2021 NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Cowboys continue to slide, Packers bounce back
By Randy Gurzi
. Previous: 20th. Cleveland Browns. 20. team. 53.
The Cleveland Browns cannot get their offense and defense on the same page. When they’re able to move the ball and put points on the board, the defense can’t stop a nosebleed. But when the defense is playing well, the offense goes MIA.
That was the case on Sunday Night Football when they held Lamar Jackson and the high-powered Baltimore Ravens offense to just 16 points. If that wasn’t enough, they also recorded four interceptions on Jackson.
Unfortunately for the Browns, their offense mustered up just three points off those turnovers and 10 overall. It was the second week in a row their defense held a team to fewer than 20 and the second week in a row their offense was also under 20 — but at least they beat Detroit 13-10 the prior week.
What’s most discouraging is that they again had the ball with a chance to win at the end. Sure, the task was tough as Baker Mayfield and the offense needed to cover the entire length of the field in just over a minute with no timeouts, but the frustrating part was that they managed just seven yards and were unable to secure even a single first down.
Cleveland now gets rewarded with a re-match against Baltimore in Week 14, but they do have a bye week to prepare. Which they could surely use.