Browns: 3 players who need to step up against the Jaguars

Nick Chubb

Nick Chubb has started slowly in his last two games against the Texans and Eagles, and with rain expected on Sunday in Jacksonville, Chubb will need to start hot and strong to give the Browns their best chance at winning. Against both Philadelphia and Houston, Chubb broke 100 yards. Going further into the stats, against the Texans, he finished with 126 yards, and against the Eagles, he gained 114 yards. Yet in both games, he needed one 50+ run to get him over the 100-yard mark.

Against the Texans, Chubb sat at just 67 yards before his game-ending 59-yard run. With the Eagles, Chubb sat at 60 yards when you take away his 54-yard burst in the fourth quarter. Outside of two, unlikely massive runs, Chubb is averaging just 63.5 yards since his return.

If only taking out two plays from 39 opportunities reduces your average from 120 yards over two games, by nearly half to 63.5 yards a game, then you know this running game has been lucky, not good over the last two weeks.

Prior to those games, his longest was a 29-yard rush against Baltimore.

While Chubb routinely busts out runs of five to 19 yards (a combined26 times this year), he’s only amassed 10 in the last two weeks. Unlike defenses in Baltimore or Washington, the Eagles and Texans are among the leagues worst against the run. Meaning those numbers should have been a lot bigger. Chubb isn’t feasting on bad defenses, that seems to hint that something is off with the running game.

Chubb doesn’t live off of monster gains. He’s routinely over five-yards a rush. Which means he should have 100-plus yards a game simply without needing the monster-gain of 50+ yards. Against Jacksonville, there’s no guarantee that he hits a 50-yard rush to pad his stats. If Chubb can’t pull off a 100-yard game without the need for one massive run then there will be questions.

The biggest example of how the running game has suffered lately isn’t just the YPC, but also in scoring. In five of six games, the Browns put up 30 points. Since the Las Vegas game, though, the Browns haven’t broken 23 in a game. You’d think the return of Chubb would’ve helped the offense get back on track. Especially with the elements not being conducive for passing.

The Jaguars are statistically as bad as the Eagles against the rush. The Browns shouldn’t need a hail-marry-like run for Chubb to break triple digits. This isn’t a team that can afford to not have an efficient running game. The Browns offense has not been producing the points they once did, and that’s in part due to the inefficiencies on the ground as of late.

That needs to change on Sunday.