Browns: 5 players who need to step up against the Lions

The Browns got walloped by the Patriots but thank goodness the Lions are next.

The Browns need to forget about the Patriots and the upcoming game against the Detroit Lions is exactly what the doctor ordered. The Lions aren’t a terrible team where a win is guaranteed. They’ve played very hard under first-year head coach Dan Campbell and took a Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers to a tie.

Let’s be honest, there’s a literal difference between having and not having Roethlisberger anymore, so they played the Steelers tough. Bad news for Cleveland. There is good news, however, as Jared Goff, their best offensive player, is unsure if he can play come Sunday.

No Goff, no worries. Even if Goff does play, there may not be any worries either. This is what I call a “Get Right Game”, a game that serves one whole purpose; get right. Sports is predicated on momentum. If the Browns hand the Lions their tails on Sunday, things will tick upward in the right direction.

Yet, these five players need to step up.

These are five players who need big games against the Lions

Baker Mayfield

Fans are irrationally mad at Baker Mayfield, mostly because he’s an easy target and is always on someone’s radar. The nature of modern sports is to constantly call for a quarterback’s head and demand an instant replacement as if that will somehow magically fix the issues. Mayfield isn’t the issue, but there are many. If Mayfield can have a big game against a hobbled Lions club, then the talk will die down. The Browns need to rip through the Lions and Mayfield needs to be the one to lead the charge.

Jarvis Landry

Last year, the talk around Jarvis Landry was that the Browns should move on from him and not Odell Beckham Jr. The talk was about how slow Landry had become following his hip injury. He was never fast, to begin with, but now he’s running slower 40-times than tight ends. Landry was someone I advocated for due to his assuredness with his catching. That skill set is no longer there, at least to the degree it was. He needs to start proving he’s the same guy he used to be because he’s playing anything but that.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

The rookie’s been playing well this year, when he’s healthy, that was until the Patriots game. There wasn’t a single person who looked good in that game, including Owusu-Koramoah. If the Browns are going to find success during the last third of the season, which is very possible, guys like Owusu-Koramoah have to start playing like their pre-draft hype said they could.

Greg Newsome

See Jeremiah Owusu-Koramah.

Jedrick Wills

Jedrick Wills has officially fallen from “serviceable starter” to “it’s time to think about long-term options”. Jedrick Wills has a PFF score of just 58.5. He’s a Top 10 NFL Draft Pick, and he’s got a terrible PFF grade. That’s not good. How not good is it? He’s the worst graded offensive line starter the Browns have. Worse than Blake Hance, and Hance has proven he’s a guard, not a tackle. The offensive line cannot thrive if there is but one weak link and the Browns have two, but no one is weaker than Wills through these games. He needs to start stepping up because too many great players were passed over for him.