Cleveland Browns: 5 Bold predictions in Week 8 vs. Raiders

5. Defense has its best day of 2020

While it’s true this 5-2 start for the Cleveland Browns has been fantastic, not everything has been pretty. Week 7 was a perfect example of that as they got the win and did so in dramatic fashion. Fans absolutely loved seeing Baker Mayfield hit Donovan Peoples-Jones in the end zone for the game-winner, but maybe it should have never come to that.

With just under five minutes to play, Mayfield hit Kareem Hunt for a go-ahead score and Cleveland just needed one stop to win the game. They nearly had that as Joe Burrow threw a pass that landed right in the hands of Terrance Mitchell, but he dropped the ball. This afforded Burrow a second chance, which he gladly took.

The end result was a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Giovani Bernard touchdown to put Cincy ahead 34-31. It was a frustrating drive for the defense but it was also the norm for them. Cleveland has struggled on that side of the ball and on Sunday they gave up 468 yards to Burrow and the Bengals — but did force two turnovers which might have been the difference. In fact, if it weren’t for their ability to create turnovers, they might not have been able to win any of their games this season.

This coming week, look for that to change. The Browns know their defense needs to be better if they want to continue to win and in this first bold prediction, they do just that as they hold the Raiders to under 275 total yards of offense. That would be their most successful game in the 2020 season, and it would be a welcome sight.