Cleveland Browns: Couldn’t be more ‘on to Cincinnati’ after blowout

The Cleveland Browns need to move on from Sunday’s loss

Sunday’s Week 6 loss for the Cleveland Browns to the Pittsburgh Steelers was pretty doggone disheartening. Yes, the Browns had a number of players sidelined due to injury. Yes, Baker Mayfield was battling through a rib injury.

But did we really expect a 38-7 drubbing to Pittsburgh? That didn’t seem to be in the cards, even with those circumstances, no.

Mayfield, who struggled mightily, was 10-of-18 for 119 yards, and had one touchdown, albeit he had two stinker interceptions. And Mayfield was sacked four times by a Steelers pass rush that leads the NFL in the key pressure/sack total statistics.

That said, as DPD’s Sam Penix detailed, Mayfield has given cause for concern, but the Browns shouldn’t just give up on him when looking onward.

That Pittsburgh rush is a unique one around the league right now, anyhow, and Mayfield’s injury couldn’t have helped. Him eventually being replaced by Case Keenum was a sensible move it seemed, too.

Conversely, while Cleveland’s turnovers didn’t aid the defense’s standpoint in those moments, nor did the Browns’ lack of offensive rhythm most of the way, James Conner and Pittsburgh were very efficient as well for much of the time.

In any case, when looking at this coming week’s contest for Cleveland, one thing immediately came to mind for the Orange and Brown. That was a classic tagline of legendary New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, in the Pats then in 2014 after they were bludgeoned by the Kansas City Chiefs.

From there, the Pats, who were “on to Cincinnati,” per Belichick, would then regroup and beat up on the then-3-0 Bengals, and get going; they would win the Super Bowl following that campaign.

With that sort of response in mind, the Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski need to have the same energy as Belichick did then this week after that awful product on Sunday.

The Browns couldn’t be more “on to Cincinnati,” after that L

To put it bluntly, this Bengals team, as we all know, is not that Steelers squad. Cincinnati is 1-4-1, and will be in the cellar of the AFC North this season again.

Now, that’s not to say that Cincinnati hasn’t had their moments this season.

The Bengals lost narrowly to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, who are far better than their record, and Cincinnati at one point held a 21-0 lead at the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. This Bengals club has its share of playmakers, and unless you maybe live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of very promising rookie quarterback Joe Burrow.

And Burrow once again could very well have his way as a passer against a Cleveland Browns pass defense that has been vulnerable. In Cleveland’s Week 2 win, they did move the ball exceptionally well on the offensive side, but even while Burrow did throw it a whopping 61 times, he did have 316 yards and three touchdowns.

The key here for Cleveland, though, is again being able to get after Burrow in terms of pass rush, and Myles Garrett, Sheldon Richardson, and company had three sacks of Burrow in that one. He was also hit a ton, and eight times in fact and the Browns defensive line has a clear advantage there, one would assume. The rush defense will need to step up against Joe Mixon once again in this one, too, though.

And even with how Conner had 101 yards on 20 carries in Week 6, the Browns’ fourth-ranked run defense, of whom held Mixon to 46 yards on 16 carries in Week 2, is more than capable of bouncing back in that regard.

Anyway, swinging back to the offense, albeit Nick Chubb is obviously a key absence in this Browns-Bengals matchup, and let’s hope Wyatt Teller, who has had a tremendous start to 2020, can go this week. Even if that’s not the case, however, the Browns should be able to get Kareem Hunt going, and perhaps D’Ernest Johnson some, against Cincy’s 27th-ranked run defense.

And if the Browns get that rolling, which they definitely should, Cleveland should be able to get Mayfield some easy connections hopefully in response via play-action to Austin Hooper, Odell Beckham Jr. and others.

Moreover, the Browns should be just fine in this game. Cincinnati won’t be a pushover by any means, but the Browns can’t let their past game have an impact on this game. Frankly, even if Mayfield is not able to go, of which he reportedly should be and will as of now, as DPD’s Randy Gurzi noted, Cleveland should be able to win this one with Keenum starting if needed.

Here, the Cleveland Browns couldn’t be more “on to Cincinnati.” Take care of business by any means necessary, Browns, and move to 5-2. This past game was, after all, one game.