Scouting Ahead: Cleveland Browns week 7 opponent, Denver Broncos

The Cleveland Browns have a quick turnaround as they face the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football in Week 7. Here’s a look at who they will face.

The Cleveland Browns are 3-3 after a disappointing loss at home against the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The NFL officials once again appeared to be working against the Browns, more costly injuries to key starters took place, and Baker Mayfield struggled to both keep the ball and avoid hits.

A re-injury of his torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder has even cast doubt on his ability to play on a short turnaround this coming week.

A Thursday Night Football date with the Denver Broncos awaits the Browns at First Energy, their first prime time game of the season, and there is no guarantee that it will be a bounce-back game.

Here are the key factors going into Thursday night’s game.

The Broncos are reeling too

A strong start for Teddy Bridgewater and company is starting to look a bit like a fluke. The Broncos, albeit suffering from injuries, have regressed on both sides of the ball.

The defense has an impotent pass rush without the services of Bradley Chubb, and Bridgewater’s improvement over Drew Lock has only taken the offense so far. They too are 3-3, and both teams head into this matchup with something to prove to themselves and to the rest of the league. Both teams are looking up at their division rivals early in the season, desperate for a win to get back on track.

The Broncos loss to the Raiders on Sunday seemed to confirm their problems. Vic Fangio is on his last legs in his third season, failing even to be a team that had lost their head coach in a very high-profile manner.

This negative attention had no effect, and the loss exposed significant weaknesses in the team. The problem for the Browns is whether or not they’ll have their best personnel available to take advantage under the lights at home.