San Francisco 49ers @ Cleveland Browns (3-8)
Sunday, November 30, 1:00 PM ET
The Cleveland Browns have a chance to do the funniest thing...
The Browns are obviously not a very good team, and they have had a rough go of it this season once again, but they are one of the most interesting teams here in the second half of the season. And the fact that it has nothing to do with the playoffs makes them even more fascinating.
We're going to be closely monitoring the Browns the remainder of this year for two primary reasons. The first is obviously Shedeur Sanders, with all due respect to Myles Garrett. The progress, or potential progress for Sanders this season, is the most interesting thing the Browns have had going for them in quite some time.
Sanders was solid in his starting debut against the Raiders, but you're not going to be playing the Raiders every single week. This will be a much tougher test for him going up against one of the best teams in the NFC, and that will make this seemingly random 1:00 game a must-watch.
The second reason the Browns are fascinating is obviously Myles Garrett, who is sprinting at lightspeed toward a Defensive Player of the Year award as well as the all-time single season NFL sack record. He only needs five sacks in the final six games to make it happen. He can get half of that done in this game.
The 49ers have more to play for than the Browns, obviously. And in a game like this, the stakes are high, and the margin for error is thin. It's not easy playing against the Browns because they have a top-tier defense and a game-wrecker off the edge.
Plus, I say this every single week: West Coast teams going to the East Coast to play in the 1:00 time slot is always a recipe for weird stuff to happen.
The 49ers are not out of the woods with this matchup, just because the Browns are clearly inferior on paper. But I still think they grit out a win.
Prediction: 49ers win 22-16