Early Bird Breakdown Week 14 – Packers @ Browns

Early Bird Breakdown Week 14 – Packers @ Browns

Hello and welcome back to Early Bird Breakdown. It’s week fourteen of the regular season. Before diving into the breakdown, let’s look back to last week’s game.

The Recap:

Last week the Packers hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what turned into a grind fest. Brett Hundley after looking so good versus Pittsburgh looked so bad versus the Buccaneers, failing to reach 100 yards passing with no touchdowns and one interception. With the down game from the quarterback it was up to the defense and running game to step up and both did. Jamaal Williams ran for 113 yards and a touchdown. The defense also scored with Dean Lowery with a 62 yard touchdown off of a fumble recovery in the second quarter. The Packers won 26-20 in overtime with Aaron Jones first and only carry going in for the game winning score.

The Breakdown:

Packers’ Offense vs Browns’ Defense:

While by reputation (and record) you would assume Cleveland is bad at everything but they actually are quite good defensively ranked 10th in the league. Thanks in part to rookie Myles Garrett who has five sacks but has generated consistent pressure the Browns have been keeping offenses more or less in check.

The Browns are better against the run than the pass but McCarthy should focus on running the ball with Williams and Jones and just play the field position game. The goal will be just to play turnover free – Cleveland will make mistakes offensively and the Packers just need to be patient and scoring opportunities will come.

Packers’ Defense vs Browns’ Offense:

The Packers defense may need to help out the offense once again and they should look great this week against Cleveland. The Browns are 0-12 for a reason and that is their offense. Mike Daniels and the Packers defense should lock in and pounce on the Browns’ offense which is leading the NFL in turnovers.

Green Bay likely will be able to get two to three turnovers and if they can prevent many Cleveland third down conversions they will be able to grind this game out to a victory.

The Weather:

Cleveland should be a cloudy 31 degree kickoff but no snow is expected.

The Prediction:

Even with Hundley’s inconsistencies it is hard to imagine the Browns’ offense will put enough of a scare on the Packers defense to actually win. If Hundley plays like he did in Pittsburgh the Packers will win easily, if he plays as bad as he did last week it will be close but ultimately the Browns do not have enough weapons to overcome the mistakes they are assuredly going to make. The Packers win 23-13.