Happy Holidays Browns fans and welcome to week 14 of the season. Sunday the 3-9 Browns welcome the 1-11 Tennessee Titans to Huntington Bank Field. Game time is 12:00 noon CST and as usual the ChicagoLand Browns Backers/Northside Dawg Pound will gather at Burke’s Public House 5401 N. Broadway to cheer the Browns on to their 4th win of the season. The game will showcase a match-up of 2 rookie quarterbacks who were rated 1 and 2 in preseason draft projections before Tennessee’s Cam Ward was picked #1 and the Browns Shedeur Sanders tumbled down to the 5th round of the draft. Sunday Sanders will start his third NFL game after going 1-1 in his 2 previous starts. In those 2 NFL starts, Sanders has attempted 45 passes completing 27 (60%) for 358 yards with 2 TD’s and 1 interception. Sanders’ average of 7.9 yards per pass in his 2 starts would rank him 7th among NFL starting QB’s and his 90.7 QB rating would rank 20th in the league. The game features a match-up between 2 of the worst offenses in the NFL with the Titans ranking last in scoring at 14.2 points per game and the Browns ranking 29th with 16.2 points per game. Both teams feature error prone offenses so the winner of this game could very well come down to whichever team makes the fewest mistakes and turnovers. The Titans, despite losing 11 of 12 games, have played really tough lately with 3 of their last 4 games against winning teams decided by 7 points or less. The Browns special teams will be severely tested by Tennessee which features punt returner Chimere Dike who’s leading the league averaging 21.2 yards per punt return with 2 returns for touchdowns including a 90 yarder against the Seahawks in week 12. The Titans offense centers around rookie QB Cam Ward who’s had an up and down season while completing slightly less than 60% of his passes averaging 5.7 yards per pass with 7 TD passes against 6 interceptions for a 75.2 QB rating ranking him 37th among starting QB’s. Ward has excellent arm talent however, when pressured his completion rate drops to under 41% with 1 TD and 3 interceptions for a 49.3 QB rating. Myles Garrett, who’s just 4 sacks away from the NFL sack record and a Browns defense that’s 2nd in total defense and leads the NFL in sack percentage and rushing defense will be looking to add to those stats against a Tennessee offense that’s given up a league leading 48 sacks and is last in total offense. Ward’s favorite passing targets are TE Chigoziem Okonkwo (yes that’s the correct spelling and no I don’t know how to pronounce his name) who’s caught 39 passes averaging 10.4 yards per catch, WR Chimere Dike, 29 catches averaging 9 yards per reception with 2 TD’s and TE Gunnar Helm who has 36 receptions with 1 TD. Seven-year veteran RB Tony Pollard handles most of the Titans’ rushing duties averaging 3.9 yards per carry with 2 TD’s and 3 fumbles, he has 17 runs of 10 yards or more. Ward has rushed 28 times averaging 4.4 yards with 1 TD and 9 fumbles. The Titans’ base defense which utilizes 3 defensive linemen and 4 linebackers will present some unique challenges for the Browns offense and Sanders who’s hasn’t faced a 3-4 NFL defense in his 2 starts. The Titans, who play a zone defense over 73% of the time, will test how much chemistry Sanders has developed with his receivers. The Titans like to play their safeties deep and their linebackers close to the line of scrimmage leaving room in the middle of their zone coverage. If Sanders and his receivers can get on the same page with their pass routes there will be plenty of opportunities for chunk plays against the Tennessee zone. Overall, the Titans rank 24th in total defense giving up 246 yards per game, 25th against the rush and 30th against the pass surrendering 8 yards per pass. Their best defensive players are DT Jeffrey Simmons who has 7 sacks and 39 QB pressures and NT T’Vondre Sweat who’s huge 6’4” 362 lbs body will make running up the middle very difficult. With 4 linebackers in their base defense Sanders ability to identify which defenders will rush and which will drop into zone coverage schemes will be crucial to the Browns offense. The Browns listing starting G Wyatt Teller and RT Jack Conklin out for the game will further complicating Sanders’ trust in his pass protection and ability to avoid sacks and turnovers. If the Browns special teams can avoid the types of major breakdowns they had against the Jets and keep mistakes to a minimum they have a very good chance of winning this game. GO BROWN…..GO CAVS