Cleveland Browns: Three Dawg Bones to Victory

The Kansas City Chiefs and their undefeated record host the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. This is not the same Chiefs that got spanked 30-7 last year by the Browns. Here are three things that will help the orange-and-brown get back to .500.

Dawg Bone #1

Limit Sir Charles

Jamaal Charles is one of the most versatile running backs in the NFL. He is third in the league in rushing with 561 yards. Charles also has another 336 yards receiving. Averaging almost 130 all-purpose yards per game, Charles also has eight touchdowns on the season. While it will be impossible to stop Charles, the Browns must limit his production. Cleveland needs to take the same approach they did with Adrian Peterson and understand that Charles is going to get something, but don’t let him beat you.

Dawg Bone #2

Back to the Basics on Defense

After Charles, Kansas City isn’t that overwhelming with their offense. Two of their wins have come by just one point. The other five have all been won by nine or more points. They just do enough to win and have a few play-makers at the right times. Quarterback, Alex Smith has pedestrian-like numbers (7 TDs & 4 INTs) this season and likes to dink-and-dunk. He also uses all of his teammates (literally). Smith has found 13 different receivers in seven games. Despite surrendering 62 points in the last two games, the Browns can still be a threat to the Chiefs offense. The Browns need to get back to the basics by keeping everything in front of them and get pressure on Smith. The Browns still allow only 4.5 yards per play and are seventh in yards per game (318.9).

Dawg Bone #3
Element of Surprise

Whether it’s changing some of the personnel packages or digging deep into the bag of trick plays or finding a better way to offset their pass rush, something has to happen in order to win this game. Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner must get creative. A bland, boring, and predictable game plan is not going to get it done this week. Going 35% on third downs is not going to cut it either. The Chiefs could be looking past the Browns this week. This would be the perfect time to catch them off guard.

Ryan Ruiz is the Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Ryan is also a Browns correspondent for The Sportsfix. Tune in every Friday at noon on www.thesportsfix.net. Email Ryan at [email protected]