I come to pimp the Thursday night game.
The NFL gives every franchise a primetime game, and so they kinda dump games like the Browns-Bills against the MLB playoffs on some random Thursday night as a throwaway game to get two of those primetime games out of the way. But it turned out to be interesting anyway.
The Bills are coming off an upset win against the rats. People thought the Browns were tanking the season after trading away Richardson 2 years ago and starting third string Hoyer, and since they’ve ripped off two wins. Both teams are 2-2 and trying to prove themselves by establishing a winning record.
The Browns defense has been a big surprise this year. First against the run, YPC allowed at 2.9. This includes holding Adrian Peterson to 3.5 YPC. First with longest rushing play allowed - 14 yards. They’ve been dominating against the rush.
Surprisingly, they’ve been very good against the pass too even with an obvious weakness in the secondary. Third in sacks with 14. 1st in Passing TDs allowed, 2. Longest pass given up 37 yards. 2nd in average yards per attempt - 5.9, and yards per reception, 9.8.
Which is pretty amazing for a totally new defense, with significant new players, a switch from 4-3 to 3-4, and a very different scheme. They hit the ground running and they’ll only get better. I thought Paul Kruger was overpaid, but he’s been an extremely well rounded player. Desmond Bryant is actually underpaid - he got very little attention on the free agent market this year but he’s been dominant. I was against the drafting of Mingo, but he’s flying around the field, making plays everywhere, his athleticism is fantastic.
The secondary is overachieving - Haden is amongst the top corners in the league, and deserves all pro status this year, but even the much less talented secondary around him are finding ways not to suck.
People were scoffing at me in the Trent Richardson thread when I suggested that the Browns defense would get them 5 or 6 wins at least, but there’s a good chance they’re going to have 3 wins in week 5.
Hoyer, I’m not sure yet. He’s very unlikely to be a franchise QB, but he could be a competent game manager. He gets the ball out much quicker than Weeden, which has made the O-line look a lot better. Getting Lavau back in place of Cousins (who is easily the worst lineman in the league, and I include backups in that, no idea how he has a job) will be huge. He throws balls to spots before the receiver makes his break - you know, what most QBs in the NFL that don’t start for the Cleveland Browns do. It’s refreshing to see decisive quarterbacking, even if it’s not especially talented.
The game is supposed to happen during a thunderstorm. The Browns and Bilsl have had some weird games over the years. My favorite football game ever was a bad weather game between the Browns and Bills (watch the kick around 1:50 - best kick I’ve ever seen).
I think the bad weather favors the Browns, because as awful as they are at running, they’re even better at stopping the run. 20-10 Browns.