\nNFL Playoff Machine<\/h2>\n
Simulate your own scenarios and check out the latest playoff picture. Playoff machine \u00bb<\/b>
To make up for this massive loss of production, the Browns inserted Ford into the starting lineup and re-signed Hunt, a free agent who had been Chubb's tight end in previous seasons. Cleveland also used Strong as a third-down back.<\/p>\n
All three fell into their roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, Nick has been a big part of our running game, and he makes up for a lot of things that sometimes aren't blocked perfectly,\u201d All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said. \u201cBut I think Ford, Kareem and Pierre have done a good job of finding their niche.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford leads the Browns with 201 carries for 807 yards, an average of 4 yards per carry. Ford can both make large clearances from a single cut and also push the piles forward for difficult jobsites.<\/p>\n
In Cleveland's 39\u201338 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7, he had a 69-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game. Three weeks later, Ford had a 12-yard run in which he took several Baltimore Ravens with him \u2013 with help from his offensive linemen \u2013 putting Cleveland in position for the game-winning field goal late in the game. allotted time.<\/p>\n
“That game was fun for everyone. It was stressful for me … being pushed on both sides, getting the ball,” said Ford, a fifth-round draft pick of Cincinnati in his second season in the NFL. “But it was that Ravens game that made me think, 'We're playing against the best defense, this is what we can do…and I can hit the ball against them.'”<\/p>\n
Hunt hit the ball particularly hard. A short yardage specialist at this point in his career, he gave the Browns a boost at the goal line. He leads Cleveland with nine touchdowns, including a 7-yard plunge against the Jets.<\/p>\n\nRunning back Kareem Hunt leads the Browns in touchdowns with seven. Trevor Ruszkowski\/USA TODAY Sports<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n\u201cKareem, throughout the season, really the entire time I've been with him, has an incredible talent for short yardage and running the goal line,\u201d Stefanski said. “He's got that nose for the end zone. He's got the nose to score first [down]. He just has a great running style in those moments, because he goes and understands. … His style, the violence with which he runs, was very important in those moments.”<\/p>\n
Hunt is now fourth among running backs in rushes per touchdown (15.0) and seventh in first downs per carry (28.1%).<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely know I\u2019m the murderer,\u201d Hunt said. “And [Ford and Strong] are really quick, quick guys who can make big plays for us. \u00bb<\/p>\n
Strong only has 49 carries this year. But he has both a 41-yard reception and a 40-yard run, highlighting his big-play potential as a third-down back. He also had 29 yards on just four carries against the Jets.<\/p>\n
“We have a different mix of flavors in our [running back] space – power, speed, strength, hands, everything,” said Strong, who joined the Browns in a preseason trade with the New England Patriots. “But that's our O-line. A lot of people can run behind that O-line because it's a really good O-line. They do a great job creating holes for us and making it work.”<\/p>\n
Cleveland's offensive line has dealt with its share of significant injuries, losing its top three offensive tackles \u2014 Jedrick Wills Jr., Jack Conklin and Dawand Jones \u2014 to season-ending knee injuries. But the All-Pro guard duo of Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, along with center Ethan Pocic, continued to open up the running lanes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe O-line did a heck of a job fighting for us,\u201d said Hunt, who is one of Chubb\u2019s closest friends on the team. “And I feel like our running back group has been great. We've all been able to come together and do our job out there. … take advantage of the situations that we're in and make the most of it of our opportunities.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RB-by-committee keeps Browns churning without Nick Chubb\u060c Jake Trotter, ESPN editorJanuary 5, 2024, 11:00 a.m. Close Jake Trotter covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2011 to cover college football. Before that, he worked for The Oklahoman, Austin American-Statesman and Middletown (Ohio) Journal. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Trotter. CLEVELAND \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1597,8523,8732,7356,8731],"class_list":["post-18198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-browns","tag-chubb","tag-churning","tag-nick","tag-rbbycommittee"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18200,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18198\/revisions\/18200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}