Written by Thomas Moore

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The Cleveland Browns return home today to take on the Buffalo Bills on Cleveland Browns Legends Day with the Browns looking for their first win of the season.

The Opposition

Buffalo record: 1-1
Offensive rank: 7th overall/9th passing/1st rushing
Defensive rank: 25th overall/23rd passing/24th rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 10-6.
Last meeting: Bills won, 13-6, in 2010, the start of a four-game losing streak to close out the reign of “super coach” Eric Mangini
The line: Browns (+3)

What to Watch For

Can the Browns contain Buffalo running back C.J. Spiller, who leads the NFL in rushing? Thanks to the speedy Spiller the Bill have the No. 1 rushing offense in the league and, as anyone who has watched the Browns over the years know, the Browns struggle with their run defense.

“In the run game, you’re going to have to hit your fits, there are a certain number of gaps obviously and you have to defend them,” Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron said. “(The Bills) do a very good job of trying to confuse your gap control with their offensive scheme and they do a nice job of blocking it. Then, (Spiller) has got great speed once he gets to the second level. It’s hard to keep him off that level because he’s fast to the edges too. They’ve done a really good job. I like the overall game, we just have to be very focused, tuned-in and play fast. You have to really play fast.”

After allowing the Eagles to rush for 5 yards per carry in the opener, the Browns defense bounced back last week, limiting Cincinnati to just 3.2 yards per rush. If the Browns can make Spiller look  more like BenJarvus Green-Ellis and less like LeSean McCoy, that will go a long way toward slowing down the Bills.

“I think we’re better at stopping the run this year,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “I think it will reveal itself as we play out the season, because we are going to play against some outstanding backs and some outstanding quarterbacks. I think we just go to keep in mind though, it’s about eliminating the score. Spiller (is) a back that can go the distance and score. That’s what you’ve got to eliminate, those types of things. Then you just keep fighting for inches, and if they find a way to get down the field, you’ve got to keep them out of the end zone. I think that’s the challenge.”

Compounding the problem is the Bills like to run the ball out of their four-wide-receiver sets when the defense has extra defensive backs in the game. Last year, the Bills ran 313 teams with four receivers on the field, the most in the NFL and more than double the second-highest team (according to Sports Illustrated’s NFL preview issue).

That’s not a good recipe for a Browns secondary that is struggling with suspensions, injuries and young players learning on the fly. It may also explain why Usama Young is reportedly replacing Eric Hagg as the starting safety opposite T.J. Ward. A little more experience in the secondary may help settle things down a bit.

“The only thing you can do is work, keep working at it,” Jauron said of the issues in the secondary. “The great thing about our guys is they will keep working. Everyone was disappointed in that football game (against Cincinnati). They came back and they’ve had a good week so far of preparation, hopefully it’ll continue that way. Then you take it out on the field and hope somehow to reverse it.”

The Browns have a counter to Spiller in running back Trent Richardson, who last week showed the doubters and the disbelievers why he was the consensus No. 1 running back in the draft. Richardson’s two biggest plays were his 32-yard touchdown run and 23-yard touchdown reception when he went through at least four Bengals on the way to the end zone.

“I think he can get in there a couple of different ways,” offensive coordinator Brad Childress said. “He can make you miss and get in clean air and he can also lower his pads and run through you to get in there. It’s nice to be able to go a foot or horseback.”

If the Browns rush defense is bad then Buffalo’s is downright putrid. The Bill held the Jets to just 3.3 yards per carry in Week 1, but then let the Chiefs run all over them last week, giving up 6.3 yards per carry. The Bills also struggle in a major way stopping the run when they are in a dime package as they gave up 6 yards per carry last year with the extra defensive backs on the field (according to SI).

Richardson’s performance last week showed just how much a real running back benefits the passing game as quarterback Brandon Weeden threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns. In their first two games, the Bills gave up 266 yards and three touchdown passes to Mark Sanchez, and 301 yards and two touchdowns to Matt Cassel – neither of whom is among the elite when it comes to NFL quarterbacks. There should be opportunities there for Weeden and the passing game.

Of course Weeden may not be able to take advantage of those opportunities if the offensive line doesn’t keep the Bills at bay, particularly right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who will be going up against defensive end Mario Williams, who the Bills gave $50 million in guaranteed money as a free agent. Buffalo also signed defensive end Mark Anderson in free agency.

But proving once again that winning the off-season doesn’t translate to winning when it counts, Williams and Anderson each have just three tackles and no sacks heading into Week 3.

Schwartz is coming into the game on a high note, having been the Browns best offensive lineman against the Bengals, according to Pro Football Focus. Schwartz not only limited his defender to just one quarterback hurry and one quarterback hit (which we’re sure Weeden appreciated), Richardson averaged 5.3 yards on runs to the right side.

“You can definitely test yourself,” Schwartz said of the matchup with Williams. “If you’re in the NFL, you want to see how good you are and you’re facing one of the best guys in the league, a guy who can pass rush and run defend pretty well and so, I think it’s a good test for me. It’s a good test for the whole offensive line and the whole offensive unit.”

The Best Browns vs. Bills Game We’ve Ever Seen

The 1990 divisional playoff game where the Browns won, 34-30, thanks to a Clay Matthews interception of a pass at the one-yard line with three seconds remaining in the game.

That was the last hurrah for Bernie Kosar’s Browns as they lost to Denver for the third time in four years the following week in the AFC Championship Game. Two years later Bill Belichick would take over as coach and start tearing apart a Browns roster that had captured the hearts of so many fans in the late ’80s.

The Prediction

Something has to give today. The Browns have lost eight consecutive games since beating Jacksonville in Week 11 last season. Things haven’t been this bad since the end of the Romeo Crennel era and the dawn of the Mangini error, when the team lost 10 in a row.

On the other hand, Buffalo hasn’t won a road game in more than a year, last winning away from home in Week 1 of last season.

The Browns have been keeping things close, though, as their last five losses have come by a total of just 21 points. While close is better than watching the team lose 40-9 every week, a loss is still a loss.

After this week, the Browns go on the road to face the Ravens and then the Giants. Lose against the Bills and not only will the Browns fall to 0-3 for the fourth time in the past five seasons, but an 0-5 start becomes a real possibility.

“We need to do what we can to win this football game against a team that’s coming off a big victory,” Shurmur said. “We have to win this game.”

The Bills were a trendy pick by many in the off-season, but they are still a team that hasn’t had a winning record since 2004, haven’t made the playoffs since 1999 and is on their fifth head coach since 1997.

In other words, they are just like the Browns.

We drank the Trent Richardson Kool-Aid in a major way this week, and the Browns are 9-3-1 against the Bills all time at home. We also don’t want think about what will happen if the Browns start 0-3 again.

So we’re not only taking the Browns plus the three points, they are going to win outright.

Record this year picking the Browns: 0-1-1

(Photo courtesy of ClevelandBrowns.com)