CLEVELAND: The starting quarterback is injured and won’t be close to 100% even if he plays. The passing game isn’t delivering nearly enough big plays or points and the season has gotten desperate.
And you thought the victorious Detroit Lions had issues?
The Cleveland Browns have similar problems.
New England was rocked by an embarrassing, humble 38-point loss last week when Patriots coach Bill Belichick enjoyed a match with his former team, the Browns (5-5), in Sunday’s match against the Lions (0- 8-1) ) in the sideways season with no room for much fuss.
His hopes of winning the AFC North, making the playoffs and perhaps winning the Super Bowl title seem a bit far-fetched at the moment. But in a fruitless season in which elite teams are few and far between, anything seems possible.
Were within striking distance, Brown left guard Joel Bittonio, who has had more than a few roller-coaster rides in Cleveland since 2014. We weren’t where we wanted to be, but we have everything left. There is little room for error now, but were good.
Indeed, it’s hard to locate the Browns from one of the NFL’s most talented yet unpredictable teams.
Two weeks ago, they beat Cincinnati 41-16 in their most complete game of the season.
A week later, it was the exact opposite because the Browns couldn’t do anything right.
The past few days have been full of correction and reflection.
It’s a humbling process, said quarterback Baker Mayfield, who hopes to face the Lions despite shoulder, leg and knee injuries. “It’s so easy to look around and try to find excuses, but when it comes down to it we have seven more games to be able to figure out how to make it work.
And we have a lot of division games ahead of us, and that’s the most important part.
The Browns aren’t enough to take anyone lightly, especially the Lions, who managed a 16-16 tie in Pittsburgh last week and missed a shocking overtime to the Steelers.
Detroit is back from its bye week, emphasizing runs on offense and playing on defense with the same intensity that has kept the Lions in most games.
Bittonio played for Cleveland’s 0-16 team in 2017, when the Browns lost twice in the OT and lost four other games by four points or less.
He said Singh would not be ignored.
They work as hard as anyone, said Bittonio, who has warned his younger peers about the pitfalls of overconfidence. “It’s not like you’re in Alabama, just walk in and beat a team. Records don’t make sense. You come out, you have to perform.”
You just have these games where it’s like, oh, this team must win. But this is the NFL, so anything can happen.
goof off?
Struggling Lions starting quarterback Jared Goff sustained an oblique injury against the Steelers and missed several drills this week.
If Goff, rated league-low 27.3, fails to play, backup Tim Boyle will make the first start of his career. Boyle has been on reserve injured after breaking his thumb in the precision and undergoing surgery. He supported Aaron Rodgers at Green Bay for the last two seasons.
It’s hard for me to say, Hey, I can’t go, when I want to try to fight through it, Goff said. But, I have to be honest with myself too.
landry time
Unexpected issues on Cleveland’s offense can be partly to blame for Mayfield’s injuries, the messy release of Odell Beckham Jr., or the Browns just being overrated.
Whatever the case, he has scored 14 points or less in five of the last seven matches, and has not passed more than 217 yards in the last five.
Mayfield and offensive coordinator Alex van Pelt both believe that getting Jarvis Landry more involved will help.
The three-time Pro Bowler receiver, who missed four games with a knee injury, has just 23 catches for 219 yards and no touchdowns.
Mayfield said: “We’ll find ways to get the ball into No. 80’s hands and move on again.
Whether it’s a quick throw, a double trick or in a run game, Van Pelt said. Whatever, but he needs to touch the ball more, and we know about that.
alive and kicking
Detroit’s kicking issues are still kicking in.
After Ryan Santoso missed two crucial attempts in the previous week’s match, the Lions waived him and signed rookie Riley Patterson from the Patriots’ practice squad.
He is the team’s sixth and seventh kicker since the start of training camp.
Santoso widened an extra point in the third quarter at Pittsburgh and then missed a 48-yard field goal in overtime that would have ended the Lions’ victoryless slide.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said it’s hating them, but at the same time, that’s the nature of the business. Sometimes you only get two chances, and you have to perform if that’s your job description.
Patterson will fill in while Austin Seibert will remain on the injured reserve list for at least two more games with a hip injury.
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