The Cleveland Browns will take on the defending Super Bowl champs Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon. The Browns have wasted away the season as they have a pathetic 3-10 record. In contrast, the Chiefs continue to be the Chiefs and win regardless of circumstance and have a 12-1 record. They also have world pop star Taylor Swift cheering for them and her boyfriend, tight end for Kansas City Travis Kelce. Kelce grew up in Cleveland so there is speculation that Swift may be in Cleveland on Sunday.
There are still several storylines and questions on the Browns season so let’s look at a few of those now in our 1st and Goal report.
1st and goal: Will the Browns game plan offensively be more balanced?
The Cleveland offense has been very off balanced most of the season, especially these last few games. They have been trying to throw the ball way too much and that has led to some of the reasons this team isn’t winning.
Earlier in the week, their primary running back Nick Chubb suggested he needed to do more to convince the coaching staff that the run game could be better.
However, while Chubb is the consummate pro, he shouldn’t have to “prove” to the coaches that the run game should be used more. He himself and his running abilities have been one of the main reasons this Browns team has had any mild success over the past seven seasons.
Their coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey have not been in synch all season long. While some will point to the various injuries of the offensive linemen this year, most of the issue has been because the coaches have not called good games and have abandoned the run game too many times.
2nd and goal: Look for Nick Chubb to a break a run or two
Nick Chubb continues to get better this season. After his horrific knee injury last season, he continues to look more like himself. He broke out for a 19-yard scamper last week in the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. His yards per carry improved to 4.8 also last week, just a touch off his career average of 5.1.
I hope that Chubb continues to get his opportunities even though this season is a wash. It’s important that he gets the game reps and builds on that going into next season.
Chubb is a free agent after the season. Some fans and analysts are suggesting we move on from him, but I certainly hope the organization knows the importance of Chubb to this team and keeps him in Cleveland.
3rd and goal: Kicking game is up in the air
The once-trusted Dustin Hopkins has failed mightily this season having missed nine field goals and several extra points. He signed a three-year contract with the team prior to the season after he had a terrific 2023 season. So, this has truly been a disaster this season. Kicking field goals is very much a mental game and Hopkins has hit that point where the team can’t trust him moving forward.
So, the team has brought in Riley Patterson to compete for the kicks in this game against the Chiefs.
Patterson came in a year ago when Hopkins was injured so we will see who enters the game for field goals on Sunday.
Maybe they put Hopkins out there first, but if he misses his first attempts, then they’d have Patterson
4th and goal: The weather could be frightful
The weather forecast calls for chilly rain with temperatures hovering in the low 40s. It won’t be another blizzard like a few weeks ago but it’s still ugly weather where taking care of the football will be imperative.
The Browns need to try and create turnovers in the game, and this is the type of game that that could happen.
Cleveland needs any advantage that it can get against Kansas City.
While the Chiefs are the champs of the NFL these last few years they haven’t been winning convincingly this season. They’ve been involved in a lot of last-second wins.
With the weather playing a factor in this one, I suspect it’ll come down to the wire again.
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