Browns: 3 players who need to step up against the Titans
By Chad Porto
The Browns are hoping to ride their hot hand to 9-3 in their week 13 matchup with the Titans but to do so, these three players need to step up.
The Cleveland Browns have their second-toughest team on Sunday, as the good guys travel to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans. It’s a matchup of two like-minded, smash-mouth teams, that rely on the rushing games to set up their offense. They also both rely on their offense to help out their defenses.
Granted the Titans’ defense is much better than the Browns, but both squads are helped out by offenses that are known for clock management and long, ground-out drives. To negate the Titans’ offense effectively, the Browns need to make sure they don’t get on the field by making their own offensive drives long and arduous.
The Titans’ offense will get their chance, however. That means the Browns will have to step up on defensive at least a few times to help get the team the win. That’s why we’re starting our look at the three players who need to step up the most against the Titans with the biggest issue on the team.
Mack Wilson (and the linebackers)
This one is a cheat, yes, because we’re listing all the linebackers as well. Not just the starters, but the backups too. Mack Wilson is arguably the best linebacker of the bunch though, and that’s not saying much at the moment. Wilson and company will need to play all out if they hope to actually slow down Derrick Henry and the Titans’ rushing attack. The Titans and Browns are pretty much the same team with regards to how they score points. They load up the running game and then go over the top with their quarterback. To negate both possibilities, it starts with giving Henry a challenge at the line of scrimmage. That means filling gaps, wrapping, and bringing Henry down.
Henry has several bad games to his name this year, so it is possible to contain him, but if the Browns are going to do it, then they’re going to need their linebackers to do something they haven’t done all year; Make plays.