defense ranks in the bottom-10 in both points allowed and yards per play in the third quarter.
Halftime is when coaches can tweak the approach to counter what the opponent is doing on that given Sunday. Right now, Kitchens & Co. are consistently losing that battle.
Stop the run more consistently
The Cleveland defense ranks at or near the bottom in every rushing category:
- Yards per rush: 5.0 (31st)
- Yards per game: 154 (30th)
- Rushing play percentage: 46.8 (27th)
- Yards per carry on 1st downs: 5.4 (30th)
Teams are finding too much success on the ground against Steve Wilks’ 4-2-5 base alignment. One of the keys to making that scheme work against the run is for the defensive backs to be active and effective in run defense.
Right now, safety Jermaine Whitehead ranks dead last in run defense grades at Pro Football Focus for safeties who play at least half of their team’s snaps. It might be time for Wilks to bite the bullet and add a third linebacker more than the 32 plays through six games the Browns have used more than two LBs.
Third-round pick Sione Takitaki has barely played and he’s a run-defense specialist. Veteran Adarius Taylor brings range and sheds blocks well. Playing one of them more often alongside Joe Schobert and Mack Wilson — neither ever leaves the field — can help the Browns with more muscle and tackling prowess against the opposing run offense.
