3 reasons the Cleveland Browns can keep their playoff hopes alive vs. the Miami Dolphins

The Cleveland Browns can beat the Miami Dolphins.

The Cleveland Browns have the Miami Dolphins in Miami this week, and it starts a Murderer’s Row of tough teams. The Browns go from Miami, up to Buffalo for the Bills and back to Cleveland for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Just one loss sets the 3-5 Browns to the brink of playoff elimination, with two closing the door and all three ending the season.

It is imperative the team beats one, if not two teams over the stretch of the next three games. The Bills are waiting on Josh Allen’s health, while the Buccaneers are inconsistent but still deadly. Both are winnable games.

Truthfully, the Dolphins, might not be. The Browns can, of course, on any given Sunday any team can win and we’ve seen that before. Heck, the New York Jets beating the Browns in Week 2, at the time, constituted such a win. So the Browns can pull off the upset, and this is why it may be possible to do just that.

Three reasons the Cleveland Browns can survive against the Miami Dolphins

The Browns can run on the Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins have only faced two really good running teams so far in the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets. Both teams went for 135+ yards against the Dolphins, thus proving the team can’t really stop the run when a team is good at it. The Browns are very good at it and that poses a problem for the Dolphins defense.

One-dimensional Miami offense

Now, the Dolphins aren’t going to run on any team, so if you can get to the quarterback, which many teams can’t you can disrupt the offense. It won’t be easy. The Dolphins don’t need to run, not with Jaylen Waddle and Tyreke Hill. The Browns have got to get to the quarterback or the Dolphins will rip through the Browns.

Clock management

The Dolphins can score fast and that’s a great thing if you’re facing a team much like yourself. When you’re facing the Browns, however, you’re in for a boring affair. The Browns are going to run the ball, kill the clock and do everything they can to keep the opposing offense off the field. That’s the best way to handle the Dolphins, but they’re going to need to score touchdowns constantly because otherwise, the team will be unable to keep up with the Dolphins’ output. In fact, the Browns would be wise to take the ball to start the game, that way they can set the pace and aren’t playing catch up with the Dolphins.