Week 5 Vs. Browns

[CharVike]

This is the 3rd game for the Browns against NFC North teams. They are 1-1 beating the Packers 13-10 and getting hammered by the Lions 34-10. They will start a rookie at QB because scoring has been difficult all year. They have shown the ability to run the ball at times with Judkins. Their strength running the ball should work to some extent against us and I expect them to try and shorten the game. They do have a very good defense but it also depends on who they play. The Ravens and Lions had no problem putting plenty of points on the board. The bottom line is they can't stop the top end offenses and perform well against weak offenses. Big deal. What they can do is stop the run and with our banged up OL I don't think we can run on them which presents a big problem for our passing game. Wentz took a beating last week and he will get another this week. We might see Bosmer before it ends. Goff didn't get sacked but he said the pressure was great. I have no idea how this will turn out or what the score will be. It could be 34-27 or 6-3. I see it 13-12 us.

[Cliff]

This is the 3rd game for the Browns against NFC North teams. They are 1-1 beating the Packers 13-10 and getting hammered by the Lions 34-10. They will start a rookie at QB because scoring has been difficult all year. They have shown the ability to run the ball at times with Judkins. Their strength running the ball should work to some extent against us and I expect them to try and shorten the game. They do have a very good defense but it also depends on who they play. The Ravens and Lions had no problem putting plenty of points on the board. The bottom line is they can't stop the top end offenses and perform well against weak offenses. Big deal. What they can do is stop the run and with our banged up OL I don't think we can run on them which presents a big problem for our passing game. Wentz took a beating last week and he will get another this week. We might see Bosmer before it ends. Goff didn't get sacked but he said the pressure was great. I have no idea how this will turn out or what the score will be. It could be 34-27 or 6-3. I see it 13-12 us.

Flores's scheme usually trips up younger inexperienced QBs pretty good. I think the defense will have a pretty good day. The offense is going to depend on the offensive line. O'Neill will be out, If Ryan Kelly is out it's going to be really rough. It'll likely mean we're at 3rd string center and 3rd string left guard because the 2nd string guard would move over to center. Like you mentioned Goff didn't get sacked but he also gets rid of the ball really quickly. Pressures on him likely mean sacks on Wentz.

I think it'll end up being a low scoring game too unless the defenses score points. The Vikings have the weapons on offense but they don't really have the proper time to use them. It could really end up being a snooze-fest.

[VikingLord]

I expect the Browns will go run-heavy with RPO options for their rookie QB when they do decide to pass. The Vikings have struggled to defend the run even against mediocre rushing attacks so that would be the logical approach for their offense to take. When they do pass I expect it will be short routes and quick hitters that take advantage of soft zone coverage. While I don't expect the Browns offense to put up a lot of points I wouldn't be surprised at all if they are able to string together some first downs and keep the pressure on.

If there is a team with a defense that is tailor-made to shut down the Vikings offense I think the Browns have that defense. They can get a lot of pressure rushing four and while they aren't great in the secondary they are good enough to take advantage of QBs who don't handle that pressure well. In some ways they are similar to the Steelers but stronger up front. Even if the Vikings had all five of their starting offensive linemen on the field I think they would struggle to move the ball on this defense. I expect the run game to be completely ineffective, and the Vikings offense overall to really struggle to stay on the field yet again.

This looks like it will be a very low-scoring game with the X factor being the Brown's rookie QB. If he turns out to be effective the Browns may end up with a comfortable win. I don't think that is likely but we've watched the Vikings make backup and rookie QBs look like the next coming of Tom Brady many times before.