Is Cleveland going to have their first blowout win of the season?
This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns take on the New York Giants as they look to build a two-game winning streak. Below, we analyze a few advantages, disadvantages, or general thoughts about the two teams before getting to our predictions for the game.
Game Analysis
Establishing the 2024 Season
- Last week, despite all the mistakes and penalties, the Browns still prevailed over the Jaguars. That got the proverbial monkey off their back as far as the win/loss column goes. Now, it’s time they re-establish who they are in the NFL.
- The Giants come into this game at 0-2. They have a promising young receiver in Malik Nabers, a running game that can get going at times, and didn’t allow a touchdown a week ago. When you weigh the pros/cons of what the Browns should be at their best vs. what the Giants are, this is the type of game that the Browns should win handidly.
- Defensively, if you thought the Browns had a tight grip on the Jaguars last week, this is the type of offense that they could easily shut out if they are at the top of their game. The most intriguing matchup to watch for is Nabers vs. Denzel Ward, or whoever Cleveland decides to line up against him. Daniel Jones hasn’t been shy about targeting the rookie, but Cleveland’s defensive backs challenge receivers all game with tight man to man coverage. I’m imagining Cleveland’s linebackers will be up to the task of chasing down Jones if he tries to run a lot. This has to be the type of defensive performance we saw last year, when the defense was smothering to the likes of the Bengals and Titans.
Improvements on Offense
- The Giants’ run defense has been really poor, and their pass defense is nothing to write home about either. They gave up a lot of yards last week, including seven field goals, in a loss to Washington. Holding teams to field goals is great, but it obviously means there were opportunities for that game to really get out of hand.
- Deshaun Watson still has plenty to work on, but let’s at least acknowledge the fact that he was way better in Week 2 than he was in Week 1. Maybe there was another degree of rust from not playing all preseason. With that said, the offense was also carefully structured to not push the ball downfield very often.
- Amari Cooper is the player who needed to be called out on offense for these past two games. He has had lackluster showings, and essentially had two dropped touchdown passes. Jerry Jeudy has picked up the slack, but a dynamic Cooper accelerates this offense.
- Cleveland could be getting a boost on the offensive line this week. Jack Conklin was probably slated to play, but came down with a new hamstring injury and is ruled out. However, Jedrick Wills is not ruled out, and Cleveland did not call up an extra tackle from the practice squad this week. Reading between the lines, that means that Wills will start at left tackle for James Hudson.
- I’m not a fan of utilizing the Shotgun run so often, but the ground game usage was definitely a plus last week, including what D’Onta Foreman brought to the table. Of course, I’m also sort of brushing aside the fact that Foreman fumbled at the goal line (he recovered it) and had an offensive facemask penalty that prevented the game from being put away.
Quick Hitters
- Penalties, penalties, penalties. They are killing the Browns through two games; what will we see this week?
- It’s surprising that the Browns don’t have a single defensive turnover through two weeks. They have to get one against the Giants, right?
- Curtiss Brown talked about three Giants who could wreck Cleveland’s chances this weekend.
- Damon Wolfe looked at four tasks for the Browns’ offense against the Giants.
- According to the FanDuel Sportsbook, the Browns are 6.5-point favorites against the Giants.
Predictions
Here are predictions from multiple staff members at DBN.
Chris Pokorny: “The formula is there for the Browns to take over this game defensively, and also have a handful of scoring drives to make this a decisive victory. This is the easy stretch of Cleveland’s schedule, so taking advantage of it is critical for the long haul.” Browns 27, Giants 13
Jared Mueller: “The Browns can find a way to lose this game and it probably isn’t too hard to predict it. The Giants have a stellar defensive line that can attack the quarterback and Cleveland has struggled to run the ball with any consistency. Either James Hudson III will be starting at left tackle again or Jed Wills will be there or Jack Conklin will be the left tackle or Conklin might be at right tackle with Wills or Hudson at left tackle with Dawand Jones dealing with a knee injury.
See how easy it is to imagine how much of a mess things could be for the Browns offense? Not worried at all about New York’s offense versus Cleveland’s defense so the only that really matters is what the Browns do on the offensive side of the ball.” Browns 27, Giants 17
Barry Shuck: “The Giants are horrible in the passing game which plays right into Cleveland’s strength with their defensive backfield currently the sixth best pass defense. Who is worse at throwing the ball? The Browns, ranked 29th. With Amari Cooper having an off-year so far and David Njoku missing time and no sign of Nick Chubb, does Cleveland even have any playmakers? Jerry Jeudy finally stepped up last week against the Jaguars with a decent game, but nothing spectacular. Anyone have Elijah Moore on their fantasy team or is he still sitting on the waiver wire?
The Browns’ offense had a very good first half, then tanked in the second half making this group having three crappy halves to one decent showing. Not good. Not good at all. After Week 1 the defense finally settled down against the run now ranked sixth and special teams are looking, well, special. The Giants are middle of the pack in passing and also running the ball, so, good luck New York against this defense. The Browns’ offense will score just enough to win because that is what they do. God made Dustin Hopkins for a reason.” Browns 16, Giants 10
Ezweav: “I’m remembering what Kerry Collins looked like when going up against Baltimore in the SB, and I feel like that’s going to be Danny Dimes on Sunday. Thus, unless we give them short fields or ST returns they ain’t scoring.
I don’t think we’ll necessarily light the scoreboard on fire either but I do expect for the offense to look more competent this week than it did last week, and for this to be something of a trend moving forward. Penalties should be down but we’ll still have some.
Ultimately this game is similar to the Jags game, only we don’t wipe out as many of our big plays with mistakes.” Browns 20, Giants 7
Curtiss Brown: “Could the Browns lose this game? Probably. But I don’t see it. Yes, the Giants defensive line is formidable but Minnesota was able to neutralize their edge rushers Week 1 (granted their starting tackles played). Collectively, their defense isn’t great they are 30th in EPA/per play and 28th in dropback EPA. The defensive line can cause issues, mainly the interior but their secondary can be exposed at times. Offensively, I mean outside of Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary, no one else terrifies me. Quarterback Daniel Jones is prone to having questionable moments so the Browns defense should be opportunistic in causing some turnovers.
Offensively, I believe Cleveland will continues to make strides in that area despite the offensive line concerns. Will it be great? No, but it will good enough. I feel as if the Giants are one loss away from imploding because the team has been on a downward trend since that fluke playoff run. Sunday could be the start of that.” Browns 24, Giants 14
Damon Wolfe: “Getting the desperate Giants at home may be just what the doctor ordered for this offense. I expect Watson to be aggressive through the air and attempt to get Cooper back on track.” Browns 34, Giants 13
Thomas Moore: “The Browns looked better, more or less, on offense last week, which is at least a step in the right direction. And the defense made enough plays to secure a team win. This week brings another good opportunity to keep trending in the right direction with the arrival of the New York Giants.
“Things are far from perfect on offense as the Browns are converting just 12 percent of their third-down opportunities through the first two weeks. Cutting down on the penalties would be a good start to fixing that particular bug by keeping the offense moving forward rather than backward. Getting the running game going against one of the league’s worst run defenses would also be nice to see.
“The Giants come to town in the running for the title of worst team in the NFL with a head coach and quarterback in over their heads and the Browns need to take advantage of the situation.
“It won’t be the most exciting game of the day, but the Browns should be able to do enough to secure the victory.” Browns 17, Giants 9
Who do you think will win, Browns fans? Let us know in the comments section below.