Losing on the road to the Atlanta Falcons doesn’t bode well for the Cleveland Browns in the final part of Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension.
While winning on the road during any NFL Sunday isn’t easy, the Cleveland Browns missed a golden opportunity at the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4.
Even if superstar Miles Garrett was unable to play, Cleveland had a more talented roster against The Dirty Birds, but failed in Atlanta, 23-20. Marcus Mariota didn’t play well in the win, with Jacoby Brissett playing well enough to win. However, the inability to stop the run late and questionable decisions made in the red led Cleveland to fall back.
Although 2-2 isn’t a bad sign during the first four games, it’s getting tougher for Brown…
Cleveland Browns fall to Atlanta Falcons while Deshaun Watson gets suspended
Looking ahead to Brawn’s next seven matches Before Watson can return against his former team in the Houston Texans on December 4, they’ll need to go at least 4-3 now to stay in the playoffs chase. While it remains to be seen how well the AFC North does from top to bottom, it was expected to be a division worthy of having two teams in the AFC qualifiers at the start of the year for most people.
Here’s what Cleveland has on the schedule between now and when Watson can start.
- Week 5: Opposite the Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday, October 9th)
- Week 6: vs New England Patriots (Sunday, October 16th)
- Week 7: Baltimore Ravens (Sunday, October 23)
- Week 8: vs Cincinnati Bengals (Monday, October 31)
- Week Nine: Bye
- Week 10: Miami Dolphins (Sunday, November 13)
- Week 11: At the Buffalo Bills (Sunday, November 20)
- Week 12: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday, November 27)
Is this a row of killer opponents? we will see. However, of the Browns’ top four opponents (at the Carolina Panthers, versus the New York Jets, versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, at the Falcons), are any of them really playoff teams? Perhaps one of them if it overheated and succeeded in achieving it excessively. It was the Steelers a year ago. NFC South is terrible, so maybe Atlanta or the Carolinas. And planes are forever planes…
So of the seven games between now and the date of Watson’s return, Cleveland likely won’t win in Baltimore or at Buffalo. Winning on the road anywhere without Watson would be a huge shock. As much as their easiest game is, they could be on their home ground against New England in a couple of weeks. Then again, Bill Belichick hates Cleveland more than anything else in the world. He will wake up for this.
Does brown go from 0 to 7 on this stretch? No, but for the awesomeness of 4-3, 2-5 plays a big part. Brown has been playing four playoffs since a year ago. None of them feel the emotions of the last-place teams at this point. The most disturbing thing is that they lost to two teams that many people were expecting to finish fourth in Gang Green and The Dirty Birds.
And depending on how you feel about Tua Tagovailoa or Mac Jones, Cleveland will have a midfield deficit in every game between now and Watson’s return. Again, the roster is talented enough to win more games than take losses on this stretch, but rolling in with Brissett limits it. He played decently against Atlanta and lost. What does that say about the team?
As far as Atlanta is concerned, give the Falcons the credit. They are 2-2, but they could be 4-0. On the contrary, it could also be from 0 to 4. But the most important thing to understand is that these boys play hard with Arthur Smith in attack and Dean Pease in defence. Atlanta has a talent shortage compared to most teams, but there are no withdrawals for the 2022 Falcons Championship. They have a heart, a Cleveland must find.
New York and Atlanta may not be as bad as advertised, but Cleveland could be worse than both…
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