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Giants (0-2) Cleveland (1-1)
The Cleveland Browns held the lead in their
entire game with the Jacksonville Jaguars. They were up 18-13, and hung tough
when the Jaguars had the ball with less than a minute and a half left. The Jaguars
got down to the Browns 33-yard line when the clock ended their drive.
The Giants
scored more points than they did in their season opener, but it wasn't enough.
A combination of losing their kicker early on and their inability to get the Commanders
off the field did them in. The Giants ended up losing to Washington 21-18. Cleveland
Browns
The Cleveland Browns have never won
a Super Bowl, and actually are one of the four teams that have never appeared
in one. From 2003 to 2017, with the exception of one 2nd place, and one 3rd place
finish, they were in last place in the AFC North division. Twelve of those years
they had 11 or more losses, including the last three of them, 3-13, 1-15, and
0-16. They had third place losing seasons in the following two years, and Kevin
Stefanski took over as head coach in 2020. The Browns still finished in third
place in a tough division dominated by the Steelers and Ravens, but the team had
it's first winning season since 2002, with an impressive 11-5 record.
The
Browns Wild Card playoff game was at Heinz Field where they had lost 17 straight
games to the Steelers. The Browns had selected Baker Mayfield with the first overall
pick in 2018, and Mayfield threw for 263 yards and 3 touchdowns, to guide them
to their first postseason win since the 1994 season. They went on to lose the
Divisional Playoff game on the road to Kansas City, 22-17. Mayfield suffered some
injuries in 2021 that would require surgery, and In the 2022 offseason the Browns
traded for quarterback Deshaun Watson. They were aware he was facing a suspension
and he started in only six games. Last year Watson's shoulder injury limited him
to only six starts, and Joe Flacco was brought in. His four late season wins got
the Browns into the playoffs, but they lost in the Wild Card Playoffs to the Texans
Cleveland Browns
Offense
The offense got off to a poor start
in their first game. Deshaun Watson did not play in preseason, coming off his
season ending shoulder surgery, and things did not go well. Watson threw for 169
yards, one touchdown, had two interceptions, and was sacked six times in their
33–17 loss to the Cowboys. Watson is still effective running though, and was better
with his passing as well, especially with Jerry Jeudy in their win over the Jaguars.
Earlier this week, the Browns starting right tackle Dawand Jones had to miss practice
due to a knee injury. They were already down veteran tackles Jack Conklin and
Jedrick Wills Jr. who are continuing to rehab from serious knee injuries suffered
during the 2023 season. They both missed the first two games and Conklin will
miss this one, while Wills Jr. is listed as questionable.
Watson has been
hitting all his receivers, but his connection with Amari Cooper, their leading
receiver, isn't there. Cooper had 72 catches for 1250 yards and 5 touchdowns last
year. Watson targeted Cooper 9 times in their first game, and he caught only 2.
Last week 8 passes resulted in 3 catches, leaving Cooper with 5 catches on the
season and for only 27 yards. Tight end David Njoku had the most catches and scored
the most receiving touchdowns last season. Njoku missed last game and is out for
this one as well. Jerome Ford was the lead running back last year. He still is,
but had only 12 carries for 44 yards in the first game and even less, just 7 last
week. D'Onta Foreman, picked up in the offseason, played in his first game with
the Browns last week and they handed him the ball 14 times. It will be interesting
to see what they do this game.
Cleveland
Browns Defense
The
Browns had the top ranked defense last year. They were 1st in pass defense and
11th against the run. Their 49 sacks had them in sixth place and they were tied
for third place with the Giants with their 18 interceptions. They have no interceptions
so far, but are on a quicker pace with their sack numbers. The defense already
has 7 sacks, and Myles Garrett leads the team with 2, both of them strip sacks.
Garrett was last year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and he has recorded
double digit sacks for Cleveland every year except one. That was when Garrett
was a rookie and did not play the full season. Garrett is in his eight year now,
and is dealing with injuries to both his feet. He's missed some practice, but
will be in this game with the Giants.
The defense likes to blitz, and are
overall tough up front. Defensive tackles Quinton Jefferson and Dalvin Tomlinson,
a former Giant, each have one sack. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is tough
to get by. He leads the team in tackles with 16. There's no way the Browns secondary
won't be paying attention to Malik Nabers the way the Giants have been using him.
Starting safety Juan Thornhill was placed on IR, but they have a talented group.
They haven't had one turnover yet this season and will be looking for them. Giants
Offense
The Giants offense looked much more
stable last week than in their first outing. They had the misfortune of losing
kicker Graham Gano early on, and that set the course of restricting what they
could do if all hands were on deck. The Giants certainly haven't ignored the fact
that they added Malik Nabers with their sixth overall pick in the draft. Daniel
Jones has been hitting him hard. More than a third of his passes have been directed
at Nabers, who's pulled in 15 of 25 for 193 yards and 1 touchdown. Wan'Dale Robinson
is next with 8 catches on 16 targets, and he has the only other receiving touchdown.
Darius Slayton has caught 6 of 8, and that's it for the wide receiver group
For
some reason, Brian Daboll's game plan doesn't feature tight ends. No passes were
directed at Daniel Bellinger and rookie Theo Johnson last week. Running back Devin
Singletary was the only other player Jones threw to for one incompletion. Singletary
has been doing the job on the ground. It hasn't been much of a committee effort
so far and he's carried the major load. Last week he carried the ball 16 times
for 95 yards and 1 touchdown. It won't be easy to rush up the middle against the
Browns defense so Daboll may have to be more creative with his overall play calling
this week. Giants Defense
They
could have played much better last week. They were up against a rookie quarterback
and allowed Jayden Daniels to complete 11 of his 13 passes for 87 yards in the
first half. During that time, he and running back Brian Robinson Jr. had 10 carries
for 63 yards and just kept the chains moving. Third and long plays turned into
first downs. In the end, the he Giants allowed the Commanders to control the game,
and they scored on every possession with long drives. The Giants gave up 111 yards
on the ground in their first game with the Vikings, and then 215 to Washington.
There was a lot of poor tackling in that game. This week the Browns signed running
back Gary Brightwell and tight end Blake Whiteheart to the active roster from
their practice squad. It's possible that they see things will work out well for
them after the Giants poor bend-don't-break performance last week. Considering
the offensive line issues the Browns are dealing with right now, the Giants should
be able to bring pressure and keep Deshaun Watson off balance. Though things did
not work out well, their pass rush came up with five sacks and seven quarterback
hits on Daniels. In the secondary, rookie cornerback Dru Phillips played well
in his first game and saw more playing time in the second. Phillips came up with
12 tackles, 7 solo stops, and 1 sack, and now leads the team with 16 total tackles.
That takes some of the pressure off Deonte Banks and Adoree' Jackson. Watson hasn't
looked to be on the same page with Amari Cooper, so there could be some opportunities
there. Overall
Both
teams showed improvement from their first game to their next. The Browns got their
first season win, and the Giants, despite improvements, were unable to accomplish
that. The Browns are currently dealing with more injury issues than the Giants,
and that could be a factor. A win for the Giants sure would be a confidence booster,
as they have a short week to prepare for the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (0-2)
at Cleveland (1-1)
Sunday at 1:00pm Eagles (1-1) at Saints (2-0)
Sunday
at 4:25pm Ravens (0-2) at Cowboys (1-1)
Monday at 8:15pm Commanders (1-1) at
Bengals (0-2)
No teams in the NFC East are favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
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Next Games
Sept
26 Cowboys at Giants
Oct 6 Giants at Seahawks
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