Brown's Rushing Attack
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are one of the best running back tandems in the NFL. Chubb, who finished second in the NFL with 1,259 rushing yards in 2021, ran for 141 yards against the Panthers last Sunday. He also averaged 6.4 yards per carry.
Chubb's 23 100-yard rushing games since 2018 are tied for the most in the NFL and Cleveland is 17-6 when he breaks the century mark.
"It's going to be a tremendous challenge," head coach Robert Saleh said. "It's obviously a different run game. Baltimore is much more deceptive where this team is much more direct. Everyone knows they're going to run the ball, where the ball is going to be run and they still run the ball. And they run the ball for a lot of yards. The challenge is going to be whether or not we can stop them."
The Jets stopped the run well in Week 1, holding the Ravens to 63 total yards, the lowest output since QB Lamar Jackson has been a starter. The Green & White defense ranks No. 3 in the NFL in rush defense entering Week 2.
Myles Garrett vs. Jets' O-Line
Cleveland's defense starts with DE Myles Garrett, who ranked third in the NFL last season with 16 sacks. Garrett last Sunday picked up where he left off with 2 sacks, 3 TFLs and a forced fumble against the Panthers in Week 1. His 8 sacks against the Jets (in four games) are the most against any opponent in his career, in addition to 11 hits and 17 pressures. Opposite Garrett is Jadeveon Clowney, who had 9 sacks last season, his first with the Browns.
"It reminds me so much of the 2019 group we had over there with the Niners," Saleh said. … "It's going to be a tremendous challenge and it looks like Myles is on a mission. I mean, he looked dirty last week. I'm not going to get into the game plan stuff, but he definitely has everyone's attention."
Rebound on the Front Burner
The Jets are eager to even their mark at 1-1 and will run it back with QB Joe Flacco as Zach Wilson continues to rehab his right knee injury. Flacco, who threw for 307 yards against his former team, has a 17-3 career record against the Browns with 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
"When you look back at the [Ravens] game, when he had a clean pocket, he was very, very efficient," Saleh said of the 37-year-old QB. "Part of a clean pocket is the offensive line's responsibility to give it to him and for him to just deliver the ball where it needs to and just get off of certain reads. I thought he handled the huddle well, the procedure was good, everything was fine. We just stalled in the sense of when the pocket collapsed, whether or not he could get it to his check down fast enough.
"There's just a comedy of errors that lead to what looked like a bad performance by him. Now, it wasn't the best performance, but I think it wasn't as bad as people think it was."
