Another slugfest?

As if it wasn't bad enough facing -- and losing to -- a high-powered team last weekend in Los Angeles, it could conceivably be even worse for the Browns Sunday when they return home to entertain the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals.

For the second week in a row, the Cleveland defense that saved games two, three and four with outstanding efforts and collapsed against the Los Angeles Chargers will be challenged to stop a team that couldn't be stopped until San Francisco slowed them down but lost, 17-10, Sunday.

The Cardinals' undefeated streak drips with good fortune. They should be be 4-1 for this one. In week two in the their home opener, the Cardinals led by a point with seconds left and the Minnesota Vikings threatening. Vikings kicker Greg Joseph, who earlier had made a pair of 52-yard field goals, was wide right from 37 yards on the final play.

The Cards entered Sunday's victory over the 49ers averaging 35 points a game after bludgeoning the first four opponents and becoming the talk of the league.  Even though they lost, the 49ers appeared to unlock the secret to slowing down head coach Kliff Kingsbury's high-powered offense featuring quarterback Kyler Murray.

Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods, possibly still dazed at how Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and his cohorts slapped his defense back to reality Sunday by savaging a secondary hampered by injuries and blown coverages, might want to look at the game tape on that one to figure out how to stop the elusive and very accurate Murray.

Unlike the Chargers game, where cornerbacks dropped like flies, Woods will have close to a full complement for Murray.

Like the Browns did in weeks 2-4, the Arizona defense rescued the offense and shut down the 49ers, probably because starter Jimmy Garoppolo was injured and rookie Trey Lance was overmatched. 

The smallish Murray -- at barely 5-10, he's two-plus inches shorter than Baker Mayfield -- is rarely brought down due to his twitchy quickness and great speed. It's like trying to catch a gnat. Because of that, he is difficult to hem in the pocket, making plays that oftentimes defy description.

He is also deadly accurate now that he has been furnished with one of the best wide receivers rooms in the NFL, completing 75.5% of his passes to the likes of DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, A. J. Green, the ex-Cincinnati veteran, and flashy rookie Rondale Moore, a 5-7 stick of dynamite.

And with a howitzer attached to his right arm, the stocky Murray is able to squeeze throws through the tiniest windows with just four interceptions in 165 attempts. He doesn't fit the prototype of an NFL quarterback, but somehow gets the job done.

Defensively, the Cards are opportunists with 10 turnovers and a +5 turnover ratio. But Sunday, they'll have to do it minus half the starters on the defensive line, edge rusher Chandler Jones and tackle Zach Allen back in Phoenix with COVID-19. Joining them will be Kingsbury, who ceded control of the game to quarterbacks coach Cam Turner and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers.  

The strength of the Cards' defense lies in the back seven with Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins, a pair of young 6-4 linebackers, and ubiquitous free safety Budda Baker, who anchors the secondary.

Woods isn't the only Cleveland coach efforting to restore order on his side of the football. His boss, the head coach and playcaller on offense, also faces a challenge after what went down in the stretch run last Sunday against the Chargers.

Nothing wrong with the running game and the passing game, dormant for a few games, has once again come to life. More than anything, Kevin Stefanski must clean up the mess he engenders with his strange playcalling in the final moments of games that can be won, but aren't.

What he needed against the Chargers was a large dose of Jarvis Landry, Baker Mayfield's most reliable wide receiver who has been idled since game two against Houston. And he just might get that Sunday with Landry placed on the active squad Friday. If he's ready, he's playing. That, if nothing else, boosts the effectiveness of the offense.

Like Woods, Stefanski is dealing with injury concerns that robbed him of his starting tackles for the entire last quarter against the Chargers. The man needs a bye week, but won't get one until week 13. It's entirely posssible Jedrick Wills Jr. (ankle) and Tony Conklin (knee) will not be ready for the Cardinals.

If that is the case, it will be Blake Hance and rookie James Hudson III and cross your fingers. Adding to the dilemma will be the absence of Nick Chubb with calf miseries, which means Kareem Hunt will get a majority of the carries with D'Ernest Johnson and rookie Demetric Felton ready just in case. Hunt is an established starting running back in the NFL, so there will not be any dropoff in production

It is possible Stefanski, since he does not have all his weapons on offense, will pull back a bit and become more conservative and eschew long-developing pass plays, especially if his starting tackles can't go.

The Cardinals game is the first of three outings in a 14-day span for the Browns, who welcome Denver on a Thursday night and then the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks from Sunday. They are 8-2 at home under Stefanski, who has never lost two games in a row as a head coach.

A look at the Cardinals stats suggests this one, too, could turn into another slugfest. Four quarters of dynamic and entertaining football, The Browns have compiled 2,088 offensive yards from scrimmage; the Cardinals sit at 2,066. Both teams have shown the ability to play solid defense on occasion. Tough call.

One of these days, the Cleveland offense and defense will climb onto the same page and lay a whipping on some poor unsuspecting team. Hasn't happened yet. It says here Sunday will be that day, leaving the NFL with zero undefeated teams.  

Hunt will continue battering opposing defenses -- the Cards cough up 139 infantry yards a game on defense -- and get help this time from a rebounding Mayfield, a defense that neutralizes Murray for the better part of four quarters and a head coach/playcaller who learns lessons the hard way and keeps his losing streaks to just one game. Make it: Browns 27, Cardinals 17