Browns may be catching a break in Week 3 matchup with Jacoby Brissett

The Cleveland Browns might be catching a break on Sunday when they take on the Indianapolis Colts and inexperienced quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

The rebuilt defense of the Cleveland Browns could not have been tasked with a tougher situation to open the 2017 regular season.

The first two weeks saw the Browns facing quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens, who are now a combined 38-4 in games they have started against the Browns.

Given who they have played, the defense has held up relatively well, especially in the secondary as the grades from Pro Football Focus reveal. (Did someone say something about the Browns releasing their “best cornerback” prior to the season?)

The Browns are now entering a portion of the schedule where they have a stretch of games against potentially softer quarterback competition, starting Sunday against quarterback Jacoby Brissett and the Indianapolis Colts.

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With quarterback Andrew Luck still sidelined with a shoulder injury, the Colts traded for Brissett and threw him into the starter’s role for their Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals. Brissett was 20-of-37 for 216 yards an interception, but could only put up 13 points in what ultimately was an overtime loss.

Facing Brissett, a former third-string quarterback with the New England Patriots, rather than Luck would seem to favor the Browns, but that comes with a caveat.

With another week of practice, Brissett reportedly has a better grasp of the playbook, which will allow the Colts to take more “calculated risks” in the passing game, Indianapolis head coach Chuck Pagano told colts.com:

"“You’ve got to definitely know what the risk is versus the reward, and when the opportunity presents itself, you’ve definitely got to try and capitalize.”"

It will be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has the Browns defense attack a quarterback who is making just his fourth NFL start. Against the Ravens and Steelers, Williams had the safeties lining up as much as 30-yards off the line of scrimmage, which opened up a wide swath of the field that Flacco and Roethlisberger repeatedly exploited.

That could change on Sunday, however, if the Browns believe that Brissett is still not embracing the full offense, despite what Pagano said.

The Browns, for the most part, have held their own on defense through the first two weeks of the season. Things should get easier on Sunday against the Colts.

Next: Browns in no rush to ignite the running game

Of course, this still being the Browns, the idea of anything coming easy is always a dicey proposition.