Cleveland Browns: 4 players key to Week 7 victory

Cleveland Browns key No. 1 – Myles Garrett

I hate to put so much pressure on a guy that has been fantastic all season, but Myles Garrett needs to have his best game yet. That doesn’t mean he needs to have five-plus sacks like he did vs. the Chicago Bears. But he needs to provide constant and quick pressure, draw double teams, and set the edge in the run game.

Myles is not the vocal leader on the field, but when he raises his level of play, you can see every single player on the defense step up. With an offense that could be missing so many pieces, it will be important for the Browns to not fall behind early.

A big sack by Garrett or a few pressures that lead to incompletions in the first couple of drives will really swing momentum and allow Joe Woods to tighten up the coverage. The good news, the cornerbacks finally appear to be healthy, so Woods may be ready to cut loose.

Pressure will be more important than ever this week because of JOK not being on the field. His athleticism allows the Browns to play more man coverage, especially with the Bronco’s tight end, Noah Fant, being so athletic.

Expect Garrett to step up in a big way. After a rumored “players only” meeting on Tuesday night, I think Garrett and the entire Browns defense will step up in a huge way Thursday.