The Cleveland Browns will be without quarterback Deshaun Watson for the second straight game as they host the undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Cleveland will start veteran P.J. Walker in place of Watson after rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson showed he just wasn’t ready and struggled less against the Ravens.
There is a chance that the weather is nasty on the lake on Sunday and that would help even the playing field for Cleveland. The 49ers are good but I do not think they are unbeatable and the Browns’ defense is very good. The defense will have to play lights out to get this win but they have shown that they can do so.
It will be a tough game but the Browns could grind it out and win in a low-scoring game especially if the weather is bad. They have the talent on defense to pressure Brock Purdy like he hasn’t been so far this year.
Here are this week’s bold predictions for the Browns as they face San Francisco.
The Browns defense will force 3 turnovers
This will be the best defense the 49ers have faced and if it does rain they will have a good chance to make San Francisco uncomfortable. Jim Schwartz’s defense has gotten a ton of pressure on opposing quarterbacks so far through four games PFF has tallied 71 quarterback pressures by Cleveland.
They are going against a good offensive line, maybe the best they have faced, but they have the personnel to pressure Brock Purdy early and often. The team has had awful turnover luck and considering how well they played without turnovers it’s even more impressive.
I think that getting pressure and doing it early could provide the team with some opportunities to finally get some turnover luck on their side, especially with the Browns’ defensive backs playing at a high level.
P.J. Walker will have over 250 total yards
The last time we saw the offense it was an embarrassment as they struggled to get anything going. Now enter P.J. Walker who has more experience and some success that rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson doesn’t have. He is on the practice squad for a reason but if the offense is tailored around his skill set properly they can have some success.
Watching the 49ers play against the Cardinals they struggled at times against the athletic Josh Dobbs so leaning on Walker’s athleticism makes sense. If they can finally show some of the offensive evolution we saw in the preseason they really have a shot.
Walker isn’t a star player but if they can get the quarterback run game going and build off that they can grind out some offense. If they can utilize the quick passing game early they could open things up for the offense in the second half.
Amari Cooper will have 100 yards receiving
It really doesn’t matter who the quarterback is Amari Cooper is one of the more consistent pass catchers in the NFL. He continues to be one of the best route runners in the game and I think that P.J. Walker will look his way early and often.
When you are playing a backup quarterback you need to have a safety blanket he can lean on and Cooper can do that. He can attack the defense at every level and create an elite amount of separation. If Walker has a good game on Sunday it will have a lot to do with Cooper getting it done yet again.
