5 bold predictions: Browns run wild on Seahawks in Week 8

At 4-2, the Cleveland Browns are about to head west to take on the Seattle Seahawks — who have an identical record.

Seattle is coming off a win over the Arizona Cardinals, which helped them erase the sting of a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in their prior outing. Before that one, they reeled off three wins in a row and have cemented themselves as a team to watch in the NFC.

Cleveland is entering this one on a two-game winning streak in which both games went down to the wire. They were also led by P.J. Walker who started against San Francisco and then had to relieve Deshaun Watson against Indianapolis. Against Seattle, he looks to lead them to a third win in a row with Watson already being ruled out. And if these five bold predictions come true, they could very well improve to 5-2.

5. Za'Darius Smith opens the flood gates with 2 more sacks

The numbers for Za'Darius Smith don't exactly stand out at this point but he's been getting the job done. Their starter across from Myles Garrett has been generating plenty of pressure on opposing quarterbacks but went into thei Week 7 contest without a sack.

He finally broke through at the end of the game and sacked Gardner Minshew, causing a fumble. The game was all but won at this point, but Smith made sure there were no Hail Marys that sent the Browns home upset.

Now that he finally got his first with the Browns, look for the flood gates to open. Smith should keep getting into the backfield and this prediction is that he sacks Geno Smith twice as Seattle pays for focusing too much on Garrett — which is hard not to do considering how he's playing.

4. Nick Harris catches a TD pass from one-yard out

One thing that’s stood out in recent weeks is the usage of backup center Nick Harris, who has been on the field several times in a new role. Harris, the fourth-year pro out of Washington, has been lining up as a fullback and has been very good in this role.

Harris has been helping lead the way on several runs and was out there when Kareem Hunt ran the game-winning touchdown on fourth down against the Indianapolis Colts. 

Considering how well he’s been performing in this role, the Browns are highly likely to keep using him this way. And as we’ve seen with Kevin Stefanski, he will never hesitate to throw a new wrinkle out there with such packages.

Last year, he proved this when he would bring Jacoby Brissett in to run a quarterback sneak in place of Deshaun Watson. After several conversions, he dialed up a pass and while Brissett misfired, the play was wide open.

Stefanski also did this with Harrison Bryant, who has been taking snaps under center this year on QB sneaks. The tight end had made a few conversions but against San Francisco, he actually tossed the ball to Hunt who ran it in for a touchdown.

This bold prediction is that Stefanski decides to dial up a pass to Harris, who finds himself wide open in the end zone. With defenses keying on him as a blocker, he should be able to come up with an easy touchdown if the play-action is sold well enough. 

3. Dustin Hopkins hits another 50-yard field goal

Last year, the Browns thought they solved their kicking dilemma for good when they used a fourth-round pick on LSU kicker Cade York. Known for his powerful leg, York was expected to be able to handle the tricky Cleveland weather with ease. 

That wasn’t what happened though as York struggled mightily in his rookie campaign. The coaching staff continued to support him throughout the offseason and elected not to bring in any competition. The hope here was that their faith would turn into a boost of confidence.

Clearly, that didn’t work as York was a mess in the preseason. Cleveland wound up releasing him and added Dustin Hopkins in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Hopkins has since gone on to become the best kicker this franchise has seen in over a decade. Entering Week 8, he’s 16-of-18 on field goals and is 7-of-7 from 50 yards or longer. He even drilled three from beyond 50 against Indianapolis, including a 58-yarder.

That performance earned him his second AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award and set history with him being the first kicker to hit from 50-plus in five consecutive games.

Looking ahead to the meeting in Seattle, there’s no reason to believe Hopkins is about to cool off. That’s why this prediction is that he will make it six games in a row with a kick longer than 50.

2. Pierre Strong tops 100 yards

The Browns have been dealing with several unfortunate injuries and while Deshaun Watson and his shoulder are dominating the news, they also recently lost Jerome Ford. Already filling in for Nick Chubb, who was lost for the season in Week 2, Ford suffered an ankle injury and will miss 1-2 weeks at least.

With him out, Pierre Strong and Kareem Hunt shared the load in Week 7 and did just enough to get the win. This week against Seattle, Strong is expected to take the majority of the workload with Hunt (who entered Week 7 banged up and questionable) continuing to serve in his complementary role.

Facing off against a top-10 run defense makes this seem like a tough task for any player, but Strong has risen to the occasion whenever an opportunity has been presented.

In Cleveland, the second-year running back has 21 attempts for 102 yards with a touchdown. That’s 4.9 yards per attempt, which is rather impressive. For his career, he’s now carried the ball 31 times for 202 yards with two touchdowns — an average of 6.5 yards per attempt. 

This bold prediction is that Strong again exceeds expectations and breaks out for more than 100 yards in his first major role on offense. 

1. Turnover valve remains open, Browns have 3 takeaways

Last week, the Browns defense struggled to contain Gardner Minshew. The Colts signal-caller threw for more than 300 yards and they even had 168 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

That led to the game becoming a shootout and ending with a 39-38 score. While the defense was surely frustrated with the sheer volume of yardage they surrendered, they were also responsible for Cleveland being able to win.

The Browns found a way to turn the ball over early and often. Denzel Ward secured an interception and Myles Garrett had two sacks, each causing fumbles. One of those was in the end zone and Tony Fields II recovered the ball for a touchdown. The final turnover was courtesy of Za’Darius Smith, who sacked Minshew in the final seconds causing a fumble. The Colts had hardly any chance at that point but no miracle occurred thanks to Smith closing it out with authority. 

Now in Week 8, the Browns are facing a Seattle team that is also 4-2 and coming off a win. They’ve also been rather safe with the ball having four interceptions on the year and fumbling just twice. They also haven’t had to face Myles Garrett when he’s in the zone, which he has been this season.

This bold prediction is that Garrett once again spends the afternoon camping out in the offensive backfield and forces at least one fumble while also causing Geno Smith to hurry his passes. That leads to another outing with at least three turnovers for Jim Schwartz' defense.

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