Cleveland’s Path To A Fascinating Upset
Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been a tough week if you’re an Ohio sports fan. Not only did you watch Ohio State lose a third game in a row to arch-rival Michigan, but you also saw the Cleveland Browns get steamrolled in Denver while it felt like half of their starters got injured along the way.
While it’s still unclear who will miss the game against the Rams in Los Angeles, there is a good chance that Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Myles Garrett, and Denzel Ward are all sidelined. Even if Garrett can go, he’s likely going to be limited with some shoulder pain.
This is certainly a pivotal point in the season. The Browns are in the thick of the playoff hunt at 7-4, but with Deshaun Watson already out for the season and now likely missing DTR, the Browns will move to veteran Joe Flacco, which is kind of an insane sentence in 2023.
The former Super Bowl MVP from the Baltimore Ravens will likely be the fourth starting quarterback for the Browns in 2023 despite being slightly less mobile than the new statue of Barry Sanders in front of Ford Field. It bespeaks the desperation of a team that can’t stop losing QBs during a season when that’s been a major problem league-wide.
Not only will it be strange to see Flacco in brown and orange because of the Ravens connection, but we also can’t forget he led the Jets to a two-score comeback with less than two minutes in the game last year. We might have tried to forget, but we can’t. As someone who has learned to respect a bad loss as a Browns fan, that’s still one of the worst I can remember.
Flacco getting another surprise win with yet a different team is a real possibility, though, even if perhaps it’s unlikely. Matthew Stafford has really started to decline over the last few seasons, and the defense doesn’t have near the talent they used to. This team went all in for a Super Bowl a few years ago — quite successfully — but they’re still feeling the hangover of signing veterans to massive contracts.
Please don’t confuse this with what Andrew Berry is currently doing. Berry is signing young talent to massive deals with void years and forcing Jimmy Haslam to pay out the nose for a top-notch roster.
The Rams signed guys in Year 10 of their careers to multi-year deals knowing full well they’d barely be able to see the field on the last year of their contract, and Los Angeles paid them $10-plus million to do so. The gamble worked, but the inevitable aftermath is a team the Browns could actually beat without their QB1, RB1, and their defensive leader.
The key for Cleveland this week will be either getting Denzel Ward back, or Greg Newsome playing substantially better in man coverage. I don’t look for Jim Schwartz to abandon his defensive strategy, and Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are both fantastic receivers who specialize in separation.
I would still love to get Ward back, but this week is a better matchup for Newsome, who struggled with Courtland Sutton’s size last week. If the Browns’ defensive line can get pressure, which remains a lingering question because of the health of Garrett, perhaps Newsome and Martin Emerson can hang in coverage.
Kyren Williams has had some success running the football in 2023, but if you can keep Stafford uncomfortable in the pocket and pressure these receivers at the line of scrimmage, you can make things difficult for this Rams offense.
On the offensive side of the ball, it’s simple: Stick to what you do best. The Rams don’t do anything that should give the Browns fits, so run the ball and utilize play action. Flacco is talented enough to throw the ball to open the run if needed, but we certainly don’t want him back there slinging the it 40 times.
Amari Cooper, Kareem Hunt, and David Njoku are all nursing injuries, but it does appear that they are all trending to play. Even though we’ve seen Flacco be a Browns killer in the past, at this point in his career he is certainly going to need some help to get the job done.
Expect Flacco to be under center — like, a lot. He still has the arm to make every throw, but he wasn’t especially agile in his heyday, and he doesn’t have near the mobility of a guy like DTR or even P.J. Walker.
Flacco will certainly hope the offensive line’s performance last week against the Broncos was an anomaly for a group that was otherwise showing signs of improvement.
The Browns are currently getting three and a half points at most sportsbooks, but I’m not ready to rule them out yet. This defense, banged up as it is, remains elite, and Kevin Stefanski continues to find a way to win no matter who his quarterback is.
If Flacco pulls this off, he will be the fourth starting quarterback to win a game for the Browns in 2023. Some of that has to do with a stacked roster, but a lot of that has to do with fantastic coaching.
I love the fact that the Browns spent the week at UCLA after the game in Denver to help them adjust. They should be better rested as they prepare for what could be a fascinating upset victory.
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