3 areas where Cleveland Browns must improve before Thursday
By Greg Newland
After a disastrous loss on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns have a short week to get rid of the feeling. These 3 items will need to be cleaned up if they want to win.
If you are reading this, you’re more than aware of what happened to the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. It’s easy to cheer that the entire AFC North lost so it doesn’t matter, but the Browns missed a golden opportunity. If you play that scenario out 100 times, the Browns win 99 of them.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, Nick Chubb shouldn’t have scored, Cade York should have made the extra point, and the defense certainly should have given more resistance than a wet paper bag. The past is the past and it’s time to move on.
This week now becomes a pivotal moment in the season. Another winnable game at home vs. a division rival. The Browns could come out and lay an egg or could come out guns blazing and really play well. I wouldn’t be shocked by either type of performance.
Players lost the game last week, but how this team comes out on Thursday night will be a lot of coaching. Can Kevin Stefanski and the staff work through the mental chaos of last week and get ready for the biggest game of the year so far? Here are three areas the Browns will have to improve on if they want to win Thursday night.
Where Cleveland Browns need to improve
No. 3: Pass Rush
Not only was zero pass rush a killer at the end of the game on Sunday, but the Cleveland Browns will also be without Jadeveon Clowney and Chase Winovich on Thursday night. Myles Garrett continues to cause a lot of problems, but he just got too tired to close out the game.
Guys like Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas are going to see a lot of snaps and have a real chance to make a name for themselves. Mitch Trubisky and the Steelers offense have struggled all season, but they could catch fire quickly with a little momentum and no pass rush.
So far this season we have seen hardly any blitzes from Joe Woods as well. To keep Trubisky on his toes, expect to see a few more pressures from the edge with blitzing safeties and linebackers.