THREE-POINT STANCE
(Three points of interest in Sunday’s game)
JUST JOSH-ING
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was the MVP last year and is making a late push to go back-to-back. The last two weeks he led comeback victories over the Bengals and Patriots, and the Bills stand 10-4 and believe they’re close to peaking as the postseason nears. They wouldn’t be anywhere close to a Super Bowl contender without Allen. He’s accounted for 37 touchdowns this year — 25 passing and 12 rushing — and has 299 for his career. The 29-year-old is on the verge of becoming the youngest and fastest player in NFL history to reach 300.
Shedeur Sanders looks for more completions as he builds foundation for future
“Of course, we know MVP last year, so of course, great player,” safety Grant Delpit said. “Offense is clicking. We know he’s a dual-threat quarterback, likes to scramble and throw the ball down the field, as well. So great overall quarterback.”
Dual threat doesn’t seem strong enough to describe what Allen does. At 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, he stands tall in the pocket and can throw to all areas of the field with a huge right arm. He’s strong enough and quick enough to escape pressure, pulling up to torch a secondary asked to cover for too long. Then there’s Allen as a runner. He’s a threat on designed keepers in short yardage and the red zone, and can turn a crease in the pass rush into a 40-yard scramble. He has 98 rushes for 535 yards this year and 4,677 yards and 77 touchdowns in his eight years since being the No. 7 pick in 2018.
“Great quarterback. He’s developed every year, he’s MVP for a reason,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “We got our work cut out for us, not just in the passing game, but also the way he uses his legs to scramble, to buy time to create in the passing game, but also to run for yardage.”
Allen doesn’t have a great receiving corps but has two solid tight ends and makes up for any deficiencies on the offense.
“Where do you start?” coach Kevin Stefanski said when asked what makes Allen tough to defend. “He’s very good at all of it. Really no weakness in his game.”
GROUND TO A HALT
Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins has been good and there have been flashes of an overall strong running game — three games of at least 138 yards — but the Browns have been unable to sustain it. The rushing attack is 29th in the league (92.4 yards a game) and was particularly feeble in the last two losses, gaining 61 yards vs. the Titans and 50 vs. the Bears. Defenses are stacking the box, the makeshift offensive line is struggling to consistently win its blocks as a unit and Judkins is too often hit behind the line of scrimmage.
Struggling run defense needs to fix problems or ‘won’t stand a chance’ vs. Bills
“I believe in our coaches, I believe in the guys up front for me,” Judkins said. “So at the end of the day, just trying to go out there and do my job. It’s very frustrating, though, for sure, but just trying to control what I can.”
The No. 36 pick leads NFL rookies with 805 rushing yards and is tied with seven rushing touchdowns. He needs 192 yards to pass Nick Chubb in 2018 for most rushing yards by a Browns rookie. He was held to 21 and 26 the last two weeks, averaging less than 2 yards a carry in each.
“Early on in the season we were having a little bit of success running, Q was hitting some big runs,” said right guard Wyatt Teller, who’s questionable with a calf injury after missing two games. “And then they put six down on the line and it’s like now everybody has to win their block and if anybody loses, which any given play, anybody can lose. So it’s just we have to be able to be complementary within our own offense. And that’s something that we haven’t been.”
With a rookie quarterback in Shedeur Sanders and a talent-deficient receiving corps, defenses are determined to take away the run and make the Browns beat them through the air. The Bills are likely to do the same as they try to beef up a run defense that’s 30th in the NFL allowing 143.1 yards a game.
“We have to find the ability to run the ball,” coordinator Tommy Rees said. “It’s kind of been hot and cold for us throughout the year, and we got to really rely on that and find ways to get Q going and allow our offense to be complementary. When you can run the ball well, it really opens up a lot of things and you can stay efficient and it keeps you in better situations on third down. So definitely a huge point of emphasis for us.”
COVER THAT KICK
The last two losses have opened with long kickoff returns by the opponent, setting a terrible tone for the game and reminding everyone how bad Cleveland’s special teams, particularly the coverage units, have been this season. The opponent starting near midfield immediately puts the defense in a bad spot, something it’s dealt with all season.
The Bills are in position to do the same thing. Ray Davis leads the NFL with 32.4 yards per kickoff return and has a 97-yard touchdown.
“Those guys do a really good job,” special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said. “The returner is really good. He’s got good vision, he’s got good contact balance, he does an excellent job of attacking coverage downhill.”
Chris Tabor is Buffalo’s special teams coordinator. He held the same role with the Browns from 2011-17.
“Their kickoff return unit is outstanding,” Stefanski said. “They were very, very good last week up against New England, which is a tough group as well. They do a great job blocking. He’s got excellent vision. If you give him a crease, he has the speed to go.”
The Browns have allowed four kickoff returns and three punt returns of 40 yards. They rank 30th in opponent’s average start after a kickoff (28.5-yard line). Many of the 14 rookies on the 53-man roster play across the special teams units, and the inexperience has been obvious.
“We’re playing with the best guys available,” Ventrone said. “It really does come down to the fundamentals of the game. Leveraging blocks, block destruction, shedding blocks, tackling, all those things factor. And I feel like the times when we’ve had issues is when we’re not executing those necessary fundamentals of the game, we’re not leveraging the ball well enough. Specifically, the last two weeks on our kicks, we haven’t done a great job of playing outside into the football. It’s pretty basic principles that we haven’t executed that well.”
If they fail again vs. the Bills, Davis will make them pay.
NUMBERS GAME
1
Catch tight end Harold Fannin Jr. needs to have the most by a rookie in franchise history. He’s tied at 66 with Kevin Johnson (1999).
8
Consecutive games in which Myles Garrett has a sack. With one against the Bills, he would tie Trey Hendrickson for the second-longest streak in NFL history — and tie the NFL season sack record with 22.5.
125, 10
Tackles and tackles for loss by linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who leads NFL rookies.
THE PICK
The Browns celebrate Myles Garrett setting the sack record but fall short against a Super Bowl contender. Bills 24, Browns 13.
