Fansided

5 NFL teams that must win in Week 9

By Mike Phillips

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 27: Dontrell Hilliard #25 of the Cleveland Browns carries the ball during the third quarter of the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 27: Dontrell Hilliard #25 of the Cleveland Browns carries the ball during the third quarter of the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 27: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns passes during the fourth quarter of the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 27: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns passes during the fourth quarter of the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) /

2. Cleveland Browns

The top of this list features two teams from the Midwest that were insanely hyped in the preseason and have fallen flat to this point. Let’s start with the Cleveland Browns, who delivered an inept performance in New England on Sunday.

There is no shame in losing to the Patriots, who have run circles around the league this season. The Browns were even competitive for significant stretches of this game, which is a sign to the amount of talent that is on this roster.

The problem was that the Browns continue to make the same mistakes, usually involving turnovers and poor coaching decisions from Freddie Kitchens. Kitchens botched both of his challenges on Sunday, costing the Browns valuable time outs, and bizarrely took a delay of game penalty with his punting unit on the field so he wouldn’t have to burn another time out.

As a result, the Browns are 2-5, and they have to find a way to score a road victory against the Broncos in Denver this week. The game won’t be easy since traveling to Denver isn’t a cake walk, but the Broncos will be without starting quarterback Joe Flacco in this one, which should be a boost to the Cleveland defense.

Brandon Allen will be under center for the Broncos in this game, and the Browns cannot let him beat them if they have any designs on making a second half run. If Cleveland loses this game, the calls for Kitchens’ head from the Dawg Pound will only get louder.

Home/NFL