CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns will remain in the prime time spotlight after their Monday Night Football win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as this week, they will be featured on Sunday Night Football for the first time since 2008.
And the Browns will get quite the test in their first foray on Sunday Night Football in 11 seasons, as they host the reigning NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland in front of what promises to be a loud, raucous crowd mostly clad in orange and brown gear.
“It is a great challenge for us,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said in a conference call with the Cleveland media Tuesday. “Our guys will do a good job preparing this week, and we will go out and give it our best shot on Sunday. They are a very good team. We are going to show up on Sunday and see where we are.”
The Browns head into their Sunday Night Football matchup against the Rams on the heels of a redemption win over the Jets.
After a flat fourth quarter in the 2019 regular-season opener led to a 30-point loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Browns responded in a big way, and under the spotlight in the shadows of New York City no less.
The Browns got a 19-yard touchdown rush from running back Nick Chubb in the second quarter, an 89-yard touchdown reception from wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. late in the third period and three Austin Seibert field goals in the first half on the way to a 23-3 victory over the Jets.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 19 of his 35 attempts for 325 yards and the one touchdown with one interception, and six of those passes went to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who had himself quite the return to MetLife Stadium.
The former New York Giants Pro Bowl receiver turned his six receptions into 161 yards, more than half of which came on his first touchdown catch as a member of the Browns.
“It was overall a good team win,” Kitchens said. “Anytime you can go win a game, it is good. I am proud of the way our guys came back after the previous week and just kept fighting.
“Just as with the losses, you look for ways to get better, and we certainly have several opportunities to do that taking away from this game the things that we need to improve on. We have a quick turnaround, a quicker-than-normal turnaround to get ready for one of the best teams in the NFL coming in town.”
Kitchens felt the Browns were “playing with passion and not off of emotion” against the Jets, which was a problem in the lopsided loss to the Titans, and that will be key, especially for the offensive line because of the challenge they will face against the Rams.
Los Angeles has an aggressive defensive front, led by interior lineman Aaron Donald, who is one of the highest paid and most productive defenders in the NFL.
In five-plus seasons with the Rams, Donald has recorded 59.5 sacks, including a league-best 20.5 during the 2018 season.
“We still need to continue to get better on a play-by-play basis,” Kitchens said of the offensive line.
“We all need to continue to get better. Just because we won the game does not mean we are not going to continue to get better each and every time we get out.”