The Cleveland Browns are back in the playoffs, facing off with the Steelers but in order to win on Sunday, these three players need to step up.
The Cleveland Browns could be going the first week of the playoffs without a lot of key talent and personnel. That means relying on players who you wouldn’t normally rely on to win games. That’s the situation the Browns find themselves in now, however. A play where untested, unproven, or even outmatched players will need to be key cogs in a Browns win.
It’s hard to imagine, but not impossible.
These are the players that need to step up against the Steelers on Sunday night.
The starter at left guard
Right now the starter at guard is assumed to be former AAF and XFL player Michael Dunn. There’s every chance in the world Dunn razzles and dazzles, after all, look at Wyatt Teller’s ascension, but the odds aren’t in his or our favor. To be able to defeat the Steelers Dunn, or whoever starts, will have to be able to play as well as Chris Hubbard. Which is to say, better than Nick Harris or Kendall Lamm.
It’s not a fair thing to ask of anyone, but Dunn is a professional of three leagues now, and if anyone can fill in you’d think it would be him. For Dunn, replacing Joel Bitonio won’t be easy. Bitonio is easily one of the ten best guards in football, just behind Teller. The difference is Bitonio can stay healthy, and Teller has had an issue with that. That said, the Browns were used to running the ball right side, using Jack Conklin and Teller as their primary blockers for the running game. That will more than likely appear to be the case again.
Now they just need Dunn to hold his blocks and not let Nick Chubb get hit behind the line on run plays or let Baker Mayfield get sacked on pass plays.
Any member of the Browns secondary not named Denzel Ward
The fate of Denzel Ward and whether he’ll be back on Sunday is still unknown. If he’s not back by Sunday, the entire Browns gameplan should be to “score often”, because the Browns defense won’t be able to hold up against the Steelers. That’s not to say the Steelers offense is good, it’s not, that’s more of an indictment on the defense and Andrew Berry’s inability to replace key players in the offseason, and instead settle for bargain-basement guys on one-year deals.
Assuming Ward is back, then the Browns won’t need to rely on poorly performing cornerback Robert Jackson. Jackson was only called up to the active roster due to the fact the Browns lost all of their other corners at some point in the last few weeks for one reason or another. So if Ward is back to full health, you’ll need someone, anyone else to step up alongside Ward.
Whether that’s Andrew Sendejo, Terrence Mitchell, Kevin Johnson, M.J. Stewart, or any other defensive back the Browns have to offer. One of those players will need to step up and play their tails off. Otherwise, the Browns are just going to see a repeat performance of Week 17, where the Steelers are just chucking bad passes for huge gains.
The obligatory Baker Mayfield selection
It’s pretty obvious by now that you know Baker Mayfield will be on these types of lists. Mayfield has had to prove something ever since the end of last year, which honestly most people feel he’s done. He can play quarterback in the NFL, he can play winning football in the NFL, and he can win you games on his own in the NFL. He’s checked off every box possible and he did it while playing some of the best defines the league has had to offer this year.
The problem comes down to something he can’t control, his team is getting gutted week after week by an invisible illness that seemingly looks to wreak havoc for as long as the Browns are playing. This means that any game he has on Sunday will be one where he and the Browns go into short-handed.
If Mayfield can lead the team to success and even a win without two of their best offensive linemen, one of their most well known wide receivers, and lord knows what else could happen before Sunday, then Mayfield would have proven himself to be on a level that few players in the NFL are even on; the level reserved for quarterbacks with the ability to overcome the odds against the best of the best. It’ll be a hard task, and one that most people don’t assume he’ll be able to do, but if he does, oh boy. That will be something to see and would be enough of a performance on its own to warrant the fifth-year option or just a flat out new deal.