The Cleveland Browns are 5-2, but the team still has plenty to improve upon. Arguably the weakest aspect of the team through seven games has been the running game, which is 19th in the league with 106.7 yards per game, though they had their best performance of the season in last week’s win over the Tennessee Titans with 183 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Leading the way was Quinshon Judkins, who piled up 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 17 carries. It was the second-highest yardage total of his young career and it was the first time this season he ripped off a run longer than 14 yards, so he’ll be heading into this week’s massive battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers for AFC North supremacy with some momentum.
Matt Bowen and a number of other writers at ESPN collectively made their predictions for Week 8, and Bowen foresees another big game for Judkins against Pittsburgh. He cited his big game against the Steelers a few weeks ago and believes he’ll find his way into the end zone again.
“Judkins scored two touchdowns in Cleveland’s Week 7 win over the Titans, and he has seen at least 17 touches in each of his past four games. Plus, going back to the Browns’ Week 4 matchup versus the Steelers, he had 96 total yards and a score on 23 touches. Look for Judkins to play a volume role again Sunday in Pittsburgh, with plenty of opportunities to get in the end zone,” Matt Bowen wrote.
Judkins will benefit from having a healthy offensive line on Sunday as right tackle Tytus Howard appears to be recovered from his concussion. He had just 12 carries for 36 yards in his first trip to Pittsburgh last season, so if this team plans on mercifully ending this 22-game regular season losing streak in Pittsburgh, Judkins is going to need to provide a lot more firepower than that.
It’s not shocking that Judkins got off to a slow start after the injury he suffered at the end of last season. Any gruesome lower leg injury can mess with a player’s confidence and rhythm, and the Titans game was the first time all year Judkins looked like the guy this front office thought it was getting when Judkins was drafted.
The Titans game was the first game where Judkins averaged over four yards per carry in over a year. It’s no secret how much Todd Monken loves a great running game, so hopefully Judkins’ performance against Tennessee was a sign of things to come.
NEXT: Report: Browns Have Made A Decision About Jerry Jeudy’s Future
