For Pete's Sake - Browns at Chiefs Preview
In this week's episode of For Pete's Sake, I give Nicole Chatham (@Browns_Babe) for making us record on Wednesday to celebrate Mina Kimes' birthday (at least that's what I'm alleging).
We start out talking about the practice squad and who the Cleveland Browns were able to retain as well as some players from others teams they brought in. The practice squad has increased importance because teams are using it as an extension of their active roster. Both Nicole and I are pretty excited about pass rusher Ifeadi Odenigbo.
Then it's about the start of the regular season. The Browns face off against the Kansas City Chiefs and we discuss both what we are excited about with the Browns and the challenges this team faces, particularly on the defensive side of the ball against the Chiefs offense.
As a Joe Woods stanning podcast, the Browns seemingly have the right pieces in place to do exactly what Joe Woods wants to do, which is exciting, but it's a tall order to have them do it the first week of the season. They have a few rookies that will be asked to step in and contribute, including Greg Newsome, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Malik McDowell.
On top of that, Takkarist McKinley is an important part of what this team wants to do and he was away from the team for a month.
The Chiefs absolutely have questions on the offensive line. They have three players who have yet to play their first NFL game on the right side of the line including rookies Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith. Lucas Niang was drafted by the Chiefs in 2020, but opted out due to concerns over COVID-19.
I'm not sold on Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle, simply because Patrick Mahomes likes to run around and Brown isn't equipped for that. Speed off the edge could be difficult for him to handle, particularly if Mahomes rolls out from the pocket.
Meanwhile, we're both really excited about the Browns offense. The Chiefs do have a handful of big time players, most notably defensive lineman Chris Jones, but it's still difficult to be too worried about them because the Browns have so many weapons at their disposal.
Odell Beckham changes the game, forcing the Chiefs to account for him, which could open up running lanes that weren't there in the divisional playoff game. I still want to see Kareem Hunt used in space more, especially since D'Ernest Johnson has looked so good if they need another tailback.
We offers our predictions for the game and finish up with just our excitement for this team to get started in general.
