New York Giants - Cleveland Browns | Week 15 Storylines
The Cleveland Browns come to East Rutherford this weekend, fresh off a thrilling (but losing) Monday night effort against the Baltimore Ravens.
But this isn’t the same old hapless Browns team that back in 2016 went winless and which, until this year, at any rate, had never won more than seven games.
This is a Browns team that stands 9-4 and in second place in the AFC North. They are pushing for their first playoff berth since 2002, and they are loaded on both sides of the ball.
The Giants, meanwhile, say they’re not worried about the playoffs or their place in the NFC East standings. After the way they played last week against the Arizona Cardinals, they shouldn’t be.
The Giants reminded us with that showing that they still have a long way to go and that at this stage in their rebuild, if they can remain competitive in games, that’s a step in the right direction.
1. Daniel’s Status
Giants head coach Joe Judge can play with semantics all he wants, but the bottom line is that quarterback Daniel Jones’s inability to move around in the pocket last week when he was under pressure was alarming.
That Jones sought treatment for some undisclosed “bump and bruise” immediately after the game and before his postgame press conference—believed to be a first for him—makes one wonder if he was dealing with more than just a “bump and bruise.”
With that said, all eyes are going to be on the Giants injury report and how much Jones is able to do this week. If he didn’t make things worse after playing last week—and the eye test indicates otherwise—and yet he’s limited in any way in practice, the Giants, who claim they’re not worried about the playoffs, better at least show a little more concern about the long-term health of their starting quarterback.
2. The O-line’s rebound
If you thought the Cardinals pass rush was a load to handle, wait until you get a look at the Browns’ pass rush.
Defensive ends Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon have combined for 17.5 sacks. But keep an eye, especially on Garrett, who is just an absolute terror to defend.
Garrett’s 27% pass-rush win rate is currently the third-best among NFL edge rushers and puts him just behind T.J. Watt of the Steelers and Jerry Hughes of the Bills, who are tied with a 31% pass-rush win rate (a stat that measures how successful a pass rusher is with getting home with the sack).
Per PFF’s snap breakdowns, Garrett has lined up on both sides, not good news for left tackle Andrew Thomas and the right tackle pair of Cameron Fleming and rookie Matt Peart, who combined for 11 of the Giants 24 allowed pressures last week.
Gulp?
3. Shutting Down the Scoring Machine
The Browns might have lost a thriller on Monday night to the Ravens, but that doesn’t erase the fact that they have put on a scoring clinic in the last two weeks. Cleveland’s 83 points over that period is the best in the league. That’s not good news for the Giants, who in that same two-game stretch have scored 24 points, the second-worst mark behind the Bengals’ 14 points.
If that’s not bad enough, the Browns have been getting points from both their rushing and passing games. Running back Nick Chubb leads the way with nine of the Browns’ 16 rushing touchdowns while running back Kareem Hunt leads the team in receiving touchdowns with five out of the 24 scored.
And to that last point, quarterback Baker Mayfield has done an excellent job spreading the ball around. Six of the Browns receivers (including Beckham) have 200 or more yards this season, the team leader being Jarvis Landry (728 yards), while Chubb and Hunt have been the one-two punch on the ground.
With so many weapons at his disposal, it’s no wonder Mayfield and the Browns have put on a scoring clinic these last two weeks.
4. Revenge of the Former Giants
The long-anticipated “revenge” game featuring receiver Odell Beckham Jr against the Giants will have to wait for another time and place since Beckham is on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
But there are a couple of other former Giants who not only have been tearing things up as members of the Cleveland Browns, but they are also likely to have a little bit of extra juice in their game this weekend.
The first is inside linebacker B.J. Goodson, the Giants fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft. Goodson, who was traded to the Green Bay Packers at the start of the 2019 season. After one year in Green Bay, he signed with the Browns, where he’s currently in the midst of his best season as a pro.
He currently leads the Browns with 84 total tackles (56 solo) and is tied with cornerback Denzel Ward for the Browns team lead in interceptions with two.
The second former Giant is defensive end Olivier Vernon, who was traded after the 2018 season in exchange for guard Kevin Zeitler. Vernon is second on the Browns in sacks (7.0) behind team leader Myles Garrett, but Vernon’s 7.0 sack total ties his career-high with the Giants after signing one of the richest contracts for a pass rusher in 2016.
Given how badly the Giants offensive line played last week, Vernon, Goodson, and the rest of their friends will no doubt be licking their chops when they see that tape of the Giants-Cardinals game.
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