The Saints are the worst team left on the Browns’ schedule

Is this the game Nick Chubb breaks into the defensive secondary? (Cleveland Browns)

Editor’s note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

Four defeats on the Browns (2-7) against the New Orleans Saints (3-7)

First down: All that jazz.

This game marks the end of what everyone considered the easy part of the Browns’ schedule. There’s a quick turnaround for a Thursday night home game against Pittsburgh, followed by a Monday night at Denver and then Sunday afternoon at Pittsburgh. Those four games could set the course for what the Browns do in the offseason to dig out of the rubble of a season turned upside down.

Second down: Good Jameis, bad Jameis.

Jameis Winston returns to the scene of his best stretch of football, and also where he had his starting job taken away by injury. In his two Browns starts, the latest replacement quarterback for Deshaun Watson has shown the inconsistency that has marked his career. A 3-TD, 0-INT game and a 1-TD, 3-INT game. That’s been Winston’s track record pretty much throughout his 10 years with the Buccaneers, Saints and now the Browns. He trashed the low-ranked Ravens’ pass defense for deep throws up the middle of the field and threw to the wrong jerseys against the Chargers’ top-ranked defense. In New Orleans, he has a ball-hawking secondary that is third in the league with 12 interceptions.

Third down: Death exaggerated.

With running back threat Alvin Kamara waiting for his next game plan, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz lamented the “comeback” of running backs in the NFL this year. “The reports of the death of running backs have been greatly exaggerated,” Schwartz said. “I mean, we’ve had Saquon (Barkley), we’ve had Derrick Henry and now Kamara, and these guys who really carried a load and really set the pace for their offense. He’s different than those guys. Saquon is strong and a jump cutter, and Derrick Henry is just a freight train and stiff arms and stuff. He can run inside the tackles, he can run wide, he’s really good in the passing game, he’s dangerous in screens. Anyone who is the leading rusher and leading receiver is going to get your attention.” In fact, one thing the Browns have consistently done decently this year is defend the run. Henry had 73 yards and 1 TD on them, Barkley 47 yards and no TD. The leading ground winner v. Browns this year has been the Chargers’ JK Dobbins (14 attempts, 85 yards, 2 TD). Second best was Washington QB Jayden Daniels (11, 82).

Fourth down: Not in Cleveland.

While rushing the ball has resurged elsewhere, the Browns have regressed in that category. After changing pretty much everything on offense to accommodate Watson, the Browns’ running game has largely disappeared. In the previous four seasons under Kevin Stefanski, the Browns finished third, fourth, sixth and 12th.^th overall in a hurry. This year they are 28^th. During those four seasons, the Browns averaged 2,338 rushing yards and 18.75 TDs. This year, they are on pace for 1,547 yards and 5.6 TDs. You can point to not having Nick Chubb for six games if you want, but he missed 15 games last year and the team still put up 2,017 yards on the ground. Attack damage? Well, they had just as many last year, if not more. No, the problem has been a noticeable shift away from the running game and a consequent loss of physicality and toughness in the fundamentals of the game. Perhaps they will be rejuvenated by the Saints’ defense. They rank 27th^th against the run and has allowed 14 rushing TDs.

The choice: Saints 24, Browns 16.

My record: 5-4.