CLEVELAND, Ohio – Kareem Hunt is upset about the Browns’ unpredictable performance in Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Jets, and wants the team to pick up the intensity on Sunday against the 12-3 Steelers.
If the Browns win, they are in the playoffs. If they lose, they have to hope the Colts lose against the 1-14 Jaguars or that some other scenarios play out.
“It’s the Steelers now,” Hunt said. “We have to be ready to play, because it’s quite a playoff game. This is the time that everyone matters from now on. ”
Hunt, who rushed just 11 yards on four cars, indicated that the Browns are determined to put the terrible performance against the Jets behind them and do everything necessary to reach the national season for the first time in 18 years . The Browns, who had the No. 3 offense with 152.6 yards per game, rushed a total of 45, including 4 in the first half.
Nick Chubb passes just 28 yards on 11 runs with a long win of 16. Both backs chase for a second-half TD, but the output was certainly not what the two Pro Bowlers expected of themselves, even with the missing left-back pack Jedrick of the Browns. Wills Jr. and Wyatt Teller, right guard, in that game.
“We’re not happy,” Hunt said. “We are never happy after losing a football match. We are going to learn from it and come together as a team. After the next game. Get better. “
On a day when the Browns had their top four receivers on the COVID-19 list as a high-risk close contact from BJ Goodson, Hunt touched the ball only seven times and hit 3-of-5 targets for 41 yards achieved, in addition to his 11 years of driving.
If coach Kevin Stefanski had chosen to use Hunt more as a receiver with Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge, he would have been all for it.
“Definitely,” Hunt said. “Whatever is needed to win the football match. I feel like I’m a playmaker when I get the ball in my hands.
With the Browns averaging just 0.4 yards in the first half and trailing 13-3, they threw more into the air, with Baker Mayfield scoring a career-high 53 times. But he completed only 28 of those efforts (52.8%). It included only 12 of 26 joint targets for Austin Hooper (7-of-15 targets for 71 yards) and receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley (5-of-11 targets for 60 yards), who was called up from the practice group. on Saturday.
Stefanski, who counted seven drops in the match, would probably have served better to get Hunt more touched and throw the ball more to David Njoku (4-for-4 for 26 yards) – two players Mayfield scored one day is familiar. when his favorite targets were at home on the bench.
But the contact search closed so late Saturday – and the flight to New Jersey only began at 7 p.m. – that it was late to draw up a whole new game plan with no time or place to install it. A walk through the hotel’s parking garage at 8:15 Sunday morning would not cut it.
“As for the guys (Chubb and Hunt) on the field together, it was not something we could change late in the game,” said Stefanski. ‘There are moments we had together on the field, and we are always going to explore the opportunities, because they are two good football players. We’ll see how the game plan shakes up today, but it just does not feel like it is fair to put Kareem on a bunch of spots without practice on short notice. ”
Stefanski admits that a little more time to adjust the game plan would help, ‘but I want to reiterate that this is not why we lost yesterday. We knocked. I got dusted out. We need to be better. We had the players we needed to win that game, and we did not. ”
Stefanski noted that the plan certainly would not be for Mayfield to throw it 53 times without his four best receivers in the match. But they had some success with an uptempo pass in the second half and turned it around, on the point of 13 straight points.
“In the second half it was like that where the game went when we moved the ball, and we came two minutes to the end of the first half,” he said. “We felt confident in the plan and had confidence in the tight end and the backs. The wide receivers acquitted themselves just fine. We just did not make enough plays. You go into it with a plan and then you have to be ready to turn around and adapt based on what they give you. ”
Hunt acknowledged that the loss of the top four recipients and the will may have ruined the offense.
“It may be, but things are different now,” he said. ‘We need to find a way to win football matches with whoever we have. I would say I’m not too sure. ”
He also believes Mayfield will bounce back from his three fumbles, two on strip bags and one on a fourth-and-1 sneak with 1:18 left over from the Jets 16 who said after the game, “I have this team fail”.
“Baker is my brother,” Hunt said. “It’s definitely not all about him. There are many things that many people could do better. There are a few things that got us into that situation. Honestly, he will have my back no matter what, and I will have his too. I believe in him to bounce back. I believe we all want to, because it’s not just on him; it’s on the whole team. It’s on everyone. ”
Hunt, one of the few Browns to have played in a playoff game, knows how intense Sunday will be if the Steelers – who clinched the AFC North on Sunday – do not rest their starters. As a rookie, Hunt rushed for 42 yards and a power play in the Chiefs’ 22-21 loss with the game card for the Titans, after leading 21-3.
“We have to start fast and just be ready to play,” he said. “It’s a good football team. We know that. We have a lot of respect for those guys. They get ready to play. Just need to get out there and play our football. ”
Hunt believes the Browns are a much better team than the team that was crushed 38-7 in Week 6.
“We had a lot of time to start gelling as a team,” he said. ‘We won some big football matches. I believe we can compete with anyone. ”
He admitted that it would be huge to get the recipients back this week.
“We are definitely looking forward to it,” he said. ‘Those guys are a great playmaker for us. Never like to go into a match without such guys. We are happy to have them back next week. Yet we are going to come together as a team again and find a way to win. ‘
He is also eager to get Teller, the No. 1-rated guard in the NFL according to profootballfocus.com, back this week if his high single strain allows it.
“We miss him a ton,” Hunt said. ‘Wyatt is a great attacking linebacker, a tough guy and he brings it up. We can definitely use them all. ”
Apart from that, Hunt, who wants to run 1000 thousand meters this season but only has 804, plans ‘to come in with a playoff mentality as if we are going into the playoffs and win every game or go home.’
‘My emotions are to get back on track and achieve a victory. It would mean a lot to this city, to this program and to everyone. That’s the goal, and then find a way to get another one. ‘
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