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Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars: Key matchups, numbers entering Week 2
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- Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars: Key matchups, numbers entering Week 2
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Browns are at a fork in the road in their season. It's only Week 2, no less.
However, coming off last week's disastrous season-opening 33-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys , the Browns have to go on the road to face the Jacksonville Jaguars , another AFC team that fancied itself a playoff contender. Like Cleveland , the Jaguars are 0-1, having lost 20-17 to the Miami Dolphins on a last-second field goal in their opener.
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One of these teams will start 0-2, which isn't a total death knell for a team, but it's close. Only 31 of the 270 NFL teams to start 0-2 since 1990 have managed to make the playoffs.
That's what's at stake there for both teams. For the Browns, there's also the need to just, in general, look better, especially on offense .
The Browns could get their season back on track after that opening-day hiccup with a win in Florida. Or, they could just push themselves further behind the 8-ball.
Here's a deeper dive into the Browns game against the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
Cleveland Browns offensive matchup of the game at Jacksonville Jaguars: Tackles vs. Jaguars DEs Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker
This is a layup, unless the thought was to have quarterback Deshaun Watson vs. his own confidence . A big thing to help Watson's confidence would be to not have him face as much pressure or get hit as much as he did against the Cowboys. That puts the onus on the tackles for the Browns — whether it's Dawand Jones , Jack Conklin , James Hudson III or whomever — to stand up to a stout Jacksonville defensive line. That front starts with edge rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, who can combine to make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks. If those tackles can hold their own and at least stalemate the oncoming rush, it may be possible to see the Browns offense take a step forward. If they can't, then Watson will once again spend a lot of the game on the ground.
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Cleveland Browns defensive matchup of the game at Jacksonville Jaguars: S Grant Delpit , Rodney McLeod , D'Anthony Bell vs. Jaguars TE Evan Engram
The player who gave the Browns defense some of the biggest issues when these teams met last December in Cleveland was tight end Evan Engram, who had 11 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. What makes Engram such a matchup problem for defenses is similar to what makes David Njoku or other tight ends like him — the ability to be both a threat while lined up in-line or split out wide. The matchup breakdown from that 31-27 Browns win showed Engram going against anyone from linebackers to safeties to cornerbacks. For the purposes of this exercise, the matchup will center on the Browns safeties against him, especially since Engram had a combined four catches on four targets for 40 yards in that game. If Engram becomes a major factor in this game, then that could be bad news for the Browns pass defense.
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (17) catches a pass as Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit (22) defends Dec. 10, 2023, in Cleveland.
Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars numbers to watch
6-0
Watson has started six previous games against the Jaguars in the regular season, all while with the Houston Texans . Watson has thrown for 1,475 yards and nine touchdowns combined in seven games against Jacksonville, which includes a loss off the bench as well as the six games between 2018-20 in which he started and won.
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2 of 6
That was the Jaguars' conversion rate on third downs when the distance to gain was eight yards or longer in their loss to the Dolphins last week. That's compared to 0 of 4 on third-down tries from five yards or shorter.
1 of 9
That was the Browns' conversion rate on third down against the Cowboys when the distance was at least 10 yards. That was compared to 1 of 6 on third downs when the distance was nine yards or less.
The Cleveland Browns defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars if …
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Watson shows his opening-day performance was a by-product of a variety of circumstances and he performs like an at least slightly above-average NFL quarterback.
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The Browns cut down on the pre-snap penalties that left them seemingly behind the chains throughout last Sunday's game.
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The Browns, from whomever, are able to get steady pressure on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The Jacksonville Jaguars defeat the Cleveland Browns if …
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Lawrence is able to sit in the pocket and spread the ball around to the talented collection of receivers, including Christian Kirk , Gabe Davis , Brian Thomas Jr. and Engram.
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Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker and the rest of the Jaguars defensive front dominate the line of scrimmage, thus making Watson's life miserable in the pocket.
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Despite being down two key players in the secondary — cornerback Tyson Campbell and safety Darnell Savage — the Jaguars don't let a Browns wide receiver like Amari Cooper or Jerry Jeudy have a big day.
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
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns at Jaguars preview: Key matchups, numbers for Week 2
