Cleveland Browns: Baker’s Browns ready to inflict The Spoil
By Mike Lukas
The Cleveland Browns are visiting the Denver Broncos in Week 15. Are Baker Mayfield and the boys ready to spoil the Broncos postseason hopes?
Long ago, it was The Drive, then The Fumble, so how about this Sunday we add The Spoil.
The Cleveland Browns have had a frustrating history of getting their playoff lunch money stolen by the big mean Denver Broncos.
Be nice to get even in Week 15 and spoil Denver’s post-season hopes and dreams for once.
The 6-7 Broncos are clinging onto the AFC’s tenth playoff seed while the 5-7-1 Browns are the eleventh seed and climbing. A win in Denver and the Browns bum rush ahead leaving the Broncos hopelessly behind to stew in the rancid juices of The Spoil.
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And when that happens, Browns fans get to collectively shout: So how’s it feel, Elway?
Little wins, every day, says interim head coach Gregg Williams.
Even the petty ones, says Browns fans tired of forever being the spoilee.
Even the oddsmakers are squeamish about this Week 15 matchup – they’re only giving the underdog Browns 2.5 points, so they must think this away game in the thin air of Mile High will be close.
Of course, fifty-three Broncos strongly disagree, none more violently than their two quarterback-quashing linebackers Bradley Chubb and Von Miller, who together have 25.5 sacks and some well-earned confidence.
Chances are, Browns rookie quarterback and guy who prefers to remain vertical Baker Mayfield isn’t too frightened. Sure, in his first six-and-a-half professional games, he was sacked 22 times, but Baker has ransack amnesia, the ability to forget that you’ve been repeatedly brutal-chucked to the ground.
All the GOATS tend to have it.
Even easier to forget those initial 3.3 sacks per game when for the last four games the offensive line has only allowed one.
A lot of that is thanks to offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchen’s game plans, which tend to give Mayfield the option to get rid of the ball a lot quicker.
Mayfield will most likely get sacked on Sunday – the question is how often and whether those sacks affect his confidence and ability to distribute the ball to his playmakers.
Browns defense also has a big job to do: stop double threat running back Phillip Lindsay.
Easier said than done – the man has almost 200 touches, 1,177 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns, and by man I mean rookie playing like a highly paid veteran. Like Mayfield is. And Chubb. And Ward. And Callaway.
The bad news – Browns are ranked 28th against the run, so Williams had best figure out how to get his D-squad to cover those gaps a whole lot better.
The good news – Broncos no longer have their best two wide receivers: Pro-Bowler Emmanuel Sanders (Achilles) and All-Pro Demaryius Thomas (traded in October to Texans for their fourth-round selection and a seventh-round selection swap).
Instead, they have two rookies, Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton, who will be covered by a Browns secondary that will not include cornerback Denzel Ward (concussion).
The Broncos have a little playoff lunch money and on Sunday for once the Browns are going to take it.
Week 15 predictions. dark. Next
And who knows, maybe The Spoil leads to The Redemption.
And by redemption I mean the playoffs after going 1-31 and enduring two-decades of unrelenting hopelessness.
How great would that feel, Browns fans?
The Spoil: Browns 27, Broncos 20