3 bold predictions as Cleveland Browns host Jacksonville in Week 14
• The Warden is Back
• Expect a lot of passes
By Randy Gurzi
1. Cleveland Browns will throw it twice as much as they run it
Easily the hottest debate amongst Browns fans and even members of the Cleveland media is the play-calling. Kevin Stefanski has always been a fan of passing the ball and that's led to a lot of criticism — especially when the calls don't work. After each loss, there's a discussion about how many times the team dropped back and passed.
This past week, the Browns ended up with a decent stat line when it comes to running but they started slow. Once the pass got rolling, the ground game took off. That led to play-action and the offense was looking good. Still, some thought there were too many passes, but when facing a team with Aaron Donald, it's somewhat understandable.
No matter where you sit on the debate, it's hard to argue against attacking a team's weaknesses and avoiding their strengths — again, why Stefanski went after the Los Angeles secondary and not their massive D-linemen. This week, it could be more of the same against the Jaguars.
Heading into this one, the Jaguars have proven to be a strong run defense. They've given up just 1,117 yards on the ground, which is fifth-best in the NFL. Conversely, their pass defense is a complete mess.
The Jaguars have given up 3,140 passing yards which is one of the worst totals in the NFL. Right now, they're ranked 30th, meaning only two teams are worse against the pass. With that being the case, we should expect Cleveland to use a similar strategy they had in L.A. — pass to set up the run.
That's one of the reasons it would make sense for Joe Flacco to remain the starter since he can stretch the field. If that's how things unfold and he leads them to a win, everyone will be happy. But if they lose, expect another week of complaints about not running the ball enough. Against an elite run defense.