Cleveland Browns battle frigid temperatures, New Orleans Saints
CLEVELAND − The weather outside is going to be frightful Saturday afternoon. Whether or not the results on the field are frightful for the Browns is a whole different question only they can answer.
The temperatures will be in the single digits to low teens, with the wind chills dipping below minus-20 when the Browns close out their home schedule against the New Orleans Saints. It’s not going to be a fun climate to play in, even for those who grew up in cold-weather climates, let alone warm-weather natives such as quarterback Deshaun Watson.
For a player who acknowledged during his pre-trade conversations with Browns ownership a dislike for that kind of weather, a forecast like that certainly has to play mind games of sorts. Or does it?
“Nah, not at all,” Watson said this week. “My main job is just going out there and like I said before, executing the game plan and trying to win. Not so much of what the weather is going to because I can’t control that.”
What Watson can have some control over is the Browns’ prospects to not have their final home game of the season also be their final time to hold any hope for a winning season or a playoff berth, however dim the chances may be for the latter. At 6-8, they have to win out over their final three games to assure the former, while they need to do that and get a lot of help to open the door for the latter.
Which turns the story back to Watson, who’s going to make his fourth start for the Browns since returning from his 11-game suspension due to more than two-dozen allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage appointments during his time with the Houston Texans. It’s going to be his second consecutive home start, and the second consecutive one in which he’s experienced the always-unique December weather in Cleveland, having seen snow by the end of last Saturday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Watson had arguably his best start of the three against the Ravens. It wasn’t so much the statistics − 18-of-28 for 161 yards and a touchdown − as it was the overall command he started to show running the offense, including an impressive 94-yard TD drive while going no-huddle.
“My main thing is just operating the offense,” Watson said. “So whatever it takes, if it’s running the ball 30 times, if it’s passing the ball 40 times, whatever it takes to be able to get that win. That’s the ultimate goal. I know a lot of people want highlights and the big shots that people were seeing the last time I played and that’s naturally going to come but we can’t force that issue and you’ve got to understand that the defense and other teams that we play understand that, too.”
That goes for the way both teams will attack Saturday’s game. It’s not so much the arctic temperatures that will impact their game plans as it is the wind, which is forecasted to average 29 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph.
Browns fans with long memories can recall a Sunday in Cincinnati right before Christmas in 2007 when a game plan that called for throwing the ball nearly 50 times despite winds gusting at nearly that speed cost Cleveland a playoff berth. A decade-and-a-half later, a different staff is at least acknowledging that would not be a wise decision in similar conditions.
“If it is one of those days that you can’t even take a shotgun snap because the wind is blowing too hard, we will adjust and adapt,” offensive staff Alex Van Pelt said. “I think we have a good plan going in and contingency plans if it is one of those days where you just can’t really do anything but get under center and run the ball. We are ready for that. If we get lucky and it is not as windy as they are calling for, we are ready for that.”
What that likely means is that the game could turn into an old-school battle of ground games. The Browns got some good news on Thursday to that end when Nick Chubb, the league’s third-leading rusher, returned to practice after missing Tuesday and Wednesday with a foot injury.
The Saints’ overall rushing offense only ranked 22nd in the league at 111.3 yards per game. However, it does boast one of the most versatile backs in Alvin Kamara, who’s as much a receiving threat as he is rushing one.
“He is a unique player in his own right just because he is a very good runner but you can see they put him in different places,” defensive coordinator Joe Woods said. “When he gets out on routes, he is hard to deal with. You have to have a plan just because of what he is able to do in the passing game against him. The run game, there is obviously coverage pressure, but when he gets out in the pass game, you better have a couple of different ways to try to cover him.”
Matchup to watch: Saints QB/RB/TE/WR Taysom Hill vs. Browns defense
Andy Dalton has rejuvenated himself as the Saints’ starting quarterback of their last 11 games. However, considering the conditions, it may very well be sixth-year pro Taysom Hill − not technically even Dalton’s backup − who plays a bigger role in…
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