Going into week 5, the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers both go into their matchup on a similar trajectory. Both started out with an early season loss (Kansas City for the Browns, Dallas Cowboys for the Chargers) and shaky wins vs inferior opponents (Houston Texans for the Browns, Washington Football Team for the Chargers). Now both are seemingly getting the ball rolling with two wins in a row against meaningful competition. The Charger’s Justin Herbert has found his rhythm, and his defense has been giving his offense extra chances with their stout play, and Cleveland is going to need to do a couple things to come out of San Di- I mean Los Angeles with the win.

I think the key is Baker Mayfield. In my last article, I said that I thought there was more to the shoulder injury than was being led on. This was confirmed this past week with reports that he has a torn labrum and wore a shoulder sling to play. It was his worst looking professional game in my opinion, and we will struggle to win games against elite competition if his shoulder is going to affect his play this much. He will be what we need to get the ball rolling. He’s a tough player, and on top of that he’s currently playing for a contract. I believe he’ll be able to step up to the plate like he always has. However, he’s going to need to have time to throw, which may be an issue.

Another thing the Browns must do is scheme plays that are either rolling right, quick play action, or running, because both Left Tackles Jedrick Wills and Chris Hubbard are out. In most weeks this may not be a major concern, but we’re playing against a defense that has multiple stars including former Ohio State legend Joey Bosa, who will certainly be over whoever has left tackle responsibilities. We MUST scheme for this, and I’m sure our talented staff has, but Baker taking too many hits from his blind side on that should will not bode well for his chances of finishing the season.

Lastly, we just need our defense to bring the same intensity they brought against the Bears and the Vikings. Their ability to get pressure only rushing 4 people is the sign of an elite defense, and it allows for less holes in the pass defense. Joe Woods has them playing like a unit a lot sooner than I thought it would take 7 new starters, but it just goes to show how good the scheme really is and how much talent they have on that side of the ball. They just need to keep doing their thing, and maybe give Herbert some looks he hasn’t seen yet. He’s been playing so well that people forget that he hasn’t even played a full seasons worth of NFL games yet. He’s still young and the Browns can hopefully exploit that to the best of their ability. All in all, I believe the final score is going to be 27-17 Browns. I have faith the defense will be stout enough to give the offense some breathing room, and the offense with a banged up Baker and no left tackle or Jarvis Landry can do enough to get the win on the road.