CLEVELAND — It's been 11 years since the Cleveland Browns last appeared on Sunday Night Football.
On Sunday, we'll find out whether or not their decade-plus-long absence was worth the wait.
In what will mark one of the most highly anticipated games on the Browns' schedule, Cleveland will host the Los Angeles Rams in its first Sunday Night Football feature since the 2008 season. Coming off of last week's 23-3 win over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football, the Browns lay claim to a 1-1 record, while the defending NFC champion Rams have gotten off to a 2-0 start to their 2019.
As Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens said earlier this week, Cleveland has its work cut out for it.
Here's everything you need to know about Sunday night's matchup between the Browns and Rams:
RELATED: Cleveland Browns embrace challenge of facing ‘best player in league,’ LA Rams DT Aaron Donald
Game info, how to watch on TV, betting line:
Date: September 22, 2019
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
TV channel: WKYC Channel 3
Live Stream: NBC Sports Stream
Radio: ESPN 850, 92.3 The Fan, 98.5 WNCX
Betting line: Los Angeles -3
Over-under point total: 47.5
Key storylines
'Best player in football'
Following their offseason acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr., there are very few opponents the Browns will face this season who will have the best player on the field.
The Rams are one of those teams.
In defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Los Angeles lays claim to the 2-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year and one of the most disruptive defensive forces in NFL history. Over the course of his six-year career, the former first-round pick has amassed 59.5 sacks and 98 tackles for a loss, providing unprecedented production at a position not known for amassing gaudy stat totals.
“He is the best player in the league," Browns Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio said of Donald. "He is strong against the run. He is strong against the pass. He does everything well. People say coming out he was undersized slightly and things like that, but he has all of the power you need to play that position and all of the leverage you need. He has speed. When you think you are going to try to shut off the speed move, he can counter with his power move.
"That first step has people panic, and when people panic, you overset him or move too quick and he moves inside. He kind of plays everywhere. He is on the left, he is on the right, he lines up outside sometimes and they move him around. You can kind of tell with their defense he is definitely a focal point for a lot of teams so sometimes he does not have the stats. I think he only has two tackles this year maybe, but if you watch the film, he is making plays.”
Although he's only amassed two tackles through the first two weeks of the 2019 season, Donald remains the focal point of a Rams defense that also includes Dante Fowler Jr., Clay Matthews III, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Eric Weddle. But while there is no shortage of talent to be found across the Los Angeles roster, how the Browns fare on Sunday may be as simple as how much success they have in slowing down the league's top player.
In sync
While we're only two weeks into the 2019 season, one of the biggest surprises thus far has been the disjointed nature of the Browns' offense. Despite the addition of Beckham to an offense that already included Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Jarvis Landry and David Njoku, Cleveland has currently ranks just 14th in passing, 23rd in rushing and 23rd in scoring heading into Sunday night.
"I think it falls back on me just playing better, getting the ball out and getting completions like I keep harping on," Mayfield said. "Just trusting the system. Everybody is going to do their job. We know what everybody is going to do. That is why we practiced in camp. That is why did everything like that. Just trust and do my job.”
Between the talent present on the Rams offense and the high octane nature of the offense the Browns will be trying to keep up with, Cleveland is going to need to play its best offensive game of the season on Sunday to walk away with a win. After all, if the Browns are going to be Super Bowl contenders, they'd be hard-pressed to find a better measuring stick than the defending NFC champs.
"We know it is going to be a great challenge, but when it comes down to it, we need to focus on us," Mayfield said. "We do not need to worry about anything else besides doing our job and whatever gameplan we have to attack their team and their players that they have. We need to accomplish that.”
Banged up
While the Rams may be a measuring stick for the Browns, Cleveland enters Sunday at far from full strength. Starters David Njoku and Christian Kirksey have each already been ruled out for Sunday's game, while Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams, Chris Hubbard, Larry Ogunjobi , Morgan Burnett, Rashard Higgins and Joel Bitonio have each been limited to varying degrees in practice this week.
Coming off a short week of the rest, the Browns are going to need to be as healthy as they can be to give themselves their best chance to beat one of the NFL's best teams. And while Cleveland still has enough talent to pull off an upset, every key absence only shrinks the Browns' margin for error.
What's on the line?
Thanks to their win over the Jets on Monday, Sunday night's matchup vs. the Rams isn't a must-win for the Browns. But every loss only increases the importance of Cleveland not squandering its playoff hopes during a brutal first half.
After facing the Rams on Sunday, the Browns will head to Baltimore to face the Ravens before traveling to San Francisco for a Monday Night Football matchup against the 49ers. After that, games against the Seahawks (home) and Patriots (road) will sandwich Cleveland's bye week, settling the table for a more manageable second half of the season.
All things considered, the Browns could probably go 3-4 through the first seven games of the season and still be in good enough shape to make a playoff push. But losing to the Rams would drop the Browns to 1-2, leaving them little room for error in the weeks to come.
Prediction
The Browns play up to the competition, but the talent level of the opponent -- plus Cleveland's sudden rash of injuries -- prove to be too much to overcome.
Final score: Rams 31, Browns 24