5 reasons Cleveland Browns overcome OBJ adversity, beat Bengals

2. Cleveland Browns capable of doing this well.

The Browns can’t push the ball downfield, fortunately, Mike White showed the NFL how to expose the Bengals.

White’s short and intermediate throws put a lot of pressure on Cincinnati linebackers Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt to make plays in coverage–and they couldn’t get it done. According to Pro Football Focus, the duo combined over 200 yards into their respective coverages.

Plus, the Browns should have success with screens to Chubb, or bubble screens out to their receivers.

The Bengals really struggled to stop this a week ago, allowing a whopping 334 yards after the initial play, according to Bengals.com. Cincy’s defense gave up a total of 280 yards after the catch, which Bengals writer Geoff Hobson noted came off “slithering screens to the running backs.”

Obviously, you wish you had Kareem Hunt in this one, because that’s his forte, but Nick Chubb remains dangerous, no matter how he gets the ball. Plus, with OBJ gone, bubble screens/reverses may be a good way to get someone like Anthony Schwartz involved.