Cleveland Browns: 3 Washington Football Team players to game plan for

The Cleveland Browns are going to need to keep an eye on these three Washington Football Team players on Sunday.

The Cleveland Browns may be sleeping on the 1-1 Washington Football Team, and there’s fare reason for that. The “Football Team” may just have the worst offense this side of the New York Jets. The team is devoid of big-time playmaking on offense but their defense is stacked to the brim with significant playmakers.

The game on Sunday could easily come down to a defensive stand between the Browns and Washington. For the Browns, the defense has a chance to look good, even if they’re not. Washington has no one on the offensive side of the ball to really worry about, but that could result in the team getting gutted by quarterback Dwayne Haskins if the Browns start playing too laxed. Washington could opt to sit Haskins at some point if he struggles but the offensive line and skill positions aren’t great regardless, so what good would a backup do?

For Washington, the Browns are a tale of two teams. There’s the first being the Browns offense in Baltimore, where they got stomped on like a small brush fire. Then there’s the Browns against Cincinnati, where the good guys looked like the Greatest Show on Turf; but on grass. So if Washington’s defense is as good as expected (or the Browns revert to Week 1 performances), then the Browns might just be held in check.

These are the three players the Browns need to worry about on Sunday.

Chase Young

Chase Young is part of the best pass-rush defense in the league. The Washington Football Team has 11 sacks across just two games, and Young is just one of three players on that team with two sacks already on the season. While some will rant and rave about “pressures” and how it’s a real stat (it isn’t), sacks are the only true way to measure a pass rusher. Young and company are great at getting sacks. Anything but a sack from a pass rusher is an “almost”. As in they “almost” did something.

Landon Collins

Landon Collins is really, really good at playing safety in the NFL. So good in fact that he’s only 26 with three Pro Bowls to his name already. He’s still playing at a high level and is still making an impact for the Washington Football Team, but he won’t get the same accolades this year because the Washington Football Team isn’t very good. Collins though will cause problems for Baker Mayfield.

Ryan Kerrigan

The elder statesmen on the team is Ryan Kerrigan, a potential Canton-bound DE/OLB for the Washington Football Team. Along with Young and linebacker Johnathan Bostic, he has two sacks already on the young season. Unlike Baltimore and Cincinnati, Washington has two legitimate pass rush threats that could each have 13 or more sacks on the year. Kerrigan has had 13 sacks over the course of a season three times in his career. He’s recorded 11 sacks four times, and at least 7.5 sacks eight of nine seasons. Kerrigan is questionable for Sundays’ game with a toe injury and didn’t play in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals.