Another Bosa, Joey, is poised to make the day difficult for Baker Mayfield on Sunday. (CBSSports.com)
Will a torn labrum and a third-stringer at left tackle cause Kevin Stefanski to game-plan differently against the Chargers?
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
LOS ANGELES
Four downs on Browns (3-1) v. Los Angeles Chargers (3-1)
First down: @BakesTornLabrum.
Baker Mayfield had to remind media and fans during the week that his left shoulder was still attached, that all concern about the burden of throwing a football right-handed while wearing a light-weight harness on his left shoulder was a bit misplaced, that his footwork is fine, that he doesn’t feel overwhelming pressure to captain a star-studded offensive team. “I really do not think it is that complicated. Everybody is going to try and make an excuse. I pretty much hit on it after the game. I just have to make the damn play. It is that simple,” he exclaimed on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the injury to Mayfield’s left labrum, which was first accurately speculated on minutes after it happened on Sept. 19 by former Chargers team physician-turned-celebrity NFL injury guru Dr. David Chao, aka ProFootballDoc, and then news-blasted by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Wednesday morning, became a cause celebre. And when Odell Beckham Jr. chipped in that he has played with the exact same injury for 10 years, the partially torn labrum officially morphed into – to borrow Butch Davis’ malaprop – the injury du jure of the week. Coach Kevin Stefanski and coordinator Alex Van Pelt have insisted that Mayfield’s accuracy at practice remains razor sharp. If Mayfield has another dismal performance, however, and it leads to a loss rather than a close win, the narrative on Mayfield will take on a much different tone next week.
Second down: Hide the flag.
On Saturday, the Browns downgraded left tackle Jedrick Wills (ankle) to out. That news came less than 24 hours after offensive line super-sub Chris Hubbard (triceps) was ruled out and appeared headed to season-ending surgery. Which means Mayfield’s blind side – the one facing the aforementioned partially torn labrum – will be protected by either rookie fourth-round pick James Hudson or 2020 emergency pickup Blake Hance, aka that Guy Named Blake. Which is problematic because Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa is one of the premier quarterback hunters in the NFL with 50 sacks in his first 67 career games. Bosa normally rushes from the other side, which would pit him against Browns right tackle Jack Conklin. The other Chargers edge position has been shared by Kyler Fackrell, who has 2 sacks this year, and Uchenna Nwoso, who has none. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Chargers head coach Brandon Staley repositioned Bosa to take advantage of a growing chink in the armor of the Browns’ offensive line. It was Bosa’s younger brother, Nick, who re-enacted Mayfield’s 2017 planting of the Oklahoma flag at Ohio Stadium when Nick tormented Mayfield for two sacks, a fumble force and recovery, and five hits in all in a 2019 thrashing by the San Francisco 49ers. You don’t suppose Nick and Joey have talked this week, do you?
Third down: Mr. October.
Mayfield’s rookie touchdown record of 27 in 2018 lasted all of two years. The person who broke it with 31 is Chargers QB Justin Herbert. Not only that, Herbert’s 4,336 passing yards ranked second all-time for a rookie and his 98.3 passer rating was fifth. For an encore, after a coaching and offensive system change, Herbert is off to a 3-1 start – outdueling Patrick Mahomes and Derek Carr and losing by 3 to Dak Prescott – with 9 TDs v. 3 interceptions and a passer rating of 100.1. The 6-6 Herbert also is entering his favorite month. In his brief, 19-game career, Herbert is 2-2 with 13 TDs and 1 INT in the month of October, with a passer rating of 118.2. “In their system, he is doing a really good job,” said Browns d-coordinator Joe Woods. “You can see it. He can process. He reads the field well. He has great size. He has the arm strength to make all of the throws. He is doing a really nice job just spreading it out getting it to all of the receivers and involved.” Incidentally, Myles Garrett leads the NFL with 6 sacks and he’ll line up mostly opposite Chargers rookie left tackle Rashawn Slater, who has not allowed a sack yet in his short NFL career.
Fourth down: Zig when everyone expects zag.
The Chargers are 29th in run defense, yielding 139.5 rushing yards a game. They surrendered 90 yards to Washington’s Antonio Gibson, 109 to Dallas’ Tony Pollard (and 71 more to Ezekiel Elliott), and 100 to Kansas City’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire, before limiting Vegas’ Josh Jacobs to 40 on Monday night. Some believe Staley concedes the run rather than have his defense attacked by big pass plays. Still, you would think that, given Mayfield’s aerial misfirings and the situation at left tackle, Stefanski would unleash a big dose of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt on the Chargers’ defense. That seems so obvious. But Stefanski rarely does the obvious – especially in the first half of games.
The pick: Chargers, 24, Browns 20.
My record: 3-1.
