Cleveland Browns vs Chargers Predictions: Looking to stay undefeated at home

Writer: Elliot Kennel

The Browns are entertaining the Los Angeles Chargers this week on the shore of Lake Erie. Should we be impressed? The Chargers began the season by getting pasted by the Kansas City Chiefs, which is not a disgrace this year, then they came back to beat a very bad the Buffalo Bills team that deposed not one, not two, but three starting quarterbacks by Game 2 (Tyrod Taylor in the offseason, A.J. McCarron in pre-season and Nathan Peterman in Game 1). That should impress Browns fans. Anyway, the Chargers beat a team featuring an inexperienced rookie quarterback in Josh Allen. Then they got clobbered by the cross-town Los Angeles Rams, which was pretty much expected.

Then they barely squeaked by the San Francisco 49ers, who by consensus are one of the worst teams in the NFL after losing starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo due to injury. Finally, they soundly beat Oakland, a team that the Browns should have beaten by 30 points were it not for the intrepid efforts of the referees. Maybe the Raiders are not that good. So the Chargers find themselves at a respectable 3 and 2, with 0 impressive wins. They posed no credible threat to the two good teams that they faced. Is that good enough to beat the Baker Mayfield led Cleveland Browns?

The Chargers feature Philip Rivers a superstar buried on an untalented team for most of his career. While he deserves the greatest respect, he is 36 years old now, and not as mobile as he once was. The Chargers have done a good job keeping him upright, giving up only 7 sacks so far this year, with a line anchored by perpetual Pro-Bowl Left Tackle Russel Okung. However, the Chargers have not had to face anyone like Myles Garrett, Larry Ogunjobi, Genard Avery and Jamie Collins. If not getting sacks, they will at least force Rivers to move out of the pocket and throw on the run. This is not good for him, and he is going to find that he needs to buy a lot of time to get his receivers open versus Cleveland’s surprisingly formidable secondary. Hence Rivers may not have his career day on Sunday.

Led by tailbacks Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler, the Chargers rushed for 578 rushing yards. That is very impressive. However, as impressive as the stats are, Charger opponents have also hung numbers on the Charger D. Opposing quarterbacks have an average passer rating of 99.5 versus the Chargers, meaning that the average quarterback is roughly as formidable as Aaron Rodgers. Put it this way, if you play fantasy football and have a chance to start your guy at home against San Diego, do it. This week the beneficiary of bad Charger defense will be Baker Mayfield and the Browns.

The Browns, meanwhile, are not exactly helpless in the running game with Carlos Hyde, Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson leading the way for a total of 723 rushing yards. Mayfield cannot be compared to Philip Rivers in terms of his quarterbacking ability at present, but Mayfield nevertheless hung up 343 yards on the Ravens defense, which is much stronger than the Chargers defense. Despite the fact that he is a rookie, Mayfield is amazingly quick with his decision making and fast and accurate with his throws. He will continue to put up numbers against a week Charger Defense. This is so not Brandon Weeden 2.0.

No, the Chargers are imposters, and the Browns are going to expose them. The Browns will roll up 500 yards in total offense. Even the officials will give up trying to think of ways to save the Chargers.

Final Score: Cleveland Browns 30 Los Angeles Chargers 17