Browns vs. Titans: 3 things to watch for on Sunday

The Cleveland Browns host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Here are three keys to watch for as the Browns look for their first win of the season.

The Cleveland Browns will look to break a six-game losing streak on Sunday when they host the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium.

While it is hard to say any matchup is favorable for a club that is in the midst of a 1-21 streak, the Titans present at least a reasonable opportunity for a win. The Browns have won two of the past three meetings, and five of the past eight, against Tennessee, so a good showing by the guys in brown and orange on Sunday could result in the first victory of the season.

To pull that off, here are three things to watch for during Sunday’s tilt.

Browns run defense vs. Titans running game

Tennessee comes into the game as the league’s second-best running team as they are averaging 137.7 yards per game. The Titans are averaging 4.8 yards per carry, which is third best in the NFL, and are rushing the ball 27.5 times per game on average.

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They are also coming off a win last Monday night where the Titans ran for 168 yards behind running back Derrick Henry’s 131 rushing yards. In their three wins this season, the Titans have rushed for 179, 195 and 168 yards, so it is pretty clear what they want to do on offense.

The Browns will counter that with a unit that is giving up just three yards per carry, which just so happens to be tied with the Denver Broncos for the best mark in the NFL.

Cleveland may be catching a break as Titans running back DeMarco Murray is questionable with a hamstring injury, and quarterback Marcus Mariota is also dealing with a balky hamstring, which could limit his mobility.

If the Browns can control the running game and force the Titans into a passing offense, that could go a long way toward securing a win. However, there are complications with that, which leads to the second key.

Cleveland’s secondary is hurting

When Friday’s injury report came out it listed three starters in the secondary as having injury issues.

Cornerback Jason McCourty is questionable with an ankle injury suffered in practice, safety Jabrill Peppers is questionable with a toe injury, and while he did not receive an official designation, cornerback Jamar Taylor was limited all week with a rib injury.

Of the three it sounds like McCourty is in the most danger of missing Sunday’s game. If he can’t go the Browns will turn to Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who continues to be a nightmare for opposing wide receivers.

But if McCourty can’t play and Taylor or Peppers go out of the game, the Browns could be in trouble.

The return of DeShone Kizer

Head coach Hue Jackson gave rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer a timeout at halftime of the Week 5 game against the New York Jets and then benched him last week against the Houston Texans in favor of quarterback Kevin Hogan.

That was a bit of a disaster as Hogan threw three interceptions and finished with a quarterback rating of 38.1.

So now the Browns are back in the hands of Kizer, presumably for the rest of the season, but at this point you just never know.

On Wednesday Kizer mentioned how in the NFL it is important to talk less and do more, then on Friday reportedly called a meeting with members of the offense to talk about the need to do more.

The Titans present a potentially favorable matchup for Kizer because of their preference for playing a man defense.

According to Pro Football Focus, Tennessee plays man-to-man almost 50 percent of the time, a mark that only three other teams have surpassed. As for Kizer, his quarterback rating against man coverage is 67.6, which far surpasses what he does when facing a zone as his rating drops to 44.3 as six of his nine interceptions have come against zone coverage.

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Neither rating is very good, but if the Titans stick to man coverage there should be some plays to be made in the passing game.