Monday leftovers

Browns fans undoubtedly are moaning about the unfortunate injury that befell Nick Chubb in the club's startling 49-38 victory against the Cowboys Sunday in Dallas. The big running back will miss at least the next month with an MCL tear.

Chubb was innocently in pass protection mode late in the first quarter and Cowboys defensive tackle Trysten Hill rolled up on his right knee, bending it in a direction it's supposed to go. "Damn," thought many of those fans as Chubb slowly walked off the field.

"Too good to be true," many of them probably surmised of the surprising 3-1 start to the 2020 season. "Now our best running back goes down for a while. Figures." That's the (normal for Browns fans) pessimistic view of the situation. 

But all is not lost. After Chubb went down, Kareem Hunt, D'Ernest Johnson and Dontrell Hilliard stepped right in and did not miss a beat, helping lift that aspect of the offense to its best day (307 yards) in many years behind an offensive line rapidly moving up the charts as one of the best in the National Football League.

Now is a good time to find out whether the revamped offensive line is the main reason for the Browns' surge on the ground, Or whether it's the talent of the running backs that makes it work. Sunday's output opened a lot of eyes.

Chubb obviously will be sorely missed, especially with defensive stalwarts Indianapolis and Pittsburgh dead ahead. But the manner in which Hunt and Johnson badly bruised the Dallas defense makes the situation a little more palatable.

It certainly isn't as though all hope is lost and Baker Mayfield will have to shed his role as game manager and distribute the football all over the field. No. Hunt is still very much a quality back and the Browns are fortunate to have him at this juncture.

There aren't many NFL teams that can shrug off a Chubb injury and come up with someone who can put up similar numbers. Their styles might be different, but the end result is what counts and Hunt, in limited action, has come through superbly.

If anything, he is a better all-around back than Chubb, excelling on the ground, as a receiver and as an effective blocker. He has touched the football only 58 times this season and has five touchdowns (three on the ground) to show for it.

He is quite capable of stepping into the No. 1 role behind (sometimes alongside) Mayfield. Head coach Kevin Stefanski might not use him as often as he would Chubb due to a groin pull. And that's where Johnson enters the picture.

Before Sunday in Dallas, no one knew who he was. He was just another lower roster player with an unusual first name who occasionally returned kicks last season after being picked up in May 2019 following the demise of the Alliance of American Football.

Most fans couldn't have cared less about who he was because Chubb and Hunt formed arguably the most lethal running tandem in the league. Then Chubb went down and Johnson moved up to back up Hunt and shed his non-entity status with a 95-yard effort against the Cowboys. No one saw that coming.

Johnson logged only 17 snaps, all but four with a football in his hands, gobbling up yardage at a 7.3-yard clip behind the line. The 5-10, 210-pounder runs with deceiving speed and nice bend, making him a small target for defenders. 

Don't look for Stefanski to seriously alter his game plans in the next month or so with Chubb in the role of spectator, probably because he has enough faith in his offensive line to continue the path that has led the Cleveland running game to the top of the league's statistics. They have run for 818 yards (an average of 204.5 yards a game), 175 yards ahead of the second-place Baltimore Ravens. 

The Colts and Steelers will provide the ultimate litmus tests in the next two weeks. That's when fans will determine whether the injury suffered by Chubb has dealt the offense a more serious blow than initial indications suggest.

Now is not the time to lament, It's the time to adjust.

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Checking the numbers: 

The Browns will be looking for their fourth straight victory against the Colts on Sunday at home. The last time they started a season at 4-1 was in 1994 when they began 6-1. . . . The last time they won four in a row was in 2009 at the tailend of Eric Mangini's first year as head coach. They won the last four games of the season after losing 11 of their first 12, including seven in a row . . . Baker Mayfield has not thrown an interception in the last two games which for him is mildly surprising. That's not his best streak, however. He went three straight games without a pick last season in weeks nine through 11. . . 

Scoring 30 or more points in the last three straight games is not a club record. It was last accomplished by the 1968 team, was part of an eight-game winning streak and produced at least that many points in seven straight games between Oct, 30 and Dec.1, more than 40 in each of the last three. Blanton Collier's club won the Century Division, but lost to Baltimore in the NFL championship game, 34-0. Bill Nelsen, Leroy Kelly, Paul Warfield and Milt Morin were the stars of that team. Kelly scored 20 touchdowns. . . . 

The current Browns had zero takeaways in the first two games this season. They have created eight since then, turning six of them into points. The defense might have many weak areas, but lack of opportunism is not one of them. . . . The poor secondary has tumbled to the bottom of the league stats. And no wonder. They have faced two quarterbacks in the last three games who combined to bombard that area of the field with a total of 124 dropbacks and 119 actual throws. Dak Prescott and Joe Burrow walked away with losses. . . 

Taking extrapolation to the extreme, the Browns are on a pace to scorse 496 points this season, which wound obliterate the club's all-time record of 415 in 1964, the year they thrashed the Baltimore Colts, 27-0, to win their last league title. Sure is fun to simultaneously dream and reminisce. . . . 

To give you some idea of how easily the Cowboys nearly wiped out a 41-14 Cleveland lead heading into the fourth quarter Sunday, check out these stats: They ran 38 plays for 308 yards, scored three ridiculously easy touchdowns, easily converted all three two-point attempts, all the while removing just 9:13 off the clock against the Browns' Swiss cheese defense. Ordinarily, that's a recipe for disaster. . . . In the middle quarters, the Cowboys were held scoreless and turned the ball over thrice. . . . Their longest (time-wise) drive of the afternoon consumed just 4:02. . . . The Cleveland defense was on the field for just a little more than 26 minutes, but faced 82 plays. Cornerbacks Denzel Ward (nursing a groin pull) and Terrance Mitchell and free safety Andrew Sendejo logged all 82. Mitchell had 12 tackles, all but one solo.

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Myles Garrett is easily the best player on defense. That's because no one else is even on the same planet with regard to his brilliance. He was the only defensive lineman who got close to Prescott with three tackles, two sacks, a pair of quarterback hits, a caused fumble (strip sack), six of the club's unofficial nine hurries and a partridge in a pear tree. 

When is Andrew Berry going to do something about giving this man some help? The general manager has to notice Garrett is not getting it from anywhere else along the line. He is a one-man pass rush. At this rate, Garrett will be spent by the time snow falls. 

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Sixth-round draft pick Donovan Peoples-Jones made his professional debut against the Cowboys and did fairly well. The wide receiver did not factor in the passing game. In fact, he was not targeted at all. But he played nine snaps on special teams, returning three kickoffs for 73 yards (long of 32) and a punt for eight yards. He logged 33 snaps on offense and proved an adept blocker, delivering a beauty that wiped out the final defender on one of Hunt's two scoring runs. 

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Finally . . .  Odell Beckham Jr. touched the football only seven times against Dallas, but compiled 154 yards and the three touchdowns. He was targeted only once by Mayfield in the second half. . . . Mayfield finished 19-of-20 through the air for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He threw only seven passes in the second half, completing five for 33 yards. . . . Defensive end Olivier Vernon finally showed up Sunday and was credited with three solo tackles. Oh and a fumble recovery. Wonder how much longer he plays before the injury bug bites again, . . . Tight ends Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant combined for nine receptions for 71 yards and a Hooper touchdown. . . . Placekicker Cody Parkey remains perfect on field goals and extra points. His blocked PAT kick after the Browns' final touchdown was wiped out and ruled a two-point conversion when Stephen Carlson of the Browns recovered the ball in the end zone after the Dallas special team kicked it there.