It’s been only three days, but the Cleveland Browns are almost unrecognizable compared to the form they took against the Bengals on Sunday. Jameis Winston is playing quarterback. Ken Dorsey is calling the offensive plays. And Nick Chubb, a human being made of pure Teflon and HARDWORKANDGRIT, said he was sore after making his debut. Sore! That’s an admission he’s made of normal human tissue and bone, a reality I simply refuse to accept.
With this new iteration of the Browns getting ready to face an ultra hot Ravens team on Sunday, we’re bringing back another edition of Power Rankings in case you’ve been floating around in purgatory the last couple weeks, for which you cannot (and WILL NOT) be blamed. Let’s look at the four most important people in (or around) the Browns as we barrel ahead to Week 8.
4. The Defense Might Be Alive?
Lost in the chaos of Sunday was the Browns defense kind of sort of maybe resembling the unit that terrorized opposing offenses for much of the 2023 season. They sacked Blonde Joe Burrow three times, held an explosive Bengals offense to just 14 points (one of the Bengals’ touchdowns came on the opening kickoff return) and posted an EPA per play of -0.177 — good for 9th best amongst defenses in Week 7.
It’s probably too late to really matter, but the defensive unit starting to turn things around would go a long ways toward smoothing out what’s been one of the most turbulent Browns seasons in recent memory.
3. The Fans
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