The train is rolling — don’t get in its way. The Cleveland Browns improved to 2-1 on the season with a mostly dominant 26-6 performance against the Chicago Bears. Browns fans were relieved to see Odell Beckham Jr. have a big game after seeing his first action in 11 months. The defense also proved to be stout, led by a career day from Myles Garrett, against former Ohio State Buckeye quarterback Justin Fields. Before the Cleveland football team heads to Minnesota for matchup next Sunday again the Vikings, here are a few takeaways from Sunday’s win over the Bears.
OBJ is back. The wide receiver says he felt "exhausted" against the Bears and felt like he was unable to really get it going. If that's true, we look forward to him at full mast, as he totaled five passes for 77 yards in his 2021 debut Sunday. When Beckham Jr. is playing for the Browns, he is a force who had over 1,000 yards receiving in 16 games in 2019 and 23 catches in seven games last year. Today, his star power helped soften the blow from missing Jarvis Landry.
Kareem Hunt can carry the load. Hunt rushed 10 times for 81 yards and a touchdown while also catching six passes for 74 yards and blocking well. Nick Chubb still recorded great numbers with 22 carries for 84 yards and key runs that helped drive the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter. With Hunt running like this, protect Chubb at all costs.
Myles Garrett and the Browns defensive front terrorized the Chicago Bears. Garrett set the team record with 4.5 sacks, but the defense recorded 4.5 more and held quarterback Justin Field and the Bears offense to just 47 total yards and an astounding 1 passing yard. It was nice to see the group step up after Garrett called out their inability to make a play last week.
Mistakes by the Browns’ offense left points on the board in the first half. Baker Mayfield took sacks and overthrew receivers multiple times in key situations throughout the game, and penalties stalled otherwise productive drives. In fact, the offensive line looked a bit porous for one of the league's best, allowing Mayfield to get sacked five times and spend much of the first half on the run. Though the offense dominated yards and time of possession, it took a touchdown late in the second quarter for the Browns to begin pulling ahead.
The Browns might have found a kicker in Chase McLaughlin. After a year of headaches with Cody Parkey, it seemed that the one position the Browns hadn't addressed during the offseason was kicker. Then in training camp, Illinois grad McLaughlin won the starting spot over Parkey. That appeared to be the right decision Sunday as McLaughlin knocked down four field goals, including bombs from 57 and 52 yards.
