Browns: 3 keys to victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars
By Chad Porto
The Browns are hoping to move to 8-3 for the first time in decades but to do that they need to do these three things against the Jaguars.
The Cleveland Browns are edging more and more near a playoff birth for the first time in nearly 20 years. Not since 2002 have the Browns been able to call themselves a legitimate playoff team. That’s what the Browns are looking to achieve in 2020 but to do that they need to get past the Jacksonville Jaguars and move to 8-3 on the season.
The Jaguars are not a great team but they aren’t a pushover either. Their 1-9 record is a misdirect, as they could easily be a .500 team had a few plays in a few games gone a little different. The big saving grace for the Jaguars this week though is the mounting bodies on defense that may be out. Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, potentially Ronnie Harrison, and possibly Porter Gustin are out due to injuries and COVID-19.
The good part for the Browns? The Jaguars are one of the worst pass-blocking teams in the league and one of the worst pressure generating defenses in the league as well. They’re near the top in sacks allowed and in the bottom in sacks generated. If there was one team that you wanted to face this banged up, it’s the Jaguars.
So here are the three ways to go about getting the win.
Establish the run
The Browns have had a rough go of it lately with regards to scoring points. The Browns went 4-1 to start the season and each of those four wins saw the team run up 30 points per game. Since that streak ended though, the Browns have broken 20 points just twice, and only once hit 30. It’s They’ve also scored under 20 points three times, amassing a record of 1-2 in that five-game stretch where they fail to break 20 points. More so, even their latest game against the Eagles saw them only amass only 16 points on defense.
Now yes, the weather has been terrible, so relying on Baker Mayfield to blow open the game as he had earlier in the year wasn’t realistic. Though, with the return of Wyatt Teller and Nick Chubb, you’d think the Browns would be better moving the chains. Chubb hasn’t looked the same since returning from injury and if it wasn’t for two big runs of 50+ yards, would have had horrible games against the Eagles and Texans. The Browns may need to get creative, or at the very least will want to try and force it up the middle between Teller and J.C. Tretter, which was a big area of success for the Browns before the injuries.