A surprise victory

In four of the last five games, the Browns' defense has enjoyed the luxury of playing for the most part against quarterbacks who do not exactly strike fear in opposing secondaries. That's about to change.

When you face the likes of Gardner Minshew, Geno Smith, Clayton Tune and Kenny Pickett, you generally stand a better chance of winning for a variety of reasons. Baltimore's Lamar Jackson is an exception. He resides on a completely different level. In those five games, Minshew, Tune, Jackson and Pickett collected the L, including the last three in a row.

Minshew was filling in for rookie Anthony Richardson, now on injured reserve, for the Indianapolis Colts. Smith's statistics are down from last season in Seattle, Tune was making his first National Football League start for Arizona and Pickett is fortunate he is being rescued this season by Pittsburgh defense.

For the next three weeks, that ends with the likes of gunslingers like Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford and Trevor Lawrence lying in wait and eager to test the NFL's best pass defense, which leads the league in completion percentage (55.3%); total yards (1.437, almost 300 yards fewer than the next team); first downs (66, K.C. is second with 95); tied for fewest touchdowns (nine); and second in yards per attempt (4.6).

Incredible stats like that is a credit to the entire team concept employed by defensive coordinator Jim  Schwartz against the forward pass. Even though the results seem to favor the quality of the secondary, its ultimate success begins up front.

We have seen members of the defensive line either bat down or deflect passes at the line of scrimmage on many more occasions this season than in recent seasons, a reflection of Schwartz's aggressive approach that often times wind up in a takeaway. 

The Cleveland secondary has yielded just one 300-yard game this season, Minshew's 305-yard, two-touchdown effort in the Browns' 39-38 comeback victory over the Colts in week seven.

The sternest test of the season will unfold Sunday afternoon in Denver with Wilson and the suddenly hot Broncos, who bring a four-game winning streak into this one and stand even at 5-5 after dropping four of their first five games. One of those was a 70-20 thrashing at Miami in week three. Recent victims include Kansas City, Buffalo and Minnesota.

The biggest reason for the turnaround has been the return of the Russell Wilson who took the Seattle Seahawks to a couple of Super Bowls, winning one title, before wearing out his welcome. The Seahawks moved him to Denver, where he experienced his worst season in 2022 with only 16 touchdown passes and 11 picks.

The Broncos recruited Sean Payton, who had stepped down after many successful seasons in New Orleans, to fix Wilson. It took several games for the 34-year-old veteran to get used to the Payton offense and he's already surpassed his touchdown total of last season with 17 and thrown only four interceptions, none during the winning streak.

His accuracy had plummeted to a carer-low 60.5% last season and triggered thoughts his best seasons were behind him. His 69% now suggests otherwise.  He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game. 

Having wide receivers like Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton doesn't hurt. The 6-4 Sutton, one of the league's best 50-50 receivers, has caught 45 passes for 500 yards and eight touchdowns; the speedy Jeudy checks in with 35 grabs, 429 yards, but just one TD; and rookie wideout Brandon Johnson has caught only eight passes for just 122 yards, but three have wound up in the end zone.

The Broncos are primarily a passing team, scoring only one touchdown on the ground. Which means a very active afternoon for an injury-riddled Cleveland secondary.

The Cleveland offense once again will be led by rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who staggered a bit in the Pittsburgh victory last Sunday, but made only one mistake. Look for head coach Kevin Stefanski to  lock in again on a conservative game plan that keeps mistakes to minimum with an emphasis on the ground game.

DTR will face a Denver defense that stepped up after the Miami embarrassment and has become an important element in the streak, allowing just 68 points and producing 13 takeaways in that stretch. The lone weakness: Opposing quarterbacks have been sacked just 18 times.

The Browns have the edge in that department against a Denver offensive line that has permitted 32 sacks of Wilson. And with Schwartz's belligerent approach, chances are likely Wilson will see plenty of Myles Garrett and his pals. 

One last important fact that cannot be ignored. This series is as one-sided as any in the history of the Browns and dates back more than 50 years. The Broncos have won 24 of the 31 games overall. They are 11-3 in Cleveland and 13-4 at home. Since 1999, this iteration of the Browns is 1-5 in Denver and 1-3 at home.

The Browns enter with three straight victories and winners in five of their last six. In what has been a magical season for the Browns in many ways, beating the Broncos on the road would be like the frosting on a three-layer cake. So why not. 

Thompson-Robinson wins his second in a row, but not quite as dramatically as last week's victory against the Steelers. The Cleveland defense ends the Broncos' victory streak and stretches theirs to four games as DTR throws for one score (Amari Cooper), runs for a second and enjoys watching the defensive line sack Wilson four times. Make it:

Browns 23, Broncos 17