It's Official: Chiefs to Host Browns in Divisional Round
With their 28-0 upset win over the No. 3 seeded Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns will travel to Arrowhead Stadium next weekend to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round.
Behind four interceptions from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Browns were able to claim their first playoff win since the Bill Belichick era in Cleveland.
From the first snap, the Browns were in control and they didn't let up. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns on 21 completions. Running back Nick Chubb recorded 18 carries for 76 yards while former Chief Kareem Hunt carried the ball eight times for 48 yards and two touchdowns.
Cleveland was without rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week. According to Adam Schefter, the Browns play-caller will return for next week's game in Kansas City.
Arrowhead Report's Sam Hays took a look at the Browns prior to Wild Card weekend and broke down what the advanced analytics say about them.
The Browns' offense seems legit. They finished the regular season ranked sixth in overall EPA per play (0.159), EPA per dropback (0.250) and EPA per rush (0.032). Baker Mayfield has been pretty good this season, and it helps to have all of the weapons he has, with running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins and Donovan Peoples-Jones and tight ends Austin Hooper, Harrison Bryant and David Njoku. On top of that, he has a great offensive line to work with, Wyatt Teller, Joel Bitonio (who will not play against the Steelers due to COVID), J.C. Tretter and Jack Conklin. For their fanbase's sake, I hope that this weekend is one to remember for Browns fans, and they certainly have the offense to make that happen.
This will be the second meeting between the Browns and Chiefs in the Patrick Mahomes era. The first contest resulted in a 37-21 Chiefs win in 2018. The game is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. on Sunday and will be broadcasted on CBS.
