Dallas City News

It’s a new NFL season, which means it’s a news season of 5 Questions. Every year we connect with the opposition SB Nation site for that week’s game. This week it is Dawgs By Nature. Let’s see what they think of the game.

Blogging The Boys: Give us your perspective on Deshaun Watson. What has been the problem so far outside of just injuries, and what are the expectations heading into this season?

Dawgs By Nature: People will point to Deshaun Watson’s record last season as a sign of optimism (his record was 5-1 as a starter), but that was a testament to the Browns’ defense, and the same type of good fortune that helped propel Cleveland to the playoffs last season despite all of their injuries (including having five starting quarterbacks during the year). This offseason, there isn’t much to go by with Watson, since he didn’t participate in any preseason games. Over the past two years, when he was healthy, he was a mix of being rusty, having poor footwork or mechanics at times, and poor ball placement with his receivers. My personal opinion is that all of the hatred he received for his off-the-field scandal ended up making him a bit of a headcase on the field, in the sense that he just couldn’t shake it. It seems like enough time has passed and headlines have died down about Watson, so that stuff should be a bit more mentally behind him. In the final game he played in prior to his injury, a victory over the Baltimore Ravens, he did have his best game as a member of the Browns by far, appearing confident and like he was a difference maker. We have no idea what version of Watson we will see in Week 1 against the Cowboys; your guess is as good as anyone’s.

BTB: The Cowboys are starting a rookie left tackle; Myles Garrett will certainly be ready for that matchup. Will the Browns try to isolate that matchup and who else along the defensive line could cause problems for the Cowboys?

DBN: Between Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith, the team’s two starting defensive ends last year, they had 19.5 sacks and 50 quarterback hits. The backup defensive ends, Alex Wright and Ogbo Okoronkwo, combined for 9.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits. After that, you had the defensive tackles pitch in for a few sacks. Cleveland made very few changes to their defense this offseason, but one of their changes came in the signing of DT Quinton Jefferson, who has 16 sacks over the last 3 seasons. All of that is to answer the question of who else could cause havoc on the defensive line — it can come from any direction at any time. Specifically with Myles Garrett, I think from a general gameplanning standpoint, Garrett will be moved around occasionally, just to keep the Cowboys guessing. Overall, though, you’ll see a heavy and consistent dose of Garrett going up against the rookie — then, it’ll be a matter of whether Dallas’ gameplan is to trust the rookie, or to offer help with a tight end.

BTB: How will the running back group shake out with the absence of Nick Chubb?

DBN: The Browns lost Nick Chubb in Week 2 last year, so they played without him for most of the 2023 season. We are dying to get him back, but in the mean time, Jerome Ford will continue to lead the way. He has decent speed and is a good receiving back, but really lacked good vision last year as far as seeing a hole open up goes. Maybe it’s because I just got so used to how well Chubb recognized lanes. After Ford, the Browns added D’Onta Foreman to the backfield this year. He is expected to take on a short yardage/goal line role like Kareem Hunt had a year ago. The team also has Pierre Strong as their third running back.

BTB: Tell us about a few of the major changes the Browns have made this offseason either in personnel or scheme.

DBN: There have been very few changes to the Browns this year, other than Deshaun Watson returning from injury. On offense, Cleveland’s big move was acquiring WR Jerry Jeudy from the Denver Broncos to be their No. 2 receiver. They hope his sharp route-running ability can pair well with a quarterback like Watson, as opposed to the array of quarterbacks Jeudy had to deal with in Denver. On defense, the Browns let starting LB Anthony Walker become a free agent and opted to sign veteran LB Jordan Hicks instead. It’s not a huge change, but I think they feel more confident in Hicks’ ability to be a consistent tackler and recognize some misdirection plays.

BTB: The Browns are favored at home by 2.5 points (FanDuel). How do you see the game playing out and who ends up winning?

DBN: It may be what everyone is harping on, but I think the two big match-ups you have to look at here are Dallas having a rookie left tackle instead of Tyron Smith, and cornerback DaRon Bland being out for awhile. Those are two match-ups that Cleveland can exploit, while letting their defense try to do the rest of the talking. Last year, in the first three games the Browns’ defense allowed 142, 255, and 94 yards of offense in the first three games of the season. I think they get off to another hot start here and win with the points.

Thanks for the knowledge, Dawgs By Nature.