Getty Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has a lot of respect for the Browns' talent.
The Seattle Seahawks take on a Cleveland Browns team that is struggling to keep pace with their lofty preseason expectations. Despite having a lot of offensive firepower, the Browns head into their Week 6 matchup with the Seahawks at 2-3. A bigger issue than the record is the way the team got dominated by the 49ers as the Browns failed to score a touchdown in their 31-3 loss on Monday Night Football.
As the Seahawks began preparing for the Browns, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll praised Cleveland’s offensive weapons. Carroll’s press conference took place prior to the Browns laying an egg on Monday Night Football, but the coach called the Browns-Niners game a “homework assignment” for the team.
“They’re an interesting team,” Carroll said of the Browns during his Week 6 press conference. “They’ve got all kinds of firepower and so [we’re] in the early stages of learning about them. They have a lot of dangerous players on both sides of the ball.”
Baker Mayfield Only Completed 36 Percent of His Passes & Threw 2 Interceptions Against the 49ers
GettyCleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield has had a slow start to the season.
Baker Mayfield would like to get his Week 5 performance back against the 49ers. Mayfield failed to throw a touchdown while having two interceptions. The Browns quarterback finished with just 100 yards while only completing 36.4 percent of his passes which landed him a 13.4 passer rating. Niners defensive end Nick Bosa admitted that Mayfield had a bit of target on his back and noted the Browns quarterback was “panicking” during the game.
“I don’t usually talk, but this game he had it coming,” Bosa explained to The Mercury News. “I was just screaming his name. ‘Ba-ker. Ba-ker. You good? Come on, pick it up. We want a challenge.’ He was panicking. He was double-clutching, rolling back and forth. We had him rattled all game.”
The Seahawks are hoping that Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah can help make Mayfield uncomfortable once again on Sunday. Bosa was not the only player to criticize Mayfield after the Niners’ dominant win. Former Legion of Boom member Richard Sherman called out Mayfield for not shaking hands before the game.
“What’s amazing, and annoying, was him not shaking hands at the beginning,” Sherman told NFL.com. “That’s some college s—. It’s ridiculous. We’re all trying to get psyched up, but shaking hands with your opponent — that’s NFL etiquette. And when you pull bush league stuff, that’s disrespectful to the game. And believe me, that’s gonna get us fired up.”
The Key to Stopping the Browns Offense Lies in Containing Nick Chubb
GettyNick Chubb is the key to the Seahawks-Browns matchup in Week 6.
Much will be made about Russell Wilson squaring off with Mayfield despite the two players not sharing the field at the same time. Mayfield may get the attention, but Nick Chubb is the heart of the Browns’ offense. The Seahawks’ ability to limit the Browns’ offense depends on how they defend Chubb. The Browns running back has rushed for 485 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 5.2 yards per carry through five games.
While the Seahawks’ secondary has struggled at times, Seattle has been able to defend the run this season. The Seahawks rank fourth in the NFL allowing just 80 rushing yards per game.
The Browns offense has looked anything but explosive, but Cleveland still has the players to put up a lot of points when everything is clicking. None of these weapons has been more important than Chubb, making how the Seahawks defend the running back one of the keys to the Browns matchup.
