The Cleveland Browns have the Washington Football team this Sunday, and many expect the Browns to win but to do so, there are three things they need to do.
The Washington Football Team is having a rough start to the year. The Cleveland Browns are… meeting expectations, we’ll say. The Browns are fresh off of last Thursday night’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals and are coming into this game with ten days of rest and relaxation to get right. That’s also ten days of film and practice. Ten days of getting rookies up to par and injured players ready to go.
Ten days to find out the holes of a team without a logo, or an identity. Offensively speaking.
The Washington Football Team has second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins under center and he has not been the player that people like Mel Kiper hyped up. The collegiate accuracy that was so talked about and so vaunted has gone out the window. Part of that does fall on his support cast; the offensive line, running backs, and wide receiver groups could use an upgrade.
Some of it though does fall on his decision making, which isn’t great.
That’s where Washington and Cincinnati diverge. Both only have one side of the ball they can rely on. For the Bengals it was their offense, for the Washington Football Team it’s their defense. Their defense is stout and can go after just about any quarterback. That’s the way the team from Washington can get a win over the Browns is to shut down the Browns offense.
If the Browns want to win, however, there are three simple things the Browns need to do on Sunday.
Blow up the line
It’s one thing to take shots at Pittsburgh, they’re an awful city. It’s another thing to take shots at Washington DC. They’ve been through enough already, haven’t they? On top of all that, John Wall is going to be an albatross around the Washington Wizards franchise for years, no one has forgiven them or Michael Jordan for that comeback and of course, the Washington Football Team’s offense is just awful.
So we don’t want to take shots at the Washington Football Team. It does need to be said that Dwayne Haskins is trying his best, and we see it. He’s just not that good. It’s hard being a competent quarterback when your offensive line is making daisy-chains in the huddle. What’s that you say? They’re not making daisy-chains in the huddle? They must be because there’s no way that they’re just that bad. It has to be because they’re not paying attention.
Speaking of paying attention, fans need to realize that Haskins was averaging at one point 3.3 yards per reception in Washington’s Week 2 outing. I don’t mean in the first drive either, we’re talking late into the game. That’s not all on Haskins, the offense isn’t much to look at but the biggest issue falls on their offensive line.
If you stack the center, blow up the box and attack all day, the Washington Football Team will get chewed up. We’ve seen guys like Sheldon Richardson and Myles Garrett struggle against the much better Baltimore Ravens offense, but if the Cincinnati Bengals offense was any sign of things that could happen, then Garrett and Richardson are about to feast in Washington.
Double up the running plays – make the safeties cheat
The Washington Football Team’s defense isn’t half-bad. Literally it is, as it ranks in the middle of the pack for team defense in the league, but technically it’s not. It’s got a lot of strong players littered across the front-seven. If they had a quarterback or a running back that could provide some offensive pop then by Gawd, you might actually have yourself a playoff team. Unfortunately, Dwayne Haskins doesn’t look like he’s the guy in Washington. Bad news for Washington fans, good news for Browns fans, however.
The Washington Football Team’s defense is just good enough to give a mediocre offense some real problems. Especially with going after quarterbacks. For the Browns to really have a shot to win (and believe it, they’re expected to), the Browns need to expose the one part of their defense that has holes; the secondary.
Running Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt up the middle and off the right side of the line is a good idea, that hopefully sees the usual gains. If Chubb is cracking 5.0 yards a carry and Hunt can double out of the backfield with running and receiving the ball, those safeties will cheat up.
When that happens, you run a play-action pass and toss that ball over their heads. It’s not a hard offense to figure out, which is why the Browns need to be successful in running the ball. If they can, then this might just be a team that wins and wins big on Sunday.
Stack the offensive line
The Washington Football Team, as said before, has a bright future (if Dan Snyder can stay out of their way) and that’s because their defense is talented. Like past years any Browns fan can remember, the Washington Football Team is going to see its defense get tested a lot, and often. Theif offense is putrid, and there isn’t a single offensive playmaker to speak of with any sort of confidence. That means a lot of three-and-outs and a lot of time on the field for that defense.
Sure, that may give one the impression that they’ll get tired eventually, but why risk it? They’re good enough to give a team fits, so be prepared for that. The Browns would be wise to limit the number of route-runners they send out every play and have guys like Austin Hooper and Andy Janovich stay home on more plays than usual to help pick up the pressure.
Washington leads the league in sacks with 11 as a unit so far, and former second-overall draft pick Chase Young has already picked up 2.5 sacks on the year. He joins linebackers, Jonathan Bostic and Seth MacFarlane look-a-like Ryan Kerrigan as the only three players on the team with two or more sacks.
The Browns have had a banged-up offensive line, and Jedrick Wills has gotten beat by less talented players than Young. With the way the Washington Football Team do their stunts, it’s very possible that Wills may be overwhelmed.
Keeping more guys in on pass plays will, hopefully, help keep Baker Mayfield upright.