Cleveland Browns: 3 takeaways from Week 8 loss to Las Vegas Raiders
By Sam Penix
This team needs the bye week
The Browns are beat-up and in need of a break. Myles Garrett is dealing with a nagging ankle injury and also hurt his knee against Las Vegas. Jacob Phillips has missed five games with a knee injury. Greedy Williams is still on injured reserve, his status with a shoulder issue still unknown.
5-3 at the bye is a good achievement, but there is still plenty of work to be done. Reinforcements will be coming in the form of Nick Chubb, the NFL’s best runner, Austin Hooper, a two-time Pro Bowl tight end, and Wyatt Teller, who was playing like the league’s best guard before suffering a calf strain back in Week 5.
Cleveland will play some solid teams over these last eight weeks, including the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tennessee Titans. But they also play the Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and New York Jets, giving them one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league.
The Browns now have a chance to rest, heal up, and get ready for a real playoff push, something that the city of Cleveland hasn’t had in a while, at least not football-wise.
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Things are far from perfect, but the Cleveland Browns are still 5-3. As long as they take care of business against the teams they’re better than, they will make the playoffs. With all that’s happened over the past calendar year, every Browns fan should be thrilled with that result.