JACKSONVILLE (8-4) at CLEVELAND (7-5)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS
BETTING LINE: Browns by 3 in response to FanDuel Sportsbook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Jaguars 8-4; Browns 6-5-1.
SERIES RECORD: Jaguars lead 12-6.
LAST MEETING: Browns beat Jaguars 27-25 on Nov. 29, 2020, in Jacksonville.
LAST WEEK: Jaguars misplaced to Bengals 34-31 in OT; Browns misplaced to Rams 36-19.
JAGUARS OFFENSE: OVERALL (12), RUSH (22), PASS (9), SCORING (9).
JAGUARS DEFENSE: OVERALL (24), RUSH (5), PASS (30), SCORING (20).
BROWNS OFFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (7), PASS (14), SCORING (17T).
BROWNS DEFENSE: OVERALL (1), RUSH (14), PASS (1), SCORING (10).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Jaguars plus-3; Browns minus-8.
JAGUARS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Calvin Ridley must tackle a much bigger position with Christian Kirk sidelined due to a core muscle harm and Zay Jones nonetheless recovering from a sprained proper knee. Ridley had 4 catches for 26 yards towards the Bengals on Monday night time, his seventh sport with 40 yards or fewer receiving this season.
BROWNS PLAYER TO WATCH: DE Myles Garrett. Hampered by a left shoulder harm, Garrett didn’t get a sack or perhaps a deal with final week and didn’t improve his Defensive Player of the Year resume. He mentioned the harm didn’t trouble him, however he wasn’t himself. The Rams didn’t take any probabilities that Garrett was lower than 100% and double-teamed him on most performs.
KEY MATCHUP: Garrett vs. Jaguars LT Walker Little. Whether it’s Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence, who’s coping with an ankle harm, or backup C.J. Beathard behind middle, defending them from Garrett is a precedence. Cleveland’s defensive position hasn’t had a sack in two weeks and is itching to tee off. Complicating issues for the Jaguars is that Little, who stepped on Lawrence’s ankle Monday night time, is coping with a hamstring challenge and missed observe time. His backup is Blake Hance, a former Browns backup.
KEY INJURIES: After staying comparatively wholesome a lot of the season, the Jaguars acquired hammered with accidents towards Cincinnati. Lawrence has a excessive ankle sprain that would pressure him to overlook the primary sport of this three-year profession. Kirk will miss a number of video games. Little (hamstring), CB Tyson Campbell (quadriceps), DT Foley Fatukasi (heel) and S Andre Cisco (shoulder) additionally acquired banged up. … Browns WR Amari Cooper (concussion) will seemingly sit out after getting harm in final week’s sport. … Browns CB Denzel Ward (shoulder) is anticipated again, offering a significant increase to the secondary. … Browns rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (concussion) remained in protocol by way of Thursday. … TE David Njoku (knee) additionally missed observe time.
SERIES NOTES: Jacksonville is 7-2 in Cleveland. … The Jaguars gained the primary six matchups towards the Browns. … In 2001, the groups have been concerned within the “Bottlegate” sport when Browns followers, enraged by a controversial name within the last minutes, littered the sphere with plastic bottles and compelled a delay. Jacksonville gained 15-10.
STATS AND STUFF: The Jaguars are 4-0 in true street video games this season and 6-0 away from EverBank Stadium, a flawless mark that features two wins in London. … Lawrence has a QB score of no less than 100 in 4 of his 5 street begins this season. He’s the primary Jacksonville participant with 3,000 or extra passing yards in every of his first three seasons. … RB Travis Etienne has a career-high eight dashing TDs this season. … Rookie WR Parker Washington crammed in for Kirk final week and had a career-high six catches for 61 yards and a TD. … TE Evan Engram scored his first TD of the season final week. He now has 73 receptions for 606 yards. … OLB Josh Allen had 1½ sacks and his second interception final week. He now ranks third within the NFL with a career-high 13½ sacks. It’s the second most in a single season in staff historical past. … LB Foye Oluokun leads the NFL with 131 tackles. … CB Darious Williams ranks second within the league with 16 move defenses. … An 0-2 journey to Denver and Los Angeles broken the Browns’ playoff probabilities. With Baltimore main the AFC North by two video games, Cleveland’s path to the postseason will seemingly be as a wild card and the Browns can’t afford many extra losses. … Making his first begin in almost a yr, Browns QB Joe Flacco handed for 254 yards with two TDs and an interception final week. Flacco was signed on Nov. 20 as safety after Deshaun Watson was misplaced with a season-ending shoulder harm. The 38-year-old Flacco’s efficiency will make it powerful for any quarterback accountable rustiness for as an element following a layoff. … Browns coach Kevin Stefanski is 8-0 towards the AFC South. … The Browns have outscored their opponents 113-61 in going 5-1 at house this season. … Despite displaying some vulnerability in current weeks, Cleveland’s protection continues to guide the NFL in a number of statistical classes. … The Browns are permitting groups to transform 27.6% on third down (42 of 152), a league low. … This is the third time Cleveland has began 4 QBs in a season. The Browns additionally did it in 2008 (Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey and Bruce Gradkowski) and 1988 (Bernie Kosar, Mike Pagel, Don Strock and Gary Danielson). … Flacco related with eight receivers final week.
FANTASY TIP: With Cooper seemingly out, Browns WR Elijah Moore strikes into the No. 1 receiver’s position. Last week, Moore was focused 12 occasions by Flacco and had his finest sport since coming to Cleveland — 4 catches, 84 yards. The two have chemistry after spending two seasons along with the New York Jets.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
