The Cleveland Browns are going to be in for a tough out against the New York Giants on Sunday night, and to walk away with a victory, these players need to step up.
Fans of the Cleveland Browns faithful are riding high after a great game against the Baltimore Ravens. Even though the Browns lost, the offense showed it was every bit as good as people hoped it’d be, especially with Baker Mayfield being the to orchestrate the comeback against the black bird of Baltimore. The defense was another, pitiful story, however. So fans have high hopes against the New York football Giants.
The Giants, however, aren’t going to be easy to get past. They’re a tough team, and they are by no means a pushover. Their defense is stellar and their offense would be a lot better if it were healthy and had wide receivers who could make plays. That’s why the Browns need to make sure they don’t come into this game on a down note. They have to avoid the lull of a big loss that sometimes follows a team.
That’s why these three players must step up. Technically it’s one player and two units, but it’s a theme article so bear with me.
Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield has taken control of this team and hasn’t looked back. The Browns quarterback is making a play for Pro Bowl consideration, already throwing 23 touchdowns for 2,785 yards. He’s only thrown eight interceptions and has been a real force to deal with all season. His only blemish has been the fact that for three-straight games he was widely ineffective due to severe weather conditions in Cleveland. Lake effect weather is a real thing and anyone in Cleveland knows how hard it is to deal with. Had it not been for those games, he’d probably have around 3,500 yards and 30 touchdowns already. Especially against the Texans and Raiders, who are just awful against the pass. He’s breaking records all over the place these days, so it’s not hard to think Mayfield could’ve broken the most touchdown passes in a season by a Browns quarterback had it not been for those three games.
The Secondary
The Cleveland Browns’ two best safeties, Ronnie Harrison and Andrew Sendejo are out for this game. Sendejo is dealing with a concussion, and Harrison is on IR. Greedy Williams and Grant Delpit, two players who have no real track record, to begin with, have not taken the field yet in 2020 and won’t. Denzel Ward is hurt so much that it’s becoming a meme when he doesn’t play. This secondary is a mess.
There isn’t one player on this unit, who’s going to be available for Sunday’s game, who’s worth a darn. The starters are banged up, and the backups are ineffective, which means that the Giant’s quarterbacks may make this game interesting. With Daniel Jones’ status being up in the air, there’s no real word yet if it’ll be Jones or Colt McCoy starting this game.
There’s a chance that McCoy struggles, as he didn’t look his best when he took over for Jones against Seattle. Seattle’s defense isn’t exactly the best in the league which should behoove the Browns in their matchup against the Giants, should McCoy start. In fact, Seattle’s defense against the pass is the worst in the league. Even worse than the Browns. That should make Cleveland faithful at least somewhat optimistic that the team can slow down if not stop any type of Giants pass offense.
The offensive line
Jedrick Wills has struggled mightily this season and Wyatt Teller is out on Sunday, so the Cleveland Browns offensive line is going to need to step up in a big way. Sure, J.C. Tretter, Joel Bitonio, and Jack Conklin are all Pro Bowl-caliber players, but that doesn’t mean much if two of the five spots on the line struggle.
The offensive line is just that, a line. A continuous entity that needs connectivity to be effective. If two spots on the line fail, then all hell breaks loose. That’s partly why the league’s worst offensive line last year (fight me, it was), got better with just some minor improvements. Jack Conklin and Wills were brought in and despite Wills’ issues, is still an upgrade over who the Browns had last year.
More so than that, the blocking scheme change has done wonders for Teller and the man who’ll most likely start on Sunday in relief of him, Chris Hubbard. These small things made a world of difference for the Browns offensive line but in order to make sure that Baker Mayfield is still protected and that the running game can get its yards, the offensive line needs to deal with a defensive front from New York that’s actually pretty formidable.
The Giants can get after the quarterback and fill in gaps and if the Browns are going to get their 10th win of the year, they’re going to need to make sure the Giants front-four are kept in check.