The Cleveland Browns are headed south to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to take on the Atlanta Falcons! The Browns are coming off a Thursday night prime time victory against their bitter rival The Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns are 2-1 and leading in the AFC North. Falcons have a 1-2 record, but each game has been down to the wire. Last week they were able to squeak out a win on the road against the Seatle Seahawks 27-23. This matchup will be a ground and pound, gritty game considering both teams have excellent running games. The Browns running backs have an edge over the Falcons defense and the Browns are going to roast the Dirty Birds!
The Edge
The Browns rushing attack led by Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt is the best in the NFL averaging 190.7 rushing yards per game. The Falcons rank 5th averaging 156.7 yards per game so expect this game to be physical. Atlanta has one major problem going into this game, Nick Chubb! He is the number one ranked running back currently and no one is able to stop the power punch he brings to the Browns offense.
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Mike Tomlin spoke after last Thursday night game and stated, “I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage, particularly in the second half. If you can’t slow down Chubb, you can’t beat this group. And we knew that, and we didn’t get it done. So, we got to own the outcome, and we will. There’s not a lot really to talk about. We got to look at this tape and learn and get better and get better very fast. I thought they controlled the game, and they possessed the ball. Nick Chubb controlled the ball game.”
Jack Conklin is back in the lineup and his presence was seen against the Steelers last Thursday. This offensive line is ranked first in the NFL, and they have one of the best guard tandems in the NFL with Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. Center Nick Harris has been a more than capable replacement for J.C. Tretter and Left Tackle Jedrick Wills has shown improvement from last year. Jacoby Brissett and Deshaun Watson will have clean jerseys as long as the offensive line is able to stay healthy. Legendary Browns offensive lineman, Joe Thomas posts a breakdown of the Browns offensive line movement that sets up Nick Chubb in the running game.
#1 breakdown of Nick Chubb @browns Vs @steelers run pic.twitter.com/U16GCcOFXY
— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) September 24, 2022
The Dirty Birds
The Falcons finally got a win after outlasting the Seattle Seahawks on the road last Sunday with a 27-23 score. It was their explosive rushing attack, which was superb against a subpar Seahawks defense. Cordarrelle Patterson rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries. Patterson had a solid season last year, but his durability is in question if he is able to carry load for this Falcons offense this season. Marcus Mariota also had a rushing touchdown last Saturday. Mariota passed for 229 yards and had a touchdown and one interception.
The Falcons do have a rising star in Wide Receiver Drake London who caught three of six targets for 54 yards and one touchdown during Sunday’s win over the Seahawks. London was selected by Atlanta with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. This Falcons team is young and talented, but their defense last season came in dead last. This year they are currently 23rd in total yards allowed per game, 27th in passing yards per game and 15th is rushing yards allowed per game. This is definitely improvement from last year, but the Browns are going to roast the Dirty Birds.
Browns Favored
Week 4 NFL Power Rankings have the Dirty Birds ranked 25th and the Browns ranked 17th. Vegas has the Browns favored only by 1.5 points, but the Browns offensive line is going to impose their will on the Falcons defense. This is going to set up a long day for the Falcons defense and Nick Chubb is going to continue his reign as the number one running back!