The Pitfalls Cleveland Must Avoid Against Cincinnati
Photo Credit: Sam Greene via USA TODAY Sports
History can be instructive — but also misleading without the proper context.
In recent years, the Cincinnati Bengals are one of the few teams the Cleveland Browns have consistently beaten. Despite Cincinnati’s recent ascendency, that would seem to make them a pretty good draw for Cleveland’s season opener. Yet, if you take a closer look you’ll find that a few of those games were either near-meaningless or the Bengals’ star quarterback, Joe Burrow, wasn’t in the lineup.
Week 1 will be pivotal for the Browns as they seek to recover from back-to-back disappointing seasons. It’s tough to call anyone’s season opener a must-win, but this matchup isn’t far from it. Certainly Cleveland needs to see some positives from Deshaun Watson and to prove their defense isn’t going to run off the rails but beyond those there are a few key pitfalls the team needs to avoid to succeed on Sunday.
A Stymied Pass Rush
Jim Schwartz’s defense has been built to get after the quarterback. Myles Garrett is obviously one of the best in the league, and Za’Darius Smith and Ogbo Okoronkwo are also no slouches when it comes to rushing the passer.
Not only did Andrew Berry shore up the edge rushers in free agency this year, he also added multiple pieces in the middle to help collapse the pocket. Dalvin Tomlinson is a great all-around player, and both Shelby Harris and Maurice Hurst demonstrated in the preseason that they know how to get pressure up the middle with both force and technique.
What we can’t forget, though, is that the Bengals have spent a fortune improving Burrow’s protection. Orland Brown was the major addition this offseason at left tackle, which allows Jonah Williams to move back to right tackle, and the interior was built last offseason with the home-run singing of Alex Cappa.
Schwartz is all about discipline on defense and doesn’t love to blitz if he doesn’t have to. That means if the Browns’ front four can’t get pressure on their own, the secondary may struggle as they are forced to hold coverage longer than they would like.
Burrow is a top-three quarterback in the league, and I’d argue he has as many weapons as anyone at all three skill positions. Even though this defense is meant to bring the heat, if they don’t get to Burrow at least three times and cause multiple quick decisions, this unit could struggle.
Injuries Mount Quickly
There are three things in life you can count on: death, taxes, and the Cleveland Browns having several injuries every single week. Things are no different to start 2023; the Browns already had six players on the injury report before the season even gets started.
Granted, Amari Cooper and Joel Bitonio just sat out for rest, but four other players were already limited in practice, including two starters in the secondary, Juan Thornhill and Denzel Ward.
Last year the Browns felt like they were missing three to four starters every week, and it really started to affect their chemistry. Injuries are an unfortunate but inevitable part of football, but when you get to your fifth, sixth, and seventh linebacker of the season who was just signed off the street, it’s tough to put together a complicated gameplan.
It wasn’t much better on offense either, as both Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin fought through injuries. Truthfully, both should have taken more time off to get healthy, but them at 80% was better than the backup options available to protect Jacoby Brissett and Watson.
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At some point, avoiding the injury bug becomes a little bit of luck, and the Browns could certainly use some of that. If they can go more than three weeks with all 22 original starters, I’ll sleep with a smile. But if injuries pile up once again and a guy like Thornhill or Ward is forced to miss Week 1, Cleveland could be overwhelmed by a tough Bengals offense.
Deshaun Watson Doesn’t Return to Form
The elephant in the room is Watson — in this particular case, for his on-field issues. There’s no guarantee he will be the player he was in 2020.
He had his moments in the preseason, but do you all remember when DeShone Kizer looked like an All-Pro during a four-game preseason and then led the team to an 0-16 record?
Yes, this defense should give the Browns a chance to win every single game they play. But this is a league where you must have elite quarterback play if you want to be a contender.
In a division featuring Burrow and Lamar Jackson, you have four extremely difficult games each season. It’s easy to fall back to Wild Card hopes when things in the division don’t go well, but even then it often takes 11 wins to make the playoffs.
I’m not saying Watson won’t eventually return to form, but we can’t head into Sunday with the mentality that he is definitely going to be back. And make no mistake, Watson will have to be stellar for the Browns to win this game.
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