The Cleveland Browns not only face the difficult task of opening their season with a second consecutive road game, but they also have to take on former quarterback Baker Mayfield when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Mayfield has been honest about his desire to stick it to the team that let him go, but that actually could work to Cleveland’s advantage.
With Mayfield bent on revenge, the Browns could use that, plus the fact that they are more than a touchdown underdog, as a rallying cry. In addition, ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith is suggesting that the Browns would lose to some college teams, which is an embarrassment in and of itself.
With all of that in mind, analyst Lance Reisland is making a surprising Browns-Buccaneers prediction, saying that Cleveland will spring a surprising upset over the too-emotional Mayfield.
“I think the Browns sneak one out here, 21-20. Baker is in his own head because he’s so amped up. He’ll play well. Browns sneak one out, 21-20. They play good special teams. They get a big turnover, and they do just enough on offense to win 21-20. I think they can win so many games this year if they can just block out the noise and get rolling. I think there’s too much talent on this team,” Reisland said.
It is hard to fully believe that the Browns can pull this off, especially after watching them struggle so much in their season-opening 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Deshaun Watson showed he might not be able to win a game as a college quarterback, let alone in the NFL, with a dismal performance in his return to action after almost two years on the sidelines.
But he was far from the Browns’ only issue in Week 1. Their defense, which is supposed to be the backbone of the team, allowed the Jaguars to score on six of their first seven drives as they fell behind 31-0. If not for a long kickoff return and a garbage-time touchdown pass, Cleveland could have been shut out.
Granted, the Buccaneers were not impressive, either, in losing their opener to the Cincinnati Bengals. But they did manage to score 20 points on offense despite four lost fumbles, ultimately falling 33-27 on the road.
Knowing his personality, Mayfield seems unlikely to fold under his own expectations for this game, so perhaps Reisland is being overly optimistic about what to expect, but an upset victory would change the entire outlook for the Browns’ season going forward.
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