CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
The Cleveland Browns suffered their most debilitating loss of the season last weekend against the New England Patriots in a 45-7 blowout. The Browns slipped from having a 55 percent chance to make the playoffs to just a 39 percent chance with the loss, according to Five Thirty-Eight.
Now, the team will have to rebound against the winless Detroit Lions, who are coming off of their best game of the season, a 16-16 tie in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. This is a game the Browns should have no problem winning, but the way this season has gone for Cleveland, anything is certainly possible.
Here are three keys to victory this Sunday against the Lions:
Keep Baker Mayfield upright
One of the reasons the Browns have struggled this season has been the injuries, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has been no exception to that, as he’s been playing through injuries to his left shoulder, foot, and most recently a knee injury suffered against New England. In an ideal world, the Browns would be able to give Mayfield the week off to get healthy and let backup Case Keenum go beat the Lions, but Mayfield being out there may be too important at this point.
This season, Mayfield has been sacked the fifth-most times in the NFL at 26, which is quite a high number considering he hasn’t even played in every game this year. The bright side for Mayfield and the Browns this week is that the Lions have just 14 sacks on the season as a defense and are last in the league in both quarterback pressures and knockdowns. If Mayfield plays within the pocket this weekend against the Lions, his jersey should be kept pretty clean throughout the day.
Create confusion of Detroit’s offense
One of the biggest issues with the Browns defense thus far this season has been the lack of confusion that it has created for opposing offenses. A majority of the time, the unit brings pressure with four down linemen and drops seven into coverage in passing situations. Last week, the team did just that and saw Patriots quarterback Mac Jones pick it apart. The Browns rank in the bottom half of the league in blitz percentage, sitting at 21.4 percent of snaps. While they still generate pressure at the eighth-highest rate in the NFL, blitzing more could boost that rating even higher.
Detroit quarterback Jared Goff, who did not practice on Wednesday because of an oblique injury, is tied for Mayfield in times sacked at 26 on the season. The defensive front for the Browns shouldn’t have much of an issue creating havoc for him, but some creativity could go a long way in making life difficult for Goff (or whoever is under center) and the rest of the Lions offense.
Light it up on offense
The Lions are the worst team in the NFL, and there’s no nice way to say that. Defensively, Detroit has allowed the third-most rushing yards on the season while also allowing the most net yards per pass attempt. While the Browns await the status of running backs Nick Chubb, Demetric Felton, and John Kelly, back up running back D’Ernest Johnson has proven he’s more than capable in handling the load should he be called upon.
Whether Chubb of Johnson is the lead back this weekend, expect at least a 100-yard rushing effort. As for the passing game, the Browns are beat up at the wide receiver position, but no matter who Mayfield is throwing to, he should be able to find success through the air as well.