Cleveland Browns: 2015 Win Predictions

Hope and excitement is back for many fans in their teams now that the NFL is back. Will fans see the Cleveland Browns improve to the next level this season?

The Cleveland Browns have made some improvements since they last played a meaningful game. There were a couple of surprises that surfaced this preseason too. Cleveland unfortunately did not do as much as one would hope to improve their offense. Did the team really do enough? That will be seen starting on Sunday.

The Browns finished with a 7-9 record last season. Are the improvements made enough to improve their record? The FoS team gives their thoughts and win predictions.

Ric McElroy

It is my humble belief that due to the lack of playmakers on offense and a tougher schedule they will not do as good as they did last year. The front office picking up other team’s left overs at wide receiver isn’t going to do it.

The defense may be a bit better as they have concentrated on it for two years in free agency and the draft. The problem is that the defense can’t score enough points to win games! The running game that was to be the salvation of the offense, hasn’t materialized. There is no number one running back as of yet. During the preseason they threw more than anything because they couldn’t run.

The loss of Alex Mack last year was everyone’s reason they couldn’t run. Seems that was a flimsy excuse. This team needs playmakers desperately on offense with the wide receivers and running backs. Therefore I believe that 6 wins will be the uppermost limit this year. It could very well be a little less.

Justin Blum

The Browns will have at least 8 wins this year. The offensive line will carry the offense just enough and the defense will be a top five unit.

The defense, if healthy all year, will create a lot of turnovers. I’m sure the defense will win a couple of games for the Browns. The offense isn’t going to be as bad as people think. Once Duke Johnson is healthy the Browns can truly open their playbook. He is going to make a huge difference in the offense, but he needs to be on the field.

Everyone has heard the saying “on any given Sunday.” Meaning: any team can lose, no matter how good they are and any team can win, no matter how bad they are. It often comes down to who wants it more. It happens every week in the NFL; less talented teams wins the game. The Browns organization, coaches, players and the fans are hungry for success. A collective will to win will get the Browns to the .500 mark.

Torrelle Howard

I’ll give them 8 wins. Their season looked really tough when it was first announced, but I’m not too scared of it now. I think we can split with each team in the division. San Francisco has basically collapsed in the past few months. Oakland, St. Louis, Tennessee and the New York Jets are all in the same situation we’re in (Carr looks good but I’m not still not sold he’ll save the Raiders franchise).

The Browns usually have a big surprise win at some point in the season (this time I’m thinking it’ll be Denver at home). So all in all I don’t think our schedule is all that bad. It is more difficult than last year’s for sure, but not as bad as we once thought and the team has improved enough to where we’ll be ahead of the curve so to speak.

We’ll end this season with a top five defense now that we improved our defensive line with Danny Shelton and Randy Starks. That improvement will lead to us being more prepared to stop the pass and the run. This defense will be the reason why we win most of our games.

Nick Dudukovich

The Browns could be really, really bad…or maybe be on the bubble of contending for a playoff spot. That’s the argument I keep having with myself, because overall, I think the team is better. The only question is the quarterback. Part of me believes that Josh McCown will play at the same level of Brian Hoyer, so he should at least be good for seven wins.

Another part of me thinks it’s crazy to think that way! How many starting quarterbacks have won seven games in a season since the Browns returned in 1999? It’s a short list—and Hoyer is the latest—and most memorable to do it.

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I’m also torn on the running back room. Isaiah Crowell has shown flashes, but he didn’t get it done on a consistent basis last season. I also fear injuries are going to slow down Duke Johnson’s development. This year’s squad is built to run the ball—and I’m not convinced Mike Pettine’s got the blue-chip backs to be playoff good—and neither does Vegas.

The last over-under on wins I saw from Vegas had the Browns at 6 1/2. It’s a tough line to bet because as mentioned earlier, they could easily win seven, or just as easily drop 12.

As much as Cleveland deserves a winner, this team isn’t going to do it. The 2015 campaign will see the Browns going 6-10.

Joe Russo

The general consensus is that the expectations for the Browns are as low as they are high for the Buckeyes. But I may be in the minority by saying that the Browns will go 8-8. I’ll give you all a second to let that settle in.

Ok. Now that you’ve let that settle, the Browns early season schedule presents a great opportunity to get off to a fast start and build some positive energy. Out of the first 10 games before the bye week, the Browns should go no worse than 6-4, with losses to Denver and Baltimore being the only two games I see as definite losses. After that, it does get more difficult, with the likes of Seattle and the second half of the AFC North schedule. But, San Francisco does not look good and even the Browns should steal another divisional win. 8-8 is not as crazy as it sounds.

Aside from the schedule, the defense should continue to develop. As bad as the Browns looked in a couple of games this preseason, they still gave up the second fewest points in the division in the preseason behind only the Cincinnati Bengals. With additions like Randy Starks and Danny Shelton, as well as more active linemen like Jamie Meder and Xavier Cooper, the run defense should be better and push the unit as a whole into elite status in the NFL.

Now, the offense is still a work in progress, but the line is very good and I have just enough faith that they can manufacture enough points to give the defense a chance to win games. Remember, even Mark Sanchez led the Jets to the playoffs despite his own limitations. I see Mike Pettine following the same formula, keep control of the ball just long enough to win games on the ground.

Call me crazy, but I’ll stay optimistic with my 8-8 prediction.

Jay Frierson

Unfortunately, I believe it is going to be a long season. I don’t see us doing any better than 4-12. It’s a shame because we are ranked as having one of the top five offensive lines in the NFL, and obviously we’ll have a top 10 defense by the end of the season. McCown is a career backup and whatever we see is what we’re going to get. He had his chances with the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, and he failed atrociously. If he can’t get the ball to Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson, I don’t see anyway he’s going to get it to Bowe, who can’t get separation off man coverage.

We also have a running game that is pretty much being glued together as we speak. We get rid of our second best back for a 7th-round pick, which as we know probably won’t even make the team next year. I like Crowell, but I just don’t see him getting 20-25 carries a game. For whatever reason as it has been with the Browns for years, once we get the running game going, we freeze and start passing 100 times and completely abandon the run.

Now they’re going to have Shaun Draughn and Duke Johnson as the backups, but that isn’t going to hardly be enough. Johnson is to frail and small out there and Draughn is a below average back. Now some could argue all that McCown would have to do is manage the game, but historically those game managers that were successful or even just went to the playoffs, had great running attacks which made up for the lack of receiving. They also had great defenses (1985 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2014/2015 Seattle Seahawks).

It was also true with some of those “Purple People Eaters” teams of the Vikings in the 60’s. Now it could be done with this team, but just not with our stable of quarterbacks. So I think we go through the growing pains of this year, we show flash defensively and get our real quarterback in here next year and hopefully be able to turn thing around. There is just too much distraction and mistakes made this year to see any progress.

Ryan Rosko

A defense can only do so much. Again, the Browns defense will have to be the key to their wins with a lack of playmakers and a QB group that is average at best. With all that said, they have enough talent to reach at least seven wins, but I do not see that happening. They will finish with a 5-11 record.

Next: Cleveland Browns vs New York Jets: Game Preview

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