With all the hype surrounding the Cleveland Browns last season they fell flat on their face. To say the season was a disappointment would be an understatement. In hindsight you could see it coming; an overwhelmed rookie head coach, no offensive line and an undisciplined defense. Kevin Stefanski takes over trying to end the NFL’s longest playoff drought. The Browns haven’t reached the postseason since 2002 and haven’t had a winning record since 2007. Stefanski has his hands full, but the Browns do have talent. Without the preseason hoopla maybe they can play football and win a few games.
Cleveland Browns Regular Season Win Total Set at 8.5
Browns Over 8.5 Wins -109
Browns Under 8.5 Wins -111
2020 Cleveland Browns Offense Preview
The pairing of Baker Mayfield and Kitchens was supposed to lift the offense to new heights. The plan didn’t work. After a strong rookie campaign Mayfield regressed last season and the offense suffered. I’m sure Kitchens is a good man but he was in over his head. Hopefully for Browns fans that move didn’t set the organization back. I guess the Browns really can’t go back much further since they’ve been the laughingstock of the league for years.
The good news is that the team addressed the woeful offensive line by signing Jack Conklin and drafting Jedrick Wills to be bookend tackles. After completing nearly 64 percent of his passes as a rookie, Mayfield hit on just 59.4 percent last season and was sacked 40 times. Baker has no excuses this season.
The pass game should be better than it was last year. Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and new tight end Austin Hooper are reliable targets. The ground game is better than average with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt handling the chores. Stefanski is a former OC with the Vikings and he has plenty of tools to work with.
2020 Cleveland Browns Defense Preview
Losing key pieces on defense might not be too bad considering the Browns were awful on that side of the football. Only two teams surrendered more yards on the ground and they were the two worst teams in the NFL. The pass defense numbers didn’t look bad, but that tends to happen when teams run the football so easily.
Myles Garrett was reinstated after his vicious helmet swinging incident. That one play summed up the 2019 Browns. They lacked discipline and did stupid stuff at the wrong time. Stopping the run is obviously the key to a better unit. Replacing LBs Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey is tops on the list. Also, improving the pass rush would help.
We won’t know until the season starts but it looks like the Browns did a solid on draft day. Besides Wills, Grant Delpit is likely to start at safety and Jordan Elliott could get some time on the line. With vacancies on the second level Jacob Phillips is candidate to start.
On paper the Browns look much better than the 6-win club from a year ago. Unfortunately the rest of the AFC North also looks pretty good. Cleveland handed the Ravens one of their two losses, which was a big deal. However, Browns were a victim of the 2-win Bengals. That gives you an idea of how the North stacks up.
Following their opener at Baltimore, the Browns play three of their next four at home giving them a chance to make an early statement. The road games pile up on the back end of the schedule, though, in what could be a critical point. The Browns host Baltimore on a Monday night between four road tilts, including back-to-back weeks in New York when OBJ faces his former team. The slate concludes at home with a contest against division foe Pittsburgh.
The Final Verdict
I didn’t drink the Kool-Aid last year and it paid off. This time it’s a little different. For now the Browns appear to be focused on football. They have some nice pieces in place and upgrades on the O line will help Mayfield. I’m not convinced they did enough to strengthen the defense and that’s what will be their undoing. The Browns will be exciting to watch, but they aren’t going to win nine games. I see a .500 season as the ceiling for this program so give me the under.
NFL Odds: Cleveland Browns Under 8.5 Wins
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