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Coming off an offseason of heightened expectations after decades of misery, the Cleveland Browns were the trendy pick to be a surprise Super Bowl contender in this year’s jumbled AFC playoff picture. Yet the story so far has been one of bad offensive line play and a sophomore slump for last year's first overall draft pick, quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Mayfield’s struggles have headlined Cleveland’s uneven 2-3 start. He looked terrible in San Francisco Monday night, completing just 8 of 22 passes against the 49ers for 100 yards. Two of his passes were intercepted.

But counting out the Browns as over-hyped pretenders, at least at this stage, can be a trap. This team was picked to contend for a reason - a roster jam-packed with high-level talent at just about every position. Despite the offenses struggles, Mayfield has a bevy of weapons around him including running back Nick Chubb and receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.

Cleveland's defense is led by defensive ends Olivier Vernon and Myles Garrett, the former No. 1 overall pick who already has 7.0 sacks and a forced fumble to his credit this season. And the Browns get reinforcements in their secondary this week, as starting cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams returned to practice after missing time due to injuries.

Here’s a closer look at the Seahawks upcoming opponent, including series history, additions/departures, key numbers, and Carroll’s evaluation of a Browns team looking to right the ship and still contend in the AFC North:

SERIES HISTORY

--19th meeting all-time. Seahawks lead the series 12-6. The history here is pretty sparse, with the two teams meeting just four times since Seattle moved to the NFC in 2002. Since then, each team has won twice. Pete Carroll is 1-1 against Cleveland, with the Hawks winning the last meeting 30-13 in 2015. That game was notable for the way it started, with former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel leading the Browns down the field on their first drive and finding Gary Barnidge in the endzone to give Cleveland a 7-0 lead in one of Manziel’s only career starts. After that, it was all Russell Wilson as the Seahawks quarterback completed 21 out of 30 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns.

WHAT’S NEW

--Additions: In addition to acquiring Beckham Jr. and Vernon, the Browns also added defensive tackle and former Seahawks starter Sheldon Richardson in free agency, signing him to a three-year, $36 million deal. They also signed veteran safety Morgan Burnett to a two-year, $9 million free agent contract. Cleveland was able to add two defensive starters in this year’s draft in Williams and former Alabama inside linebacker Mack Wilson.

--Subtractions: The Browns biggest splash of the offseason was their trade to acquire Beckham Jr. from the Giants. In that deal, they sent former first-round safety Jabrill Peppers to New York, but in a separate deal with the Giants, they shipped out starting right guard Kevin Zeitler in exchange for Vernon. The loss of Zeitler has been especially impactful as the Browns offensive line struggles have headlined their poor overall play on offense so far. The team also traded defensive end Emmanual Ogbah to Kansas City and parted ways with receiver Breshad Perriman.

The Browns also signed former Kansas City star running back Kareem Hunt, but he’s currently serving an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy and won't be able to play on Sunday.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

18.4: Points per game the Browns are scoring this season, 25th in the NFL.

33.4: Baker Mayfield’s ESPN Total QBR score, 31st among qualifying NFL quarterbacks.

76.6: Russell Wilson’s comparative QBR, third-best in the league through five weeks.

485: Total rushing yards by Nick Chubb, ranking him fourth among NFL running backs.

16 - Sacks by Cleveland’s defense, sixth-best in the league.

72: Ranking for Seahawks right tackle Germain Ifedi in Pro Football Focus’s pass-blocking efficiency rating, tied for dead last in the league.

7: Number of sacks for Garrett, Ifedi’s former college teammate at Texas A&M and the player he’ll likely be squared off against the most on Sunday.

12: Number of games Seattle has won in its last 18 times playing at 10 AM PST, including four straight.

CARROLL’S THOUGHTS

--Carroll is well aware of the challenge Garrett presents, as the former top pick has been a nightmare for opponents to keep away from the quarterback.

“He’s about as much as you can get,” said Carroll. “He’s a terrific athlete. He’s got great speed and burst and flexibility to bend and get off the ball and then get around the corner. He’s off to a great start. He has seven sacks and he could have had 10 at this point. Maybe more. He’s real legit.”

--While the Browns looked completely overmatched on a national stage Monday night against the 49ers, they earned an impressive win against their division rival the previous week, beating the Ravens 40-25. How does Carroll reconcile what he saw on tape from those two performances?

“Well, you look at them at their best,” Carroll said. “You look at them when they’ve been on it. they’ve got a lot of firepower. They got guys who are really good play-making players out there. The quarterback, the running back, the receivers, the tight ends. They can all do stuff on offense. They got the big pass rushers too. There’s plenty of attraction to this football team.”

Seattle won't be game planning solely based on Monday's dreadful performance and instead will take advantage of quality film from that performance against Baltimore.

--Carroll also had a lot of praise for Mayfield, shrugging off his poor play this year and commending him for his wide array of skills.

“He can do everything,” Carroll explained. “He’s got terrific sense for the game. He’s got good timing. He’s got a terrific arm. He’s got the accuracy to come up with huge plays and make the great throws. He’s bold. He’s a confident kid. Gets the ball out fast. Does a really nice job in the play action game. They didn’t miss it picking him way up there. He’s the real deal. We’ve got to be ready for it.”

As for Mayfield’s primary target, Carroll knows a key to stopping the Browns passing game will be controlling one of the game’s most dynamic talents in Beckham Jr.

“You have to do a lot of stuff to try to deal with that and it starts with rushing the passer,” said Carroll. “So the quarterback’s not comfortable. He’s an amazing talent and there’s nothing that he can’t do out there. You have to do all of the things. I’m not going to tell you the game plan if you don’t mind. You have to do all the stuff that you’ve got to do to keep him from getting a good, clean look consistently where it’s easy for him. Make it hard on him.”

Clearly not viewing this contest as a trap game and taking their opponent lightly, the Seahawks will hope to make it hard on the Browns on Sunday and improve their record to 5-1 on the season.