Cleveland Browns: 3 reasons why the Colts will be a real test for Browns
By Chad Porto
The Indianapolis Colts are coming to town on Oct. 11 and they bring the first real defense the Browns have seen all year.
The Cleveland Browns are going to be in for a fight on Sunday. Why? Their defense. In the question of “who has the better defense?”, the Ravens or the Colts, go with the Indianapolis Colts this year. The Colts may not have the same history of great defenses as the Ravens, but the Colts are the top defense in the NFL right now. That may change by Week 17, but in Week 5 the best defense in the NFL still belongs to the Colts.
The Browns also are now missing their best offensive playmaker in Nick Chubb for at least three weeks, so the Colts job just got so much easier. By no means is that a white flag going up, just an acknowledgment that the Colts have one less thing to worry about defensively.
As good as their defense is, which is good, their offense isn’t passing the standard. Sure, Phillip Rivers is having a fine season but the offense is not great beside him and T.Y. Hilton. So expect a lot of emphasis being placed on the defenses play against the Browns offense.
This game is beyond pivotal for the Browns. Not for the season, mind you, they’re doing just fine so far. No, this is about the franchise. Since 1999, they have never started a season 4-1 and since 1999 they’ve only won four games in a row once, in 2009, when they closed out the year winning four straight under Eric Mangini. The last time the Browns started 4-1 was in 1994 under Bill Belichick. They went 11-5 that year with Vinny Testaverde as the starting quarterback.
There’s pressure on this team to not just beat one of the best teams in the NFL but to start erasing decades of frustration. So, you know, no pressure.