4 Patriots that the Browns need to have a plan for in Week 6
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In a battle of 2-3 AFC teams, the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots will meet at FirstEnergy Stadium in this Week 6 matchup. Here are 4 Patriots that should be on Cleveland’s radar.
The Cleveland Browns find themselves in a tough position after five games. Sitting at 2-3 they are staring down the barrel of a must-win game in Week 6. It seems awfully early in the season to refer to games as must-win, but here we are.
The Browns welcome a New England Patriots team that is also sitting at 2-3 to the shores of Lake Erie on Sunday. The Patriots are coming off a 29-0 drubbing of the Detroit Lions that saw them run for 176 yards. Conversely, the Browns gave up 213 rushing yards to the Los Angeles Chargers who were struggling to run the ball coming into the game.
Both opponents are going to be looking at this game on Sunday as a must-win. For the Browns the mission is simple, keep your offense rolling and limit mistakes and missed tackles on defense. But as we have seen, simple does not equal easy. Here are four Patriots that Cleveland needs to have a plan in place for if they want to get to .500.
4 Patriots that you need to watch against the Browns
No. 4: Jakobi Meyers
Nobody is going to confuse the Patriots’ offense with ‘the greatest show on turf’ but that’s not their intent. The Patriots, much like the Browns, are a run-first offense and everything they do builds off of that. However, they do have a high-volume receiver that compliments the ball control offense that they run, in Jakobi Meyers.
Meyers is a perfect receiver for what New England wants to do. He’s a solid route runner with strong hands that knows how to make himself available to the quarterback and is a willing blocker in the run game. In other words, Meyers is all kinds of annoying to deal with for defensive backs.
The Patriots have yet to announce who their starting quarterback is going to be this Sunday in Cleveland, but Meyers isn’t quarterback-dependent. If the Patriots put rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe out there for his second start, Meyers will still be their primary weapon in the passing game. Last week with Zappe at the helm, Meyers caught seven of his eight targets for 111 yards against the Lions.
Cleveland is going to be facing this New England offense with pro bowl cornerback Denzel Ward out due to the concussion protocol. The defense will roll on with Greg Newsome and M.J. Emerson as their starting cornerbacks. The Patriots move Meyers around, so both corners will get their opportunities to keep Meyers from moving the chains.
Last year, when the Browns traveled to Foxboro, Meyers caught all four of his targets for 49 yards and a touchdown. It was his first career touchdown, and it came from the arm of Brian Hoyer. So regardless of who quarterbacks the Patriots, the Browns are going to need to keep tabs on Jakobi Meyers.