5 Big Question Revisited from Green Bay Packers v. Browns

Q: Can Green Bay Packers slow Cleveland run game?

A: Not at all

We knew that Cleveland was going to rely heavily on the run game–they entered Saturday’s contest ranked in the top-10 in rushing attempts per game, and oh yeah, Nick Chubb has been one of the most productive backs in football.

So with that, as I had wondered, we did see Joe Barry utilize more players closer to the line of scrimmage in an effort to help against the run. Typically, the goal of this Green Bay defense is to take away the passing game, and if you want to run the ball, well, that’s fine.

However, against Chubb and Cleveland’s offensive line that was down two of their starters, it didn’t much matter what Green Bay did. The Packers’ defensive front was pushed around in the run game as Chubb ran for 126 yards on just 17 carries and the Browns averaged a ridiculous 8.8 yards per rush.

Q: Can the Green Bay Packers slow the Browns’ TEs?

A: For the most part

Now, as we had previously discussed, it’s not as if any of the Cleveland tight ends are of Mark Andrew’s caliber, but collectively, they’ve been very productive this season.

The trio of Austin Hooper, David Njoku, and Harrison Bryant entered Sunday’s game with 949 combined receiving yards and seven touchdowns, according to PFF ($$). Hooper and Njoku are also among Baker Mayfield’s favorite targets.

But on Saturday, the three tight ends would combine for only 27 yards and a touchdown with 26 of those yards belonging to Hooper. Instead, Mayfield heavily targeted receivers Rashard Higgins and Jarvis Landry in the passing game. Without having seen the All-22 yet, it’s difficult to know if this was a product of Green Bay’s linebackers and safeties covering well, or if Mayfield was just looking elsewhere.

But even though the Cleveland tight ends didn’t fill the stat sheet, they were still featured heavily in the offense with plenty of two and three tight end sets from the Browns.