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.
Larry Ogunjobi
This may seem odd to single out Larry Ogunjobi but there is good cause for it. Ogunjobi is right now in a weird position where he both should, and should not be brought back for 2021. He’s a free agent after this year and hasn’t really done a lot to warrant anything more than what he’s already making. If he goes out there and has a big game against the Titans, maybe he can show the Browns his real worth.
The other part of “Why Ogunjobi” is that of all the defensive linemen, he’s the only one who hasn’t shown exactly what he is yet. Myles Garrett is what he is. That’s not deniable. Then you have Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson, two men who have no business being paid next year unless they take ten times less than what they’re making now.
Ogunjobi? He’s an anomaly at the moment. Garrett’s great, Richardson and Vernon aren’t. What is Ogunjobi?
Having a huge game against one of the best rushing teams in the NFL, filing gaps, getting a tackle for a loss, or three, and maybe even a sack would go a long way in proving the critics, fans, and the front office what he truly can do against the leagues best. If he can’t, then we know he’s no different than Vernon and Richardson, guys who only make plays against the worst the league has to offer.
Baker Mayfield
Every week he’s on this list because every week people say some pretty outlandish things about Baker Mayfield. Despite having comparable numbers to Ryan Tannehill, Mayfield is still having to deal with critics who claim he’s awful, which really shows you how little critics know about football. He’s not turned the ball over in four weeks, he has a good TD/INT ratio of 2.4:1 and he’s been the only consistent piece of the offense through the whole season.
What more can he really do? That’s the obnoxious question that we keep asking ourselves week after week. Yet, we keep asking it because people keep ignoring his play.
If Mayfield can come into this game, drop a touchdown or two, put up 200+ yards passing, and doesn’t turn the ball over, the Browns will win. He’ll still be dogged by critics for “relying too much on the running game” as if that’s an insult, but the Browns would then be 9-3 with a win over the vaunted Titans. You can’t deny a team’s standing at that point.
Yes, all everyone keeps talking about are the two losses to the Steelers and Ravens, but eventually, as the Browns keep winning, they’ll realize that there are more important things than stats. As Al Davis once said, “Just win, baby!”.