With the Browns back from the bye week, the team will need to face a very game Texans and these three players need to step up.
The Cleveland Browns are in desperate need to come out firing against the Houston Texans. They have one of the worst defenses in the league and the Browns offense should find the Texans ripe for the picking. If the Browns can in fact find their form fast and early, then this game could be out of hand by half time, though that’s wishful thinking at this point. The Browns have yet to blow a team out all season, there’s no reason to believe that’ll happen on Sunday.
That said, the Texans are at the top of the league in rushing yards given up (159.5), and in the top ten with passing yards given up (257.4). They’re also fourth in the league in most points giving up (30.3).
The Browns are coming in still in the top five in total yards rushed for (150.0) despite Kareem Hunt’s struggles and Nick Chubb’s injury. The Browns offense will look to rebound off the back or the Texans, with most of their heavy hitters finally back all at the same time. So let’s look at the three names that need to step up.
Baker Mayfield
This one is obvious but also not. Baker Mayfield has shown great aptitude in recent weeks, hitting targets, scoring touchdowns, and being the reason the Browns won five games. Mayfield is 5-0 in games where he throws two or more touchdowns. Getting him going is key. His performance against Las Vegas was actually good if you count all the balls – of which there were five – by receivers.
Mayfield can’t help that his guys couldn’t catch a lick out there. If he carves up Houston, as he should, then that’ll only help further distance the narrative that he’s anything other than the man going forward into 2021 and beyond.
Wyatt Teller
Wyatt Teller was a quiet MVP pick heading into Week 5 of the NFL season. He got injured in the game against Indianapolis and hasn’t played since. While his backup, Chris Hubbard, played admirably in Teller’s stead, Teller was turning entire defensive lines on the ear thanks to Bill Callahan’s zone-blocking scheme. He was an absolute wrecking ball and now that he’s back the hope is that he’ll be able to return to that form. He’ll have to, considering there will be times he and Jack Conklin will have to deal with J.J. Watt.
While Watt isn’t posting the numbers he did in 2018, he’s shown to still be a force to be reckoned with. Watt’s going to be lining up a lot in the gaps between Conklin and Teller, so the onus will be on them to hold the future Hall of Famer at bay.
Which will be a challenge for sure, but one that Watt will be up for. While you can cite and source Pro Football Focus, you don’t need to. You don’t need analytics to tell you how dominant Teller has been. All you have to do is watch any of those games in the first four weeks the Browns played and you’ll see it. You’ll see how dominant Teller has been. If that Teller is back, the Browns should rush right on through til victory.
Nick Chubb
This is where you play the Bane theme from Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. This man-beast of a running back has been sorely missed. While Kareem Hunt has performed admirably, he hasn’t performed remarkably. Now that Nick Chubb is back, the Browns offense should be clicking on all cylinders again.
Chubb couldn’t be replaced, and it’s pretty obvious of a statement to make. Since his injury against Dallas in the last minute of the first quarter of Week 4, the Browns as a team has yet to break 130 yards rushing. This after having games of 215, 158, and 308 yards rushing in weeks two, three, and four. Hunt is averaging nearly 1.4 yards less per rush than Chubb, with Hunt failing to break 80 yards rushing in six straight games.
Chubb has only ever gone three straight games, twice, without hitting 80 yards in his career. Those two occasions were to start his career when he was averaging 2.6 carries per game and Weeks 15 and 16 in the 2019 campaign, bleeding into Week 1 of this season. Oh, and that opening stretch of six games, where he only had 16 carries? He still had 173 yards rushing, for a yards-per-carry of 10.8.
So Chubb’s really good at this football thing.
Chubb could conceivably set new career marks for himself and the franchise against the Texans, and if he does that, then there’s no real chance the Texans could keep it close.