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3 burning questions for Cleveland Browns to answer against Las Vegas Raiders
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- 3 burning questions for Cleveland Browns to answer against Las Vegas Raiders
BEREA — Questions abound for the Browns as they hit what would be roughly the quarter pole of the season.
Some of those questions, quite honestly, are more existential in nature. Some are longer-term questions where the answers can't be provided in just one game.
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Then there are the questions for which the Browns (1-2) hope to get answers Sunday when they travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders (1-2). Those answers could very much dictate the direction of the rest of the season, which seems already to be standing precariously at a fork in the road after last Sunday's disappointment against the New York Giants .
The Raiders seem to be the one thing in Vegas that defies the "house always wins" statement. The Browns have to hope they're not like so many others who have boarded a flight home from that town dejected, deflated and defeated.
On to the three burning questions for Sunday's game in the desert.
Who's going to play for the Cleveland Browns … and how much?
Cleveland Browns guard Wyatt Teller (77) lays on the ground after an injury against the New York Giants on Sunday in Cleveland.
The Browns won 11 games and went to the playoffs a year ago with an injury list that seemed to grow every single week. Those injuries didn't seem to start piling up until later in the season, after they had established at least a base of success.
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Three games into this season, and the injuries have hit the Browns like a tsunami. It's not just the quantity of them, but it's the quality of the players who have been hit by them, including defensive end Myles Garrett (foot, Achilles, thigh), tight end David Njoku (ankle), cornerback Denzel Ward (shoulder), tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee) and Jack Conklin (hamstring) and guard Wyatt Teller (knee).
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski hasn't ruled out any of those players, save for the injured reserve-bound Teller, for this week's game, and Ward's the one player for whom there's no real doubt about his status. There's a good chance most of them, if they're ruled out at all, will at least make it to Sunday with a chance to play.
Garrett's status remains the most intensely followed, for obvious reasons, as he's tried to play through foot issues over the first three games. The tackles, though, are a close second just because of what both being back and reasonably healthy could do to stabilize a line that has been in complete flux all season.
Does anyone have a guess what the Cleveland Browns offense, or QB Deshaun Watson , will look like?
Cleveland Browns guard Wyatt Teller (77) helps up quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants at Huntington Bank Field, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
You may get better odds betting on a random number on the roulette wheel at any of the casinos along The Strip than you would in guessing what the Browns offense will look like against the Raiders. Actually, you might get good odds on it looking about the way it's looked more often than not this season, which is extremely choppy and identity-less.
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Those odds, though, would be better than you'd get in guessing what quarterback Deshaun Watson's going to look like in his fourth start of the season. By the way, it would be only the second time since the Browns acquired him in 2022 from the Houston Texans he's started four consecutive games.
Watson, after a solid performance in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars , reverted last Sunday to the same quarterback he looked like in the opener against the Dallas Cowboys . He was indecisive in his decision making, held the ball way too long, failed to see open receivers, was sporadic in his accuracy and, in general, not very good.
The best Watson looked came in the fourth quarter, much of it when he was targeting wide receiver Amari Cooper . The problem is, even after two weeks of waiting for Cooper to connect with his quarterback, it can't just be on Cooper to give the offense any life.
How will the Cleveland Browns deal with Las Vegas Raiders QB Gardner Minshew II?
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) throws a pass against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in Las Vegas.
Don't laugh at the question. Everyone did watch the Giants' Daniel Jones look like he was replaced by Aaron Rodgers last Sunday as he was picking apart the Browns defense last Sunday, didn't they?
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If not, did you watch what Minshew did to the Browns defense a year ago with the Indianapolis Colts ?
What everyone remembers about that game, rightfully, was the performance Garrett turned in to essentially lock up NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The problem was the number of problems Minshew created throughout that game. He threw for 305 yards, including multiple deep shots, and consistently utilized his legs, similarly to what Jones was able to do at times last week.
It's easy to get caught up in the early week melodrama about whether or not Minshew was going to be benched in favor of backup Aidan O'Connell. But he's remained the Raiders' QB1, and he's got enough weapons with wide receiver Davante Adams and rookie tight end Brock Bowers to make the Browns' day a long one if they allow him to replicate a lot of the successes he had a year ago.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' 3 big questions heading into road game at Las Vegas Raiders
