Hi Browns fans welcome to week 8 of the NFL season. Sunday the 1-6 Browns will welcome the 5-2 Baltimore Ratbirds to Huntington Bank Stadium. Game time is 12:00 noon CST 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 on to victory. This past week Browns fans experienced the tragic loss of a team icon. Saturday long time broadcast voice of the Browns, Jim Donavan passed away at age 68 after battling cancer for several years. Jim Donavan served as either the radio or TV voice of the Browns since the team’s return to the NFL in 1999 and this season he was officially named a Browns Legend by the team. He will be missed by Browns fans everywhere. This week the Browns also experienced some significant on-field changes to the team. Last Sunday QB Deshuan Watson’s season ended after rupturing his Achillis in the second quarter of last week’s loss to the Bengals, possibly ending his time as the starting QB of the team. Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced that veteran QB Jameis Winston will get his first start as Browns QB this week and Stefanski will be turning over play calling for the offense to Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey for the remainder of the season. For fans who are not that familiar with Jameis Winston, he was the #1 selection in the 2015 NFL draft out of Florida State. He’s started 80 games at QB with his last start coming in week 3 of 2022 season for the New Orleans Saints. In his 3 games in 2022 as the New Orleans starter he completed 63.5% of his passes averaging 7.5 yards per pass with 4 TD’s and 5 interceptions earning a 79.5 QB rating. In his 7 games this season with the Browns, Winston has thrown 12 passes completing 6 averaging 6.9 yards per pass with 1 TD and 1 sack. This week I watched a few of Winston’s 2022 games with New Orleans, one of the first things you notice is that Winston is a traditional drop-back quarterback in both the shotgun and under center. He’s a big QB at 6’4” 231 lbs. and he can run when he needs to, although in the games I watched he preferred to stay in the pocket. He has a quicker release than Watson averaging 2.64 seconds to throw, however when pressured his time to throw jumps to 3.23 seconds and his completion rate drops to 50%. He can have problems with accuracy on his long throws completing only 42% of his passes of 20 yards or more with no TD’s and 2 interceptions in 2022. He has a much better short passing game completing 75.6% of his passes of 9 yards or less. His best season was 2021 when he completed 59% of his passes with 14 TD’s against only 3 interceptions. The Browns will also be welcoming back starting guard Wyatt Teller from the injured list and it’s expected that Dewand Jones will be moving from offensive right tackle to left tackle. With all these changes coupled with OC Ken Dorsey now calling plays it’s anybody’s guess about how the Browns NFL worst offense will respond this week.
Sunday the Baltimore Ratbirds come into town riding a 5 game winning streak while averaging a league leading 31 points per game and leading the AFC North at 5-2. Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson is having another All Pro season leading the league with a 118.0 QB rating. He’s 2nd in the NFL averaging 9.1 yards per pass with 15 passing TD’s against only 2 interceptions and 9 sacks while completing 68% of his passes. He’s also averaging 6.2 yards per rush with 2 TD’s and 5 fumbles. His favorite target is WR Zay Flowers who has 34 receptions averaging 12.1yards per catch with 1 TD and 2 drops. Fellow WR Rashod Bateman has 30 receptions averaging 18.8 yards per catch which is 5th in the NFL with 3 TD’s. Baltimore likes to use 2 tight end formations with TE’s Isaiah Likely, 28 catches with 3 TD’s and Mark Andrews 22 receptions and 3 TD’s. In the backfield they have 4 time Pro Bowl RB Derrick Henry who’s 873 rushing yards, 6.5 yards per rush and 8 rushing TD’s currently lead the NFL in all 3 categories. Keep in mind that Baltimore is only 7-5 against the Browns since drafting Jackson in 2018 and last year as a member of the Tennessee Titans the Browns defense held Henry to 20 yards on 11 carries (1.8 yards per carry). The Browns also beat Baltimore last season 33-31 after a furious 2nd half comeback. The Browns defense is currently 13th in total defense giving up 318 yards per game and 8th in 3rd down defense allowing teams to convert only 32.2% of 3rd downs. They are also #2 allowing completions on only 58.8% of opponent’s passes. The Ratbird’s defense has been vulnerable this season as they are 24th in total defense and 26th in scoring defense giving up 25.7 points per game. Opponents are averaging 5.7 yards per play and converting 45.6% of their 3rd down tries while scoring TD’s on 65% of their red zone possessions. Despite leading the league in rushing defense giving up only 3.3 yards per rush, opponents have had success throwing against their league worst pass defense which is giving up 8 yards per pass and 287 yards per game through the air. They have 34 sacks led by DE’s Kyle Van Noy (7 sacks) and Odafe Madubuike (5 sacks). Opposing QB’s have a 108.1 QB rating against them.
SEE YOU SUNDAY GO BROWNS….. GO CAVS