Browns' Coverage Troubles Interest Bears

Cleveland's pass rush can be ferocious off the edge but so far the gains made against their pass coverage have been enough to catch the eyes of the Bears

At least one half of this Cleveland Browns team looks like every bit the Super Bowl challenger predicted by many in preseason forecasts.

This would be the offense, where quarterback Baker Mayfield is drawing comparisons to Brett Favre in his prime and running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt have accounted for 262 rushing yards.

However, the Bears on Sunday face a Browns defense entirely exposed in two games by opposing passers, and it was understandable against Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City in Week 1. It couldn't be explained so easily when Houston's Tyrod Taylor took advantage of their pass coverage before suffering a hamstring injury.

Even with edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett keeping quarterbacks under duress, Cleveland's defense has looked entirely beatable. The Browns secondary has talent but hasn't yet jelled. The linebackers as a group have been susceptible to the short passes, screens and poor tackling.

The lowly Houston Texans offense had no problem moving the ball on the Cleveland defense.

It's possible quarterback Justin Fields will be unable to take advantage of existing mismatches since it's his first NFL start. The Browns defense should be experienced handling athletic quarterbacks like Fields, since they have to defend Lamar Jackson twice a season.

What Cleveland hasn't been able to do is stop passing attacks overall, ranking 23rd against the pass and 25th in yards allowed per attempt.

Here are three mismatches for the Bears to exploit in Sunday's game.

Bears OLB Robert Quinn vs. Browns LT Jedrick Wills

Quinn has looked drastically better than in his first Bears season, perhaps a tribute to new defensive coordinator Sean Desai's ingenuity as he moved Khalil Mack over to the same side as Quinn on some downs to create a real dilemma for blockers. Or it could be new outside linebackers coach Bill Shuey, or most likely simply Quinn with better health and a determination to make up for last year's two-sack season. The stat keepers took away a sack from him Sunday when he ran Joe Burrow out of bounds for no gain, a play that normally goes for a sack. He was flagged for hitting Burrow out of bounds after the play, a questionable call but one which should not have eliminated his sack. The league has since admitted its mistake and given it to him. That gave him half a sack over last year's total with 2 1/2 on the year. Wills is the former Alabama left tackle who has been average, but the weakest point on a strong Browns line. Last year Wills graded out at 57th of 79 tackles Pro Football Focus graded, although the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder has been more solid in his second season.

Bears WR Allen Robinson vs. Browns CB Greg Newsome

It's no indictment of the former Northwestern standout, a first-round draft pick of the Browns, but he's overmatched in only his third game going against Robinson. Newsome has the talent necessary to become one of the league's better cornerbacks. He's only been targeted six times in two games, so either he's doing something right or they haven't gotten around to trying to take advantage of his inexperience. The other Browns cornerback, Denzel Ward, has the worst passer rating against of his career at 99.5 but has been far better than this in the past. Newsome, the former Glenbard North star in the Chicago suburbs, is also going against Robinson at a bad time. He is off to a slow start with only eight catches and last week dropped a touchdown bomb from Justin Fields that would have ended the game. Newsome is 6-foot with a tremendous 40-inch vertical leap but Robinson is 2 inches taller with a 39 1/2-inch vertical and hasn't been used on the back-shoulder or jump ball yet. This would be something for the Bears to explore against a rookie.

Bears WR Marquise Goodwin vs. Browns CB Troy Hill

The Cleveland slot cornerback formerly played for the Rams and has given up one TD in the first two games. He hasn't been tested entirely as opponents have found plenty to like throughout the porous Browns secondary. It was understandable when Kansas City let up Cleveland but Houston did it with two different quarterbacks, journeyman Tyrod Taylor and rookie Davis Mills. Goodwin has five catches and the Bears haven't gotten him the ball downfield yet. They need to take advantage of his great speed. He did draw a pass interference call last week but whether it's testing Hill or challenging Browns safeties deep, Justin Fields could be expected to aim for his fastest receiver this week.

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