If Jameis Winston makes Jim Harbaugh eat an L, he will make history. (Los Angeles Chargers)
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst of the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Four downs on Browns (2-6) v. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)
First down: One Harbaugh down, one to go.
In his first act as Browns replacement quarterback, Jameis Winston: threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns in a 29-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens; earned AFC offensive player-of-the-week honors; and blowtorched new life into a moribund team. What could he possibly do for an encore? If Winston were to lead the Browns to victory over the Chargers, he would become the first quarterback – and the Browns would be the first team – to defeat the Harbaugh brothers in consecutive games. They ended John Harbaugh’s Ravens’ five-game winning streak last week. Before returning to the NFL this season as Chargers coach, younger brother Jim – by 15 months – coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 through 2014. In that time, no team beat John and Jim in back-to-back weeks. The Ravens have been synonymous with defense under John Harbaugh, but Winston exposed the 32nd-ranked pass defense in the NFL. The Chargers, under Jim Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, lead the NFL in fewest points allowed, yielding an average of 13 per game.
Second down: Back to the Future.
The Chargers used to be as soft as their classic powder blue uniforms. Not anymore. Listen to Bubba Ventrone, who played for Jim Harbaugh his last two seasons as a player, 2013-14, with the San Francisco 49ers. “Coach Harbaugh, great football coach. I mean, he is all football. He is all football all the time,” said the Browns special teams coordinator. “I would say the thing that I talked to our players about earlier in the week was, he is about toughness, physicality, finish, hard work. He is old school. I know he’s done a good job of being able to keep that old-school mentality in this new day and age where I would say football is much softer overall than it’s been in the past, relative to the rules and just everything that goes into it, less practice time, less time with the players and things like that. You can see he’s done a good job -- even at Michigan, wherever he’s been -- of maximizing the time with the players to create that culture of toughness, physicality. And it shows up in their film. I mean, their defense is really good. They run the shit out of the ball. Excuse my language. And that’s his mentality and that’s how he’s always been, and I don’t see him really changing.”
Third down: Smash-mouth city.
The Chargers began the season smash-mouthing running back J.K. Dobbins down the throats of the defenses of the Raiders and Panthers to the tune of 135 and 131 rushing games. But as quarterback Justin Herbert gradually has played through a high ankle sprain, the Chargers have become more diverse. Their rushing game has sunk from second overall to 20th, and the passing game has risen from 31st to 23rd. Still, if the Chargers see a soft defense they will line up 296-pound defensive lineman Scott Matlock as a blocking fullback and pound the ball. The Browns will be down their top two linebackers – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury, and Jordan Hicks, who will miss his fifth game in a row with assorted injuries. The Browns will replace them with Mohamoud Diabate and a combination of special teams hammer Winston Reid and Devin Bush and rookie Nathaniel Watson. "We’ll need just a little bit more from those guys,” said defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
Fourth down: Myles to go.
Myles Garrett has been held sack-less four games in a row. One more would match a career-high drought of five games, set last year. Neither he nor Schwartz are overly concerned because Garrett is getting tackles-for-loss and hits on quarterbacks. “Getting pressure, getting disruptions and making plays all across the field,” Garrett said. “That has to be the mentality when the sacks aren’t there, when the teams are doing everything to keep me from being on the stats sheet in that particular column. I got to fill up the column in other ways.” Schwartz said, “Just go and look, people run away from him. His ability in the run game continues to impact our team and then it’s hard to hold a team that’s number one in the NFL on third downs to 20% unless you’re getting contributions out of guys like Myles. So, we just keep our eye on those things, and we want all our players to be successful and to get stats and those kinds of things. But when it’s all said and done, we’re just trying to stop the opponent and he’s helping us in a lot of ways doing that.”
The pick: Browns 21, Chargers 20.
My record: 5-3.