Josh Jacobs looks to extend rushing TD streak when heavily favored Packers visit winless Browns
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Green Bay (2-0) at Cleveland (0-2)
Day/Time/TV: Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox
Against the spread: Packers 2-0, Browns 1-1
Series record: Packers lead 14-7
Last meeting: Packers beat the Browns 24-22 on Christmas Day 2021 in Green Bay.
Last week: Packers beat Commanders 27-18; Browns lost at Ravens 41-17.
Packers offense: overall (12), rush (18), pass (12), scoring (6)
Packers defense: overall (3), rush (2), pass (10), scoring (4)
Browns offense: overall (16), rush (26), pass (10), scoring (27)
Browns defense: overall (1), rush (1), pass (3), scoring (T25)
Turnover differential: Packers plus-1; Browns minus-4.
Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs would put himself in an elite group of running backs if he reaches the end zone on Sunday at Cleveland. Jacobs could become the fifth back in NFL history to rush for a touchdown in 12 straight games, including the playoffs. “I don’t really know too much about it,” Jacobs said Thursday about the streak. “It’s definitely a great honor, but I don’t really too much dig into it or look into it. I’m more concerned with wins or losses, for real.”
The last player with a 12-game run of rushing TDs was LaDainian Tomlinson for the San Diego Chargers in 2004. The others to do it were John Riggins (15 straight in 1983), Emmitt Smith (14 in 1995 and 13 from 1994-95) and George Rogers (13 in 1985-86). The Browns are allowing 2.1 yards per carry and have held opposing ballcarriers to no gain or negative yardage on 10 of 36 designed runs. That 27.8% rate is fourth highest in the league. The Packers have been stuffed on only seven carries, a rate of 14.3% that’s sixth lowest in the NFL. “He’s a very powerful runner. He runs with a lot of effort, too, and so for us it’s the first guy in being able to hold him up and then we got to rally to the ball,” Browns rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger said.
Jacobs and the Packers are seeking their first 3-0 start since 2020. Green Bay hasn’t trailed in either of its games and has built 17-3 leads in wins over Detroit and Washington. Jordan Love has not thrown an interception in his last eight regular-season games. “I think we’re always confident. Every week is obviously a new journey. First road game, so it’s gonna be a test,” Love said. Cleveland is 0-2 for the first time since 2017, when it became the second team in NFL history to go 0-16. The Browns have held the lead for only 4 minutes, 32 seconds — fourth-lowest in the league — and that happened in their opener against the Bengals.
While the Packers are rolling in all three phases, the Browns have struggled on offense and special teams, despite the defense allowing the fewest yards in the league. Last week at Baltimore, a blocked punt and pair of turnovers resulted in 21 points for the Ravens and a 41-17 loss. “You have to stay on the field and score points, and certainly have not scored enough points the last couple games. And it’s really incumbent on us as a team to play complementary team ball,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Of course, we would like to play well on all three sides of the ball, and there’s opportunities to always do that, but we have to play really good, complementary team ball.”
Pass-rushers summit
Sunday’s matchup features two of the league’s best pass rushers in All-Pros Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons. Since Parsons came into the league in 2021, Garrett has an NFL-best 63 1/2 sacks, while Parsons is fifth with 54.
Garrett is tied for the league sack lead with New Orleans’ Carl Granderson at 3½, tied for fifth with five quarterback hits and tied for 11th with nine QB pressures. “He’s a game-wrecker. Yeah, you’ve got to be really intentional about what you’re trying to get done, because if you have a bad matchup, forget about it. This guy can make it ugly in a hurry,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
Parsons’ snaps have been limited since he was acquired from Dallas on Aug. 27, but he has 1½ sacks and is tied for fifth with 11 pressures. “We have to expect him to be anywhere. He could be off the ball. He can be on either side, he can be up the middle. So, there’s really no telling on where they can utilize him, especially in a small sample size,” Stefanski said.
Packers’ injury concerns
Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft hurt his knee in practice Thursday. Kraft had six catches for a career-high 124 yards last week and has scored a touchdown in each of Green Bay’s first two games. If Kraft is unable to play, it likely would result in more playing time for Luke Musgrave, who has three catches for 36 yards this season.
Wide receiver Jayden Reed is out with a broken collarbone. That could mean more opportunities for rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden and third-round selection Savion Williams. Neither player caught a pass against the Commanders. “We’ve got a lot of guys in that receiver room who can step up, who’ve played a lot of good minutes and this won’t be their first time getting in there,” Love said. “So just got to keep leaning on those other guys and guys got to step up and keep making plays, but we got a deep receiver room, so it won’t be too big of an issue.”
Stuck in neutral
Joe Flacco has been responsible for all four of the Browns’ turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble). Flacco has also struggled to find any semblance of a downfield passing game, going 11 of 28 on throws of at least 10 air yards. Flacco’s 70.1 passer rating on downfield throws is fourth worst of QBs who have played two games. “He understands the way we’re built and how we want to have success. So, it’s something we continue to reiterate and, you don’t want to stifle him to make throws and make good plays,” offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said. “But you want him to recognize, for any player, like, ‘Hey, these are the looks that we want those big plays to occur. When we don’t get that, this is the answer.’”
Packers player to watch
RB Josh Jacobs. He’s rushed for a touchdown in 10 straight games, a streak that goes to 11 if playoff games are included. That stretch of 11 straight regular-season and playoff games with a touchdown run matches the second-longest such streak by any NFL player since 2000. LaDainian Tomlinson had a touchdown run in 12 straight games in 2004.
Browns player to watch
DE Myles Garrett. The nine-year veteran leads the NFL with six tackles for loss and is tied for first with 3½ sacks. He needs two sacks to pass Derrick Thomas (107½) for fifth-most sacks by a player in their first nine seasons. Garrett is also looking to become the first Browns player with at least 1½ sacks in three straight games since Jadeveon Clowney in 2021.
Key matchup
Packers DE Micah Parsons versus Browns offensive line. Parsons played 44 of the Packers’ 65 defensive snaps (67.7%) in Week 2. In Week 1 he played just 29 of 65 snaps (44.6%). He is tied for fourth in the NFL with 9½ hurries along with 1½ sacks and 3½ quarterback hits. Browns LT Dawand Jones has allowed six hurries and two QB hits in two games according to Pro Football Focus.
Key injuries
Packers: WR Jayden Reed is unavailable after breaking his collarbone against the Commanders. Reed said on social media that he underwent surgeries on his foot and his clavicle this week… RT Zach Tom (oblique) missed the Commanders game and is questionable for Sunday… TE Tucker Kraft (knee) is also questionable… LG Aaron Banks (ankle) is expected to play Sunday after missing the Commanders game.
Browns: DT Mike Hall (knee) missed last week’s game at Baltimore and is out for Sunday. ... RT Jack Conklin (elbow) also didn’t play at Baltimore, and he’s questionable for this game. ... WR DeAndre Carter (concussion), G Joel Bitonio (back) and K Andre Szmyt (calf) also are questionable.
Series notes
The Packers have won six of their past seven meetings with the Browns, including each of the past four matchups. They are 7-4 at Cleveland. They won their most recent game with the Browns by intercepting Baker Mayfield four times and sacking him five times.
Stats and stuff
Packers QB Jordan Love hasn’t thrown an interception in nine straight regular-season games, tying the longest streak by a Packers quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Aaron Rodgers went nine games without throwing an interception in 2018. Love was intercepted three times in the Packers’ playoff loss at Philadelphia last season… Packers TE Tucker Kraft had a career-high 124 yards receiving against the Commanders. Kraft has caught a TD pass in each of Green Bay’s first two games… Packers DL Rashan Gary has 2½ sacks. ... Packers DL Devonte Wyatt has a sack in each of Green Bay’s first two games… Packers CB Keisean Nixon had a career-high five passes defensed against Washington. That is the highest single-game total for any Packer since Jaire Alexander had five against the Los Angeles Rams in 2018… The Packers are 2-0 for the first time since 2020, a season in which they reached the NFC championship game… The Packers went 5-0 against AFC teams last season and have won their past seven meetings with AFC squads overall. That is their longest winning streak against AFC teams since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger… The Packers have allowed a total of 97 yards rushing. The most recent time they allowed such a low total of yards rushing through their first two games was 2016. They’re giving up just 2.4 yards per carry… The Packers have gone 23-10-1 in September games since 2016. The only team with a better September record in that time is Kansas City (24-7)… Cleveland has lost eight straight games going back to last season and hasn’t scored more than 17 points in its past seven… QB Joe Flacco needs 37 yards to surpass Vinny Testaverde for 17th in NFL passing yards and 62 to pass Carson Palmer for 16th most… RB Quinshon Judkins had 10 carries for 61 yards in his NFL debut last week… RB Dylan Sampson is second on the team with 11 receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown… WR Cedric Tillman is one of six WRs with a TD catch in each of the first two games… WR Jerry Jeudy has at least 50 receiving yards in four straight games… LB Carson Schwesinger is second among rookie LBs with 12 tackles… The Browns haven’t allowed a 300-yard passer in 30 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the league.
