The Cleveland Browns will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12 and while they’re not going to be favored, there are a few reasons to believe they can win
At 3-7, the Cleveland Browns are officially starring down the barrel of next season. I have tried to stay positive as long as possible, but after losing six of their last seven games the playoffs are out of the question.
But, with only one week before the return of Deshaun Watson, this team does get more intriguing. After another difficult week of players making subtle callouts of coaching, it will certainly be interesting to see how this team reacts. It’s safe to say there was an embarrassing feeling after the loss last week, so hopefully, the team is up to the challenge.
The Buccaneers continue to be the team who is supposed to be contenders, but at 5-5, they haven’t been blowing the doors off people either. Here are three reasons the Browns can win on Sunday.
3 reasons the Browns can beat the Bucs in Week 12
3. Tampa Bay’s offense isn’t what it used to be
The Tampa Bay season has been filled with ups and downs. They really don’t have an impressive win to their name, and they also have losses to the Panthers and Steelers who have both struggled tremendously so far.
Tom Brady will certainly go down as one of the greatest of all time to play the game, but it feels like he has finally lost a step or two. Between aging and injuries at wide receiver, this Bucs offense is nowhere near the threat that it used to be.
Through 10 games the Bucs’ offense has scored more than 30 points just once (which was in a loss), and on three different occasions, they have scored 20 or fewer points. While the thought of playing Brady used to make defenses lose sleep, Joe Woods could actually use this game to get his team back on track.
2. Cleveland has played better than it seems
While the Cleveland Browns record isn’t anywhere close to what they want it to be, this team has actually been able to keep games close and play well. The biggest issue is they can’t put a full game of good play together.
The Buffalo Bills last week are a perfect example. For a quarter and a half, the defense was fantastic, for three quarters the offense moved the ball very well. But for more than 15 minutes of game time, the team looked like a junior varsity squad.
Early in the season the Browns also had games vs. the Jets, Falcons, and Chargers that easily could have been wins. Even if they get two of those, they are sitting at 5-5 vs. 3-7 with a real shot at the playoffs with Watson returning.
I still have a ton of questions about the mental toughness of this defense, but I think they could show up to the occasion for a full game on Sunday. If Myles Garrett can turn up the heat on Brady, it will make life for the secondary that much easier with less time in coverage. The Buccaneers have had a lackluster run game all season, so let’s hope that doesn’t turn on Sunday.
As down as I am on this team, the only game they’ve really been blown out of the water was against the Patriots. It’s actually almost impressive the different ways they have found to lose close games.
1. Bucs games have been close most of the year
I mentioned it earlier, but the Bucs have been a part of a ton of close games this year and truly don’t have an impressive win to their name other than Week 1 vs. the Cowboys. The Cleveland Browns have struggled to close games out this season, but that could all change on Sunday.
In the last six weeks, they only have two wins vs. the Falcons and shorthanded Rams, but two of the four losses were vs. the Steelers and Panthers who are currently bottom feeders of the league. In those two wins, they won by a combined eight points which is not the way Brady saw this season going.
There’s no doubt that Brady has the clutch gene that could be problematic at the end of the game, but this team is actually a great matchup for the Browns. Our struggling defense will get an opportunity vs. a struggling offense, and Jacoby Brissett has proven he can score even against the league’s best defenses.
I’ll always be nervous if Brady gets the ball in his hands at the end of the game and only needs one score to win, but the Browns running game could finally be the difference maker as they grind out the clock in the fourth quarter of a close game.
Even though this season has been disappointing the Browns faithful will still show up big and a great Cleveland crowd will help lead this team to victory on Sunday.
4 Cleveland Browns who have offered almost nothing in 2022
As disappointing as the 2022 Cleveland Browns have been, these four players have continued to have little production all season.