The New York Jets may not be a good team, but that doesn’t mean the Cleveland Browns can coast in their came on Sunday afternoon.
The Cleveland Browns are ready to secure their 11th win and a spot in the playoffs, but to do so they have to get past the New York Jets. The ultimate trap team in the NFL. The Jets beat the Rams just last week, and while the Browns are better than the Rams, it’s not by such a huge margin that you can just give the Browns a win.
That’s why the Browns need to step up and deliver on Sunday. They can’t fall into the Jets-trap. They have to show up ready to play and their key talents need to go balls to the walls for their last away game of the year. You know, for the regular season.
Here are the talents who need to step up against the Jets.
Baker Mayfield
If Baker Mayfield drops another four or five touchdowns on the Jets in the first half, he’ll be leaving Week 17 with his fifth-year option having been picked up. Even if not formally announced. Mayfield has quietly put himself in a position to have his best completion percentage in a single season and the most touchdowns in his career. He’s currently at 64%, one point higher than his rookie season, where everyone lauded his accuracy. He’s at 25 touchdowns, two shy of his rookie year. If Mayfield has a huge game against the Jets and let’s be honest, he should, then he could walk into the season finale against the Steelers looking for more.
He’s only five touchdowns from tying Brian Sipe’s single-season franchise record of 30. If Mayfield can dominate the Jets as he’s done against so many top-tier teams this year, then Mayfield may walk into the playoffs with even more records to his name.
Every defensive lineman but Myles Garrett
If Myles Garrett is going to try and play, despite the fact he should probably sit out and heal, then the rest of the defensive line needs to step up. Garrett has been getting so gassed, so fast, since he caught Covid-19, and what’s made worse is that the rest of his teammates really aren’t stepping up. Sure, Olivier Vernon had a nice game against the Baltimore Ravens, but he did nothing of value against the New York Giants.
Sheldon Richardson, Porter Gustin, Adrian Clayborn, and Larry Ogunjobi need to do more. Give Jordan Elliot more reps if need be. Have Vernon line up as a linebacker more. Sign a bull, a literal bull, and have him play reps for Garrett on occasion. Make voodoo dolls of the Jets offensive line. Do something, anything, to help take the pressure off of Garrett.
The Browns front four, sans Garrett, has not been good. While some players like Vernon and Gustin have played well at times, they haven’t been playing well consistently. Part of the problem is the linebackers. They have no teeth, and that does affect blocking assignments. You want to see more blitz from the unit, that way the offensive line isn’t getting so complacent, but usually, it’s a blitz off the edge with a defensive back.
So we need someone to step up. Someone, anyone.
Kareem Hunt
Kareem Hunt needs 203 yards to break 1,000 yards on the season and it seems like he isn’t going to hit that number, not unless he breaks a big game against the New York Jets. For Hunt, the Jets serve as his last chance all year to use an easy team to get himself started. While his numbers aren’t horrible by any means, the belief that he was a “top 10 running back” as many believed he still was has long died and for good reason. Hunt has lost whatever X-factor he had that made him different than other backs. He stops and lunges into tacklers now instead of trying to outmaneuver them, and his ability to break plays in space has all but vanished. He isn’t the same running back he was and there’s no real answer as to why.
This is the second-lowest yards-per-carry for his career at 4.3. On its own, it’s a fine stat that most running backs would love, yet on the Browns, with his offensive line, you want more from him. Even when he was the featured running back during Nick Chubb‘s injury, Hunt didn’t’ impress. He’s broken 100 yards just once all year. All this would be fine if he was doing the one thing we all thought he’d be doing; catching passes and breaking big plays from the backfield. He does have five touchdowns but would you really say that he’s been special in the receiving game?
This is the game that can redefine his season. A huge outing, (100 rushing/100 receiving?) would make him far more valuable moving forward. After this season, the Browns will look to cut the bloated rosters on the offense. If the Browns need to make cap room to improve their defense, guys like Chris Hubbard, Case Keenum, Odell Beckham Jr, and Hunt may be on the block.
Hunt has one more easy opportunity to get going. Hopefully, he takes advantage of it.