The 3-2 Cleveland Browns travel to Indianapolis to take on the 3-3 Colts. We give our Pre-Game Report ahead of this Week 7 matchup.
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00:10 Well, good morning everyone and welcome to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for
00:14 the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts in week seven in NFL action for
00:19 Cleveland.
00:20 Brendan Gulick with you on site, Anthony Meglin covering from home.
00:24 Of course, this is Browns Digest on Fan Nation part of the SI Media Group.
00:28 And this is your game day report as Cleveland gets ready for
00:30 a big matchup with these Colts.
00:33 This is a fun matchup because two teams that in a lot of ways look
00:37 a little bit like each other.
00:38 They like to run the football.
00:40 Cleveland certainly did that a little bit better when Nick Chubb was healthy than
00:43 they've done recently.
00:44 But they're coming off a game in which they ran it fairly well.
00:47 And the identity of this Colts offense certainly is through the ground.
00:51 It's the 32nd all time meeting between Cleveland and the Colts.
00:55 The Browns have a 16-15 all time series lead.
00:58 They are 10 and 7 in games played in Indianapolis.
01:02 It is a gorgeous day here in Indy.
01:04 They've actually just opened the roof at Lucas Oil Stadium.
01:07 The roof will stay open all game long.
01:09 It's 48 degrees and sunny and we are not expecting any poor weather today.
01:13 Anthony, your initial thoughts on what we think is gonna be a fun day for Cleveland.
01:17 >> Yeah, it should be a really good day.
01:18 And for the Browns, you gotta be wary of a trap game.
01:22 You're coming off a huge emotional victory against the 49ers last week.
01:27 And you've been the talk of the town.
01:28 Every TV show, every Twitter account, everybody's talked Browns football and
01:33 especially Browns defense.
01:35 So that'd be the one thing that I'm sure they've heard all week.
01:38 Like don't let this be a trap game and don't let what happened to San Francisco
01:41 last week happen to happen to the Cleveland Browns this week.
01:44 But it's a great opportunity.
01:46 I think that the Colts present a unique challenge with,
01:49 kind of led by Zach Moss in the backfield.
01:51 He's a legit runner.
01:52 He's third in the NFL right now in rushing yards.
01:55 So they're gonna have their hands full stopping the rushing attack.
01:58 Now what I will say from that perspective,
02:01 the Colts do come in a little bit injured on the offensive line.
02:04 So you're gonna have a couple backups that hopefully they're gonna be able to
02:07 attack.
02:08 But I think the story is gonna be the same thing.
02:11 This defense is so, so elite that they're gonna have everything shut down on that
02:16 side.
02:16 And it's up to the offense now on the other side of the ball to get things going and
02:21 to start looking the part as we're looking at being almost halfway through
02:25 the season here in a couple weeks.
02:27 >> Obviously the big news of the day for the Browns is that Deshaun Watson is
02:31 expected to be the starting quarterback barring any setbacks pregame with his
02:34 shoulder.
02:36 That's obviously great news for Cleveland if he is unable to go or
02:40 if he starts and has to come out of the game for some reason.
02:43 Once again, PJ Walker has been elevated off the practice squad.
02:46 So he would be Cleveland's quarterback if Deshaun is not available.
02:50 And to your point, the Browns are trying to figure out a way to stack wins here.
02:54 In their last 16 victories,
02:55 Cleveland has followed a win with a 3 and 13 records.
02:59 They haven't done a very good job of getting onto a win streak.
03:04 And I think they've got a really good chance to do that today.
03:07 You can't look too far ahead on the schedule and
03:09 try to figure out what's to come.
03:11 You just focus on now.
03:13 This is an Indianapolis team that as you mentioned, not just banged up on the line,
03:16 but they're missing their starting quarterback and Anthony Richardson.
03:19 Gardner Minshew is gonna play today and he threw three picks last week.
03:23 He's obviously had some good moments in his career, but
03:25 he's also had some frustrating ones.
03:27 And with a Cleveland defense that leads the NFL in a lot of major defensive
03:31 categories, I think they need to try to find a way to be aggressive in the run game
03:36 and confuse Minshew and try to snuff this one out early on.
03:40 >> Yeah, I think what you're gonna see from the Browns defense is really simple.
03:44 Gardner Minshew is gonna try to get the ball out of his hands very, very quickly.
03:47 He's in the bottom, bottom tier of guys who've thrown the football.
03:50 There's about 56 guys who have thrown a pass this year.
03:53 And he's ranked 11th worst in yards per attempt at about 3.5.
03:57 So what does that mean?
03:58 He's getting the ball out of his hands quick.
04:00 Look for the Browns to try to take his first read away so
04:03 that he has to hold on to the football.
04:04 Let Miles get after it, let Zedarious get after him and
04:07 make him get through progression.
04:09 And when that's the case, you're doing that against the Browns defense,
04:12 it's going to lead to some turnovers and a lot of bad play.
04:16 One note on Gardner Minshew in his last 14 starts, he's 3 and 11.
04:19 So you're getting him at a good time.
04:20 Everyone loves him.
04:21 He's got the flow.
04:22 He looks like Captain America and he's just a good looking guy at quarterback, but
04:26 he hasn't been playing very well in recent history.
04:29 So it'll be really exciting to see how this defense really attacks this Colts
04:33 offense and tries to, again, dominate and completely control a football game.
04:38 >> Colts are 3 and 3 on the season coming off of a disappointing loss to Jacksonville.
04:43 Just to solidify some of the stats I was referencing for the Browns defense,
04:48 they lead the league in total defense, passing yards allowed, points allowed,
04:53 first downs allowed, and third down conversion percentage.
04:56 And to give you an idea, they've given up 52 first downs total this season,
05:01 which is 42 fewer than Tampa Bay, who is second in the entire NFL.
05:07 It has been domination for the defense.
05:10 But as Jim Schwartz said this week, I don't give out trophies after five games.
05:14 And even though the Browns had an early bye week and
05:16 now they've got to play a whole bunch of games consecutively,
05:19 this group is trying really, really hard to make sure they can keep this thing going.
05:23 >> Yeah, no question about it.
05:24 And then it's gonna rely on that defense.
05:27 Let's see if they can continue to stop it and shut teams down.
05:31 Those numbers are gaudy.
05:32 They're unbelievable.
05:33 And it's so fun to watch.
05:35 You have that conversation.
05:36 Would you rather have an elite offense and a bad defense or
05:40 a defense that you know is gonna give up seven points a game?
05:43 I don't know.
05:43 I kinda like where we're at.
05:45 And it's helpful because our offense says they're still trying to find their way.
05:49 So, so much inconsistency thanks to a handful of terrible injuries.
05:53 And then just inconsistent play from your quarterback position.
05:57 So you're hoping that as the defense continues to drive this train,
06:01 that the offense can figure it out on their side of the ball.
06:03 Today's a good opportunity to do so.
06:05 They're gonna be able to attack Indianapolis through the air.
06:08 You're getting two seventh round draft picks, seventh round rookies.
06:12 Starting on the outside today against the Mari Cooper and
06:15 a lot of people's Joe, Elijah Moore, David Njoku.
06:18 So look forward to Sean Watson in this offense to try to push the ball vertically
06:21 down the field.
06:22 And just try to develop some rhythm and
06:25 some chemistry when the Browns have the football.
06:28 >> Excited to see what it looks like.
06:30 And certainly we're happy to be here in person.
06:32 I know you're looking forward to watching the game from home.
06:35 And folks all around the country wanna see if this Browns team can keep this thing
06:39 going, especially on defense and
06:40 what DeSean is gonna look like in his first action back from injury.
06:44 Kickoffs at one o'clock on CBS.
06:47 Spiro Ditas, Adam Archuleta, and Aditi Kinkabuola have the national broadcast for
06:51 all the latest news and info during the game.
06:53 And certainly we hope post game as well,
06:55 that you would join us over on brownsdigest.com.
06:58 And right here on this YouTube channel,
06:59 as we continue to bring some video coverage of the Cleveland Browns.
07:03 For Anthony Megwin, I'm Brendan Gulick.
07:04 Thanks for watching the game day report.
07:06 Cleveland and Indianapolis coming up here in just a couple hours in the Hoosier State.
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