Welcome to week 4 Browns fans. Following their dramatic upset victory over the Green Bay Packers the 1-2 Browns travel to Detroit’s Ford Field on Sunday to take on the 2-1 Detroit Lions. This is the Browns second of three consecutive games against NFC North opponents. Game time is 12:00 noon CT and as usual the ChicagoLand Browns Backers/Northside Dawg Pound will meet up at Burke’s Public House to cheer the Browns on to victory. Cleveland comes into Sunday’s game as the top ranked defense in the NFL, leading the league, in total yards allowed per game (204.3 yards), rushing yards allowed per game (57.3 yards) and yards per rush allowed (2.3 yards). The defense is also second in yards allowed per play (3.8 yards), first in sack percentage and fourth in passing yards allowed per game. The Browns offense on the other hand is 30th in scoring at 15.3 points per game and 22nd in total offense gaining only 290 yards per game. The main culprit in the team’s anemic offensive performance is their passing game ranked last in NFL, averaging just 5 yards per pass despite throwing the ball on a league leading 67.5% of their offensive plays. Joe Flacco’s 65.9 QB rating is currently last among NFL starting QB’s. Thanks to RB Quinshon Judkins’ 5.5 yards per rush the Browns ground game has improved to 20th in the league despite rushing the ball a league low 32.5% of the time. The Browns come into Sunday’s game with major injury problems on their offensive line, starting LT Dewand Jones is now on injured reserve following knee surgery after last week’s game and starting RT Jack Conklin is questionable for Sunday with an injured elbow. It looks like Jones will be replaced by veteran tackle Cornelius Lucas who’s started 56 games in his 11-year career. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF) Lucas has allowed 19 QB pressures but no sacks in his 141 passing snaps as a Brown this season. If Conklin can’t go on Sunday his likely replacement is 2nd year tackle KT Levenston who would get his first NFL start, PFF has him giving up 2 sacks and 6 QB pressures in his 52 pass snaps as a Brown. Sunday the Browns will be facing one of the more unique and explosive offenses in the NFL. The Lions lead the NFL in 4th down attempts and they convert 87.5% of those attempts into first downs. They will try to convert 4th downs almost anywhere on the field including deep in their own territory, so the Browns defense will need to stay ready even after stops on 3rd downs. The Lions can also be counted on to try any number of trick plays during a game even in the red zone and on short yardage plays, Cleveland’s defense will need to stay very disciplined in their coverages and not fall for various misdirection plays. Detroit’s offense is led by 10-year veteran and 4-time Pro Bowl QB Jared Goff who’s 78% completion percentage currently leads the NFL and his 120.2 QB rating is 2nd in the league. Goff is averaging 8.0 yards per pass with 7 TD passes against only 1 interception. If the Browns can’t keep consistent pressure on Goff he will pick them apart, when he passes from a clean pocket he’s completing almost 84% of his passes with a 127.3 QB rating. When pressured his completion percentage drops to 63% and his QB rating drops to 90.4. His favorite target is 2 time ALL Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown who averages 11.9 yards per catch with a league leading 4 TD receptions. The Lion’s deep threat is WR Jameson Williams who averages 21.8 yards per reception and Goff loves to throw to his 2-time Pro Bowl TE Sam LaPorta who averages 10.6 yards per reception. After stifling 2 of the NFL’s premier power running games in Baltimore and Green Bay, the Lion’s running game presents an entirely different challenge because of their speed. Starting RB Jahmyr Gibbs is probably the fastest running back in the NFL and #2 RB David Montgomery’s 6.9 yards per rush average leads the league. The Browns front 7 will have to be very disciplined in maintaining their defensive line gap responsibilities to keep these two from getting outside where they are deadly. Earlier in the season Montgomery went 72 yards and 31 yards for a TD against the Ravens and Gibbs broke off a 42 yards run against the Bears. Both Gibbs and Montgomery have 3 rushing TD’s apiece tied for 3rd in the NFL. The one possible weak link for Detroit is their defensive unit, especially their defensive backfield. The Lions are 23rd in points allowed at 26 points per game and they give up 5.6 yards per play with opponents converting 50% of their third down attempts. They are 17th in rushing defense giving up 4.2 yards per carry and 29th in pass defense allowing 8.6 yards per pass attempt. The Lion’s defense is led by 2023 Pro Bowl DE Aidan Hutchinson who has 2 sacks and 16 QB pressures. Much like the Browns, the Lions play a lot of man defense however, according to PFF their starting cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and D.J. Reed are ranked 89th and 35th among the 99 rated NFL cornerbacks. If the Browns makeshift offensive line can keep the Lions 2nd ranked defensive line off Flacco, he will have a chance to take advantage of one-on-one match-ups against a pair of so-so cornerbacks. If Cleveland’s defense can keep this game close they have a chance of pulling off another surprising upset.
See you Sunday GO BROWN…..GO GUARDIANS