3 Matchups The Cleveland Browns Must Exploit Against Cowboys
The Cleveland Browns start their 2024 regular season campaign by welcoming the Dallas Cowboys to the shores of Lake Erie. Let’s examine three matchups that the Browns must win to kickoff their season with a victory.
We did it. It’s finally here. The Cleveland Browns will kick off their 2024 regular season campaign by welcoming the Dallas Cowboys to the shores of Lake Erie in the season opener. The Cowboys bring a solid roster to Cleveland, but Dallas can be exploited in some areas. Here are three matchups the Browns must take advantage of to start the season 1-0.
Matchup No. 1: Jerry Jeudy vs Jourdan Lewis and Caelen Carson
The season opener always feels a little like Christmas morning. For Browns fans, September 8th will feel a little more like Christmas because they will finally unwrap a new toy in wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
Sunday will be Jeudy’s first extensive action in Cleveland’s offense. Most of Jeudy’s reps came in the slot last season in Denver, and the Browns will likely utilize him in a similar fashion. The Browns will lean on Jeudy’s ability to create early separation and allow him to do damage after the catch.
With Daron Bland out with a foot injury to start the season and Trevon Diggs likely matching up with Amari Cooper, Jeudy will see mostly favorable matchups. When in the slot, Jeudy will draw Jourdan Lewis. The eighth-year cornerback is coming off a season where he allowed a 62 percent completion percentage when targeted and four touchdowns.
When Jeudy lines up on the outside, the Dallas cornerback that will draw the matchup will be rookie Caelen Carson. Drafted in the fifth round out of Wake Forest, Carson has rapidly risen up the Cowboys’ depth chart this summer. When Bland was ruled out for the first four to six weeks with a stress fracture in his foot, Carson took over as the Cowboys’ second starting quarterback. Although Carson has gained the confidence of the Cowboys’ coaching staff, Deshaun Watson must test the rookie early and often, especially when he is lined across from Jeudy.
Matchup No. 2: Grant Delpit vs Jake Ferguson
Offensively, all the attention and praise in the Cowboys’ skill group goes to CeeDee Lamb, and rightly so. Lamb is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and he deserves the full focus of defensive coordinators for the dangers he poses to opposing secondaries. However, the Browns are as well equipped to deal with Lamb as any cornerback room in the NFL.
Lamb does not have a true partner in crime in the Cowboys’ wide receiver room. When Dak Prescott is not targeting Lamb, he looks at tight end Jake Ferguson to do all the heavy lifting in the short to intermediate game. The third-year tight end does all the dirty work in Dallas’ passing game.
Ferguson finished second to Lamb in targets, receptions, yards, and first downs gained in 2023, and was named to his first Pro Bowl for his efforts. How will the Browns combat Ferguson’s ability to be Prescott’s security blanket and move the chains? Jim Schwartz will deploy his most versatile weapon in the secondary, Grant Delpit.
Delpit’s length and his physical coverage skills make him an ideal candidate to deal with opposing tight ends. At six-foot-three and 210 pounds, Delpit is at his most dangerous as an overhang box defender. Bringing Delpit down in the box on Dallas’ strong side will afford easy access to derail Ferguson’s routes, and it also gives Schwartz an extra blitzer and run defender.
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