The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Browns aim to stay grounded
The Browns were 7-4 after beating the Falcons, 26-24, on Nov. 23, 2014. All Browns Nation was thrilled about what Mike “Blunt Force Trauma” Pettine was doing in his first season as head coach.
Oh, how things have gone south since that momentous day in Atlanta.
The Browns are 6-55-1 since beating the Falcons four years ago.
They are 2-5-1 and on a four-game losing streak this season. The odds of them turning the compass north when they host the Falcons at 1 p.m. Nov. 11 at FirstEnergy Stadium are not good.
The Falcons are a modest 4-4, but they have won three straight. Matt Ryan has completed 70.8 percent of his passes while throwing 19 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.
The Browns, meanwhile, have been decimated by injuries on defense. Cornerback Denzel Ward has shaken off a hip injury and defensive back Damarious Randall, likely to play cornerback, has recovered from a groin injury. Linebacker Joe Schobert will start after missing three games with a hamstring injury, but linebacker Christian Kirksey (hamstring) and cornerback E.J. Gaines (concussion) are on injured reserve.
“(Ryan) is very accurate,” said Browns head coach Gregg Williams. “Our work’s cut out for us. You can’t fool those kinds of guys that many times. It’s about execution and who can out execute each other.
“(Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones) has a body like a lot of tight ends in the league. He can separate himself from coverage because he’s bigger than most guys who have to cover him.”
Jones has 60 catches for 933 yards, but, oddly, only one touchdown catch. Calvin Ridley leads Atlanta with seven touchdown catches.
As potent as the Atlanta offense is, Falcons coach Dan Quinn is concerned about the Browns’ propensity for taking the ball away. The Browns lead the NFL with 23 steals on 13 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries.
“Their ability to create takeaways at the rate that they’ve done – it really is setting a high standard,” Quinn said on a conference call. “To be at +11 in turnover margin at the halfway mark, that’s just really good, kick-ass football. That jumped out to me first.
“Now some of those turnovers and takeaways are caused by the pass rush. The sack-forced fumble, the tipped pass that gets returned - we certainly see the way they can get after the QB.”
The Browns tried to minimize Kansas City’s possessions last week by playing ball-control and will try the same thing against Atlanta. The plan worked in that the Chiefs had only three first half possessions before getting the ball with 26 seconds left in the second quarter. The problem for the Browns was the Chiefs scored a touchdown each time on drives of 95, 75 and 75 yards.
Rookie running back Nick Chubb gives the Browns reason to believe a grind-it-out game plan can work. Chubb rushed a season high 22 times against the Chiefs for 85 yards.
“It’s very rare for him to get taken down by one player,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “The extra yards once he hits the pile and pushes it – it goes a long way. It wears down on a defense when they think they have him wrapped up, but he pushes it another four yards. It’s the shortest of gains when it comes down to it, but it’s huge in the long run for moving the chains.”
Chubb leads the Browns with 403 rushing yards on 74 carries.