Cleveland Browns: Alvin Kamara is enemy No. 1
By Randy Gurzi
With the Cleveland Browns facing the New Orleans Saints it would easy to think Drew Brees and Michael Thomas should be the main focus, but it might be Alvin Kamara who they need to keep their eye on
Week 2 presents quite the problem for the Cleveland Browns as they visit the New Orleans Saints. A week after tying with AFC North rival Pittsburgh, the Browns are still looking for their first win since 2016.
Getting that win against the Saints won’t be an easy task, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Cleveland has new weapons on offense that can help them win games. Do they have the same firepower as the explosive Saints offense? No.
But they do have a strong running back committee and can control the clock with the trio of Carlos Hyde, Duke Johnson, and Nick Chubb. Doing that keeps the Saints on the sidelines which limits how many chances Drew Brees has to hurt them.
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Still, the Saints will get their chances and the Cleveland defense has to be up to the task. They have to have Myles Garrett playing like he did last week and getting after Brees. They also need rookie Denzel Ward to step up against Michael Thomas.
As good as those two are, and even though it’s important to gameplan against them, they aren’t the biggest threats to the Browns in Week 2. Public enemy No. 1 on Sunday afternoon has to be Alvin Kamara.
In their loss in Week 1, Kamara went for three touchdowns — two of which came on the ground. He didn’t register a lot of yardage on the ground with New Orleans trailing most the game, but he did rack up more than 100 yards receiving on nine receptions.
Cleveland struggled with James Conner on the Steelers as he racked up 135 yards rushing and 57 receiving. While Conner isn’t a bad player by any means, Kamara is at another level.
Next. Dez Bryant, holding on line 2. dark
If the Browns want to secure their first win, they have to bottle him up. Even then, the Saints won’t be easy to beat, but they were 7-9 three seasons in a row before Kamara and the running game exploded in 2017.
Slow him down, and there’s a chance to score the upset.