Speed Option: Bills look to bounce back against the Browns

The Battle of Lake Erie will now encompass all three NFL franchises based near Lake Erie, with the Buffalo Bills “hosting” the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field in Detroit.

Browns 2022 season summary

The Browns started off the season with a win over Carolina and their former No. 1 overall draft pick, Baker Mayfield. The season has been a bit up and down, but mostly down, for the Browns since then. They have two big division wins over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, but between those games, they lost four in a row.

1. Browns 26, Panthers 24 (1-0)
2. Jets 31, Browns 30 (1-1)
3. Browns 29, Steelers 17 (2-1)
4. Falcons 23, Browns 20 (2-2)
5. Chargers 30, Browns 28 (2-3)
6. Patriots 38, Browns 15 (2-4)
7. Ravens 23, Browns 20 (2-5)
8. Browns 32, Bengals 13 (3-5)
9. Bye week
10. Dolphins 39, Browns 17 (3-6)

Browns head coach: Kevin Stefanski

Stefanski is in his third season leading the Browns. He joined them after one season as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator. He’s just barely on the right side of .500, with a 22-20 (0.524 W-L%) record in the regular season and a 1-1 (0.500 W-L%) playoff record.

Browns offensive coordinator: Alex Van Pelt

Van Pelt should be a familiar name to Bills Mafia, as he’s a former Bills quarterback and offensive coordinator. After serving in the latter role in 2009 under Dick Jauron (and then Perry Fewell), Van Pelt bounced around the league, holding various offensive assistant positions with Tampa Bay, Green Bay, and Bengals. He has been Cleveland’s offensive coordinator since Stefanski took over. The Browns’ offense is ranked 10th in points per game and fifth in yards per game.

Browns defensive coordinator: Joe Woods

Woods runs the defense in Cleveland. He’s been the coordinator for Stefanski’s entire tenure. He was previously the defensive coordinator for Denver during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and then moved on to be San Francisco’s defensive backs coach when Vic Fangio was hired to replace Vance Joseph as Broncos head coach and cleaned house. Woods’ defense is ranked 31st in points per game allowed, and 17th in yards per game allowed.

Browns offensive starters

• QB: Jacoby Brissett ^
• RB: Nick Chubb
• WR: Amari Cooper
• WR: Donovan Peoples-Jones
• TE: David Njoku
• TE: Harrison Bryant
• LT: Jedrick Wills, Jr.
• LG: Joel Bitonio
• C: Ethan Pocic ^
• RG: Wyatt Teller
• RT: Jack Conklin

^ = free agent / trade addition
* = rookie

Browns defensive starters

• LDE: Myles Garrett
• LDT: Jordan Elliot
• RDT: Taven Bryan ^
• RDE: Jadeveon Clowney
• WILL: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
• MIKE: Deion Jones ^
• SAM: Sione Takitaki
• LCB: Denzel Ward
• RCB: Greg Newsome II
• SS: Grant Delpit
• FS: John Johnson III

^ = free agent / trade addition
* = rookie