Dledbetter@ajc.com

FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons have rebounded from their 1-4 sunken place with three straight wins, including an impressive 38-14 pummeling of the NFC East first-place Redskins last week.

Now, the Falcons (4-4) face the psychological challenge of maintaining their momentum against the dysfunctional Browns, who are 2-6-1, have a rookie quarterback, dropped four straight games and recently fired their coach and offensive coordinator.

The Falcons plan to insert newly signed Bruce Irvin into the pass-rush attack to get after Baker Mayfield, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. “The guy was the No. 1 pick for a reason,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “He’s really talented. But you kind of just prepare for what they’ve shown. The narrative of preparing for an older guy versus a younger guy is not a conversation that we are having. We know that he has incredible arm talent, and we are going to try to get after him.”

Stopping Chubb

Browns rookie running back Nick Chubb, of Cedartown and Georgia, will make his third start.

Chubb has rushed 74 times for 403 yards and four touchdowns. He’s caught 3 of 7 targets in the passing game for 15 yards.

“He’s had some nice chunk runs,” Browns interim coach Gregg Williams said. “He’s a smart guy. He’s a tough guy. I think he’s only going to get better, too.”

Jarrett is familiar with Chubb. When he was a senior at Clemson, he played against Georgia when Chubb was a freshman.

“He’s a guy who’s a really strong runner,” Jarrett said. “He had a great college career and is having a great pro career so far. He’s definitely going to be a challenge.”

Keep rushing attack rolling

The Falcons will try to keep their rushing attack rolling against the Browns, who give up 138.9 yards per game, which ranks 29th of 32 teams in the league.

The Falcons rushed 24 times for 154 yards, the second-highest output of the season against the Redskins.

The Falcons rushed 32 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers in Week 2 for their top output of the season. The run game had been sketchy in the six games in between.

The Falcons took over the Redskins game with a pounding ground attack to open the third quarter.

“Yeah, we talked about that at halftime,” right tackle Ryan Schraeder said. “We had to come back out strong and make sure they weren’t going to come back in the game. I felt that was a great way to do that.”

The Falcons offensive linemen are coached by Chris Morgan and assistant offensive line coach Kyle Flood.

“It was very rewarding, obviously, at the same time we know what we can do,” Schraeder said. “It’s expected every week and we’ve got to work toward that same goal. You can’t be satisfied.”

Three key matchups

Falcons LT Jake Matthews vs. Browns DE Myles Garrett: Matthews and Garrett’s stays at Texas A&M didn’t overlap. Matthew’s younger brother Mike played with Garrett, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft in 2017. “I’m excited for the challenge,” Matthews said. Garrett is 6 feet 4 and 272 pounds and has nine sacks and three

■ The Browns, after a promising start, have dropped four straight.

■ Coach Hue Jackson (Falcons offensive coordinator in 2007) and offensive coordinator Todd Haley were fired by the Browns on Oct. 29. Williams was named the interim head coach.

■ It will be the 15th regular-season meeting between the teams. The Browns lead the series 11-3. The Browns have won three of the past four meetings.

JASON MILLER / GETTY IMAGES Browns rookie running back Nick Chubb, a former UGA star from Cedartown, has rushed for 403 yards and four touchdowns on 74 carries this season.