Anyone who has watched the Cleveland Browns play has a pretty good idea how much of a trainwreck their season has become. There’s been a bit of everything. Their 200+ million-dollar quarterback walked off the field on fourth down. They traded away their best receiver in the midst of having one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL:
Take your pick of any number of offensive statistics and you can bet that the 2024 Browns are potentially historically bad at it. They are the first offense in ten years to score under 20 points in each of their first six games. They’ve not passed for over 200 yards in a contest yet this year. It’s gotten so bad that some Browns pundits are getting nostalgic for the way things were during their winless campaign in 2017 under former Bengals coach Hue Jackson. And for as bad as things have been in Cleveland, there is one dynamic that will be different this week.
That, of course, is the return of Browns running back Nick Chubb.
Chubb Looking to Bounce Back
Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury last year in week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has been out ever since. He’s been battling back ever since and will make his 2024 debut against Cincinnati on Sunday. What does his return mean for the Bengals’ gameplan on defense?
Let’s not forget Chubb’s chops. He has made the Pro Bowl four times and has averaged over 5 yards per carry in every season he’s played. And the Browns rushing attack could use someone of his caliber. This year they are 28th in rush yards per game (97.2) and 20th in yards per rush (4.3). Their backs get an average of 1.78 yards after contact (19th best in the NFL). When you combine that with Watson’s epic struggles it is no surprise why the Browns have the league’s worst overall offense.
And Bengals fans no doubt have plenty of less than fond memories of Chubb’s past success against the Bengals. In 10 career games against Cincinnati, Chubb averages 5.2 yards per carry. That’s about 90 yards per game. Over that span Chubb has scored 7 touchdowns. Six of those ten games have seen the Browns’ running back eclipse the 100-yard mark.
But Chubb’s return is far from a magic bullet that will cure what ails the Brown’s offense. According to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, Chubb’s workload is a “work in progress.” These are hardly the words of a coach who expects to put the game on the back of a player returning from injury. Chubb hasn’t played a game in over a year. Regardless of how much he may have torched the Bengals in the past, it’s a tough ask for Browns fans to expect the world of him. The plan is clear in that Cleveland hopes that he can improve the rushing attack just enough to get Watson comfortable and get some consistency through the air.
The Bengals Defense Will Be Ready
There’s also the small matter of what the Bengals defense has to say on the matter. They held the Giants offense to just seven points on Sunday night. The line is now fully healthy. BJ Hill has improved, as is their overall run defense. They held Giants’ running back Tyrone Tracy to less than three yards per carry.
The Browns are desperate. They are looking for any sort of spark to get a win and stop the merciless wave of negative coverage the team and players are facing. The numerous feel-good pieces being written about Chubb’s return demonstrate that plenty of people are pinning their hopes on him to bring about that change.
On Sunday I expect Chubb to get a good number of carries. However, it will take him weeks to get back into any real form. The Bengals defense, on the other hand, is healthier than they’ve been in a long while. They are coming off a confidence-building performance in primetime. Though Chubb may have some success, Cincinnati has the weapons and the drive to limit the impact Chubb has on this game. This will put even more pressure on Deshaun Watson to play winning football. Fortunately for Bengals fans he hasn’t shown anything close to that ability all year.
Cover photo credit to Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
