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No one here has really talked about the Browns as a team much. Not surprising as they are 0-4 and with Brady back one would assume the Pats would win but it be a good idea to take a look at their teams good and bad points.
Offense
The first thing to notice is their run game. They have a nice 1-2 punch with Cowell & Duke Johnson both of whom this year average over 6PYA and at no point did the lead back Cowell get under 5YPA in any of their games this year. Needless to say the RBs and run blocking of the OL will test the Patriots.
At QB Kessler has been okay to below average. He doesn't make plays but doesn't try to force things either. They are willing to put the ball in his hands a lot and he is pretty accurate. Right now he is the definition of game manager in the modern NFL. He lead his team in the last 2 starts to 24 and 20 points so their offense while not amazing under him has been decent.
At WR the conversation starts with Pryor. A low % target catching only 50% of passes thrown his direction but they look for chunk plays with him and he delivers those. While not a take the top off guy he is big and physical and is looking to catch 20-30 yard passes and at 6'4 225 he can out jump and out muscle to bring them down. Corey Coleman would be a solid #2 option but he is out and after him i question the rest of the WR group. Barnidge is a pretty good TE but not amazing enough to carry a game and Duke Johnson will be dangerous catching balls as well. Overall some decent weapons but without Coleman is is not as scary.
Defense
While the offense gives me a few concerns the D gives me less. This is one of the 10 worst Ds in the NFL. They can't stop the run or the pass well. The give up TDs and don't hold you to 3. Their pass rush is well below average 24th-t with 6 sacks on the year. Most importantly 28th in PPG. Their loan area of strength is their top 2 CB combo. Haden/Taylor are as good as any tandem you will likely see but they have no 3rd guy to really back it up and their safeties as far as i can tell are average at best.
They have 5 ints (tied for 5th) for the year which is good and 16th in pass yards allowed but their defensive passer rating is 20th which shows while those 2 plug holes they can't do it all alone. They've allowed 10 passing TDs tied for 28th worse in the NFL so when push comes to shove and others need to step up and defend they don't have the depth to do it. Also worth noting Haden is banged up.
On STs
It is worth noting they are bad here and it has helped to cost them games this season. Their kicking game is bad. Their FG kickers are 6/10 and when 40 or more yards are 4/8. Also missed an extra point. Needless to say outside of 40 yards they don't have confidence in this group. They are horrible at kick off returns averaging 16.7 Yards for 30th worst and allow 29.2 in kick off returns for the worst in the NFL. They are average on punt distance and let teams return a decent chunk of yardage on them at 13.4 (8th worse and it is worth noting only 1 team above them had a shorter longest returned allowed so they are pretty consistently bad here). Also their own punt returning sucks averaging 6.6 YPA.
So basically like the defense their STs is one of the least impressive units. This is arguably the worst STs unit in the NFL all things considered.
Overall I think they have some good offensive skill players, a pretty smart and safe QB and a pair of good CBs and out side of that not too much going for them.
If they can play clock control and run on the Pats defense and Pryor can win those jump balls particularly in the end zone they will shorten the game and keep it competitive. On D they wanna try to get the Pats try to force it Haden/Taylor and minimize the effect STs can have on the game. If they can accomplish those things it will get tough. If they failed to do them this should be a win.
Offense
The first thing to notice is their run game. They have a nice 1-2 punch with Cowell & Duke Johnson both of whom this year average over 6PYA and at no point did the lead back Cowell get under 5YPA in any of their games this year. Needless to say the RBs and run blocking of the OL will test the Patriots.
At QB Kessler has been okay to below average. He doesn't make plays but doesn't try to force things either. They are willing to put the ball in his hands a lot and he is pretty accurate. Right now he is the definition of game manager in the modern NFL. He lead his team in the last 2 starts to 24 and 20 points so their offense while not amazing under him has been decent.
At WR the conversation starts with Pryor. A low % target catching only 50% of passes thrown his direction but they look for chunk plays with him and he delivers those. While not a take the top off guy he is big and physical and is looking to catch 20-30 yard passes and at 6'4 225 he can out jump and out muscle to bring them down. Corey Coleman would be a solid #2 option but he is out and after him i question the rest of the WR group. Barnidge is a pretty good TE but not amazing enough to carry a game and Duke Johnson will be dangerous catching balls as well. Overall some decent weapons but without Coleman is is not as scary.
Defense
While the offense gives me a few concerns the D gives me less. This is one of the 10 worst Ds in the NFL. They can't stop the run or the pass well. The give up TDs and don't hold you to 3. Their pass rush is well below average 24th-t with 6 sacks on the year. Most importantly 28th in PPG. Their loan area of strength is their top 2 CB combo. Haden/Taylor are as good as any tandem you will likely see but they have no 3rd guy to really back it up and their safeties as far as i can tell are average at best.
They have 5 ints (tied for 5th) for the year which is good and 16th in pass yards allowed but their defensive passer rating is 20th which shows while those 2 plug holes they can't do it all alone. They've allowed 10 passing TDs tied for 28th worse in the NFL so when push comes to shove and others need to step up and defend they don't have the depth to do it. Also worth noting Haden is banged up.
On STs
It is worth noting they are bad here and it has helped to cost them games this season. Their kicking game is bad. Their FG kickers are 6/10 and when 40 or more yards are 4/8. Also missed an extra point. Needless to say outside of 40 yards they don't have confidence in this group. They are horrible at kick off returns averaging 16.7 Yards for 30th worst and allow 29.2 in kick off returns for the worst in the NFL. They are average on punt distance and let teams return a decent chunk of yardage on them at 13.4 (8th worse and it is worth noting only 1 team above them had a shorter longest returned allowed so they are pretty consistently bad here). Also their own punt returning sucks averaging 6.6 YPA.
So basically like the defense their STs is one of the least impressive units. This is arguably the worst STs unit in the NFL all things considered.
Overall I think they have some good offensive skill players, a pretty smart and safe QB and a pair of good CBs and out side of that not too much going for them.
If they can play clock control and run on the Pats defense and Pryor can win those jump balls particularly in the end zone they will shorten the game and keep it competitive. On D they wanna try to get the Pats try to force it Haden/Taylor and minimize the effect STs can have on the game. If they can accomplish those things it will get tough. If they failed to do them this should be a win.
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