Welcome to week 8 Browns fans. Sunday the 2-5 Browns travel to New England’s Gillette Stadium to face the 5-2 New England Patriots, game time is 12:00 noon CT and as usual the ChicagoLand Browns Backers/Northside Dawg Pound will be gathering at Burke’s Public House 5401 N. Broadway to cheer the Browns onto victory. The Browns will be on their bye week after Sunday’s game.
The State of the Browns – With the Browns approaching the halfway point of the season this seems like a good time to take a look at the status of the team. The Browns are currently 3rd in the AFC North one game ahead of the 1-5 Baltimore Ravens. After scoring their highest point total of the season against Miami last week, the Browns have improved to 30th in scoring at 16 points per game and 270.7 yards per game in total offense. With Quinshon Judkins’ 467 rushing yards leading the team the Browns are 28th in rushing at 92.6 yards per game and 3.7 yards per rush. Despite throwing the ball a league leading 38 times per game, the Browns are 30th in pass yards per game (178 yards) and last in yards per pass (5.1 yards). Rookie QB Dillon Gabriel’s 82.5 QB rating is 28th ahead of Trevor Lawrence, Geno Smith, Joe Flacco and Cam Ward. On the defensive side the Browns continue to lead the NFL in defense, allowing league lows of 256 yards per game and 3.3 yards per rush along with 4.5 yards per play which is good for 3rd in the NFL. Overall, they are 3rd in pass yards allowed per game (173.7 yards), 8th in sack percentage and 4th in rushing yards allowed per game at just 82.4 yards per game.
The Patriots Drake Maye Effect – The Patriots may arguably be the best passing attack the Browns will face this season. Second year QB Drake Maye is having an outstanding season. His 75.2% completion rate and 8.6 yards per pass both lead the league, while his 116.4 QB rating is 2nd among starting QB’s. He’s thrown for 12 TD’s against only 2 interceptions and rushed for 2 more TD’s while leading the Patriots averaging 4.5 yards per rush. Maye is big at 6’4” 225 lbs. and he consistently tries to extend plays despite having been sacked 22 times, 2nd most in the NFL. The Browns’ defense, especially the defensive backs, will have to play until the whistle blows as Maye will consistently attempt to throw the ball with defenders draped over him. The Browns linebackers and defensive backs cannot get distracted by Maye’s scrambling as he is adept at throwing the long ball while on the run. Maye is one of the most accurate deep throwers in the league having gone 14 of 18 on throws of 20 yards or more with an average depth of throw of almost 27 yards per deep pass. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF) New England’s receiver group is 2nd in the NFL winning 70% of contested catches led by WR’s Stefon Diggs who is 7 for 7 on contested catches and deep threat Kayshon Butte who is 5 of 7 while averaging 17.8 yards per catch. The Patriot have had problems running the ball averaging just 3.7 yards per rush, however they utilize it well, using play action on over 28% of their passing attempts for 4 TD’s and no interceptions. Ohio State fans will recognize rookie RB and former Buckeye TreVeyon Henderson who’s averaging 3.6 yards per rush for New England. Myles Garrett and the Browns front 7 will need to keep the pressure on Maye as his completion rate drops to 56.6% during the 35% of his passing attempts when he’s been pressured.
The Patriots Defense Split Personality – New England’s rushing defense is outstanding while their pass defense has had real problems. The Patriots’ defense led by LB Robert Spillane and DE’s K’Lavon Chaisson and Harold Landry has not allowed a single RB to gain more than 50 yards in any game so far this season. They are 3rd in the NFL allowing just 3.4 yards per rush and 77 rushing yards per game. Only 2 teams, Carolina and Buffalo, have gained more than 100 yards on the ground against them and they’ve given up only 3 rushing TD’s. Despite facing 3 teams with 1-6 current records the Patriots are next to last in the NFL allowing over 8 yards per pass attempt and 30th allowing opposing QB’s to complete over 72% of their passes.
Browns by the Numbers – According to PFF DT Maliek Collins grades out at #1 among LB’s, Myles Garrett is 3rd among DE’s, OG Joel Bitonio is 3rd ,SS Ronnie Hicks is 3rd ,LB Devin Bush is 6th, FS Grant Delpit is 5th , DE Alex Wright is 8th and Quinshon Judkins is 9th among RB’s. In addition, Judkins is 5th in rushing TD’s, Myles Garrett is 2nd in tackles for loss, Corey Bojorquez is 2nd in punts inside the 20, new CB Tyson Campbell is #2 in passes defenses and DB Rayshawn Jenkins is #1 in special team tackles.
See You Sunday GO BROWN……GO CAVS