Browns: 3 things Cleveland has to do to defeat the Chiefs

Get Patrick Mahomes on the turf/Not giving up deep plays

You can in fact get sacks without being overly aggressive. Myles Garrett proves this. He’s given a lot of praise for his athleticism but he should get more praise for his intellect. One of Garrett’s best assets and a reason why he’ll be a problem long past his prime is his situational awareness. Garrett resorts to bull-rushing offensive linemen more than most in the NFL, usually doing so on third-and-long and later in the game. The reason for this is simple, it keeps your shoulders square to the quarterback in case he tucks the ball and runs.

This is something that the Browns are going to need to do against the Chiefs. There’s a time and place for fancy spin-moves and rips but every time you give up your back or hip to a lineman, you give up your leverage and ability to pivot. So the Browns are going to need to get to Mahomes without giving up containment on him. The addition to a potential uptick in blitzing linebackers should help here.

This point is two-fold. If the Browns can apply appropriate pressure on Mahomes, then the secondary will have an easier time. It’s a very simpatico relationship. If Mahomes is getting bumped around like a pinball in a pinball machine, then he has less time to throw. If he has less time to throw, the receivers don’t have enough time to develop their routes, forcing Mahomes to throw more stuff underneath to guys running outlet routes. That means keeping the pass-catchers in front of you, for modest gains at worst.