Browns should spread out Seahawks

When the Cleveland Browns take on the Seattle Seahawks, they should spread them out. The Browns, hopefully with all of their receivers healthy and able to go, have a lot of talent and the strength of the Seahawks defense is their linebackers. Spread them wide, force them to adjust.

It feels every week is the week Rashard Higgins will return for the Cleveland Browns the past month but this is supposed to be the game Higgins returns. Getting him back would certainly help as he's just a good, reliable receiver that Baker Mayfield trusts.

And with the Browns taking on the Seattle Seahawks this week, it could help them in terms of how they should attack their defense; spreading them out. The strength of the Seahawks defense is their linebackers and they will play three of them as often as possible. With various combinations of four receivers, they should stretch their defense out horizontally.

Mychal Kendricks is a good linebacker around the line of scrimmage, but he's never been particularly effective in space. Bobby Wagner is great, period. K.J. Wright is effective but expanding the area he has to cover is beneficial.

And if Higgins is back, along with Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry and hopefully a much better game for Antono Callaway, the Browns have a lot of talent in their receivers. They just haven't been able to get them all on the field yet this year between injury and suspension.

Meanwhile, if the defense is stretched out wide, it limits the number of players in the box and could create space and running room for Nick Chubb, both in the running game but also as a receiving threat. And if they do initially line up wide with guys like Landry and Ricky Seals-Jones, they can motion them to a tighter formation and use them to crack or additional blocking help inside to change the dynamic.

The Browns have done a lot in 12 personnel. Too much, honestly. This week in particular, playing a ton of looks with Demetrius Harris and Pharaoh Brown plays right into the hands of the Seahawks defense. Nothing would be better for them than condensing the game down tight and letting their front seven potentially control the game.

This gameplan is entirely for the sake of what the Seahawks defense brings to the table. Nevertheless, a side effect could be getting Mayfield into some more comfortable and familiar looks that go back to some of the spread looks last year and at Oklahoma. It may make reads a little easier, simplify the blocking scheme and force Mayfield to get the ball out quicker.

All healthy and functioning, the Browns have more sheer talent in their skill players than the Seahawks do in their secondary. That's where the Browns can scheme up ways to get the ball to players like Beckham, hopefully in space, so he can run after the catch and create some explosive plays. Despite the questions with the offensive line, the Browns offense should dictate to the Seahawks defense what they can do and who they have on the field. The Browns put their best 11 on the field and the Seahawks adjust to it, see who's better in those circumstances.