Cleveland Browns at LA Rams Pick & Predictions for Week 13

The Cleveland Browns come to Inglewood for a week 13 showdown with the Los Angeles Rams. Last week, the Rams started looking like a dangerous team again, beating the Cardinals 37-14. With two wins in a row to get to 5-6, they look for more this week, but it won’t be easy with the 7-4 Browns looking to atone for their 29-12 loss last week to the Broncos. Can the Browns get back on the right track this week, or are they running into a Rams team that means business?

Rams Back on Track?

It was hard not to notice how, after a fast start for the Rams’ offense, they receded for a stretch of games where the offense was really not getting the job done. Suddenly, Kyren Williams returns to the backfield, and the offense is cooking again. After seeing their backfield falter with Williams out of action, we saw last week what this offense can do with the young back in the fold. I think current opponents of the Rams, and that includes even a Cleveland defense that can do a lot of damage, should brace for a higher-end version of this offense.

This is not an attempt to overinflate the Rams and where they stand as an opponent heading into week 13. But the offense has dealt with injuries for much of the season that has left them at less than full power. To have a cast that is more or less intact offers some promise for how they can approach this last handful of games, where maybe they can try to go on a run. And to their benefit, they get this one at home and get a version of the Browns that isn’t tip-top at the moment.

Problems Ahead for the Browns?

On the one hand, their QB play was never that great this season, even when Deshaun Watson was in there, so conceivably, they can keep this machine moving forward with him gone. Dorian Thompson-Robinson suffered a concussion in the last game, with PJ Walker coming back into action. It’s not likely going to be exciting with either man behind center. The aerial game suffers and allows defenses to key in on the run. But it’s not just the QB, with defensive end Myles Garrett questionable with a shoulder injury. If that continues, where we start seeing key defensive talent dropping out of the rotation, you wonder if we see the Browns struggling to get the same results they were earlier in the season.

You still want to extend some benefit of the doubt to teams like the Browns. They have a similar team in their own division in the Steelers, teams with records better than you suspect where it’s hard to explain their success other than pointing to the defense. This is a team that has dealt with injuries on both sides of the ball all season while remaining upright and keeping it rolling—last week notwithstanding. Doing a straight-line appraisal of such a team can miss the point, not taking into account their heart, guts, coaching, inner resource, and moxie—things that can definitely figure into the result of a game.

Matchup Issues

Coming off giving up 29 points to the Broncos, the viability of the Browns’ defense falls into some question, especially as they come out of their conference for this tricky road-spot. Having been in Denver last week, then having to pick up and come to LA with the injury bug having now fully descended on this team, it’s a rough time for the Browns as they take this extended road trip. We will need to see more news as we approach game-time as to the presence of Garrett and others like CB Denzel Ward. If they’re down a couple of big dogs, it doesn’t bode well with Stafford slinging it to all his talented receivers like Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, with Williams in there adding venom on the ground and through the air. It’s an offense that can bottom out from week to week, but at full power, they deserve a certain amount of respect.

The state of the Rams’ defense also takes on a less critical air in light of playing an offense such as this. This is not one of the better units they have recently faced. The Rams’ defense has also not quite been the exploitable unit everyone was cracking them out to be, and since week one, only two opponents have surpassed 24 points. They haven’t been great, sometimes not clutch and not making a ton of positive plays to help the team’s cause, but they don’t generally get run over, and certainly not by offenses like the one the Browns bring to the table this week.

Lay the Number on the Home Favorite

There is a part of you that might feel you’re not getting excellent value in this spot, taking the Rams, who a few weeks ago were 3-6, taking on a team that has spent much of this season winning. That spread is a little daunting, and those who have taken the Rams this season know the recipe for success is tenuous and isn’t that hard to disrupt from week to week. For all their issues, the Browns are still 7-4, and those under-the-radar elements like “D,” coaching, and power in the trenches could be enough to upset the Rams’ apple cart. I sense, however, that the Browns are a little off-course at sea right now and a vital Rams’ offense could be enough to win the day. I’ll take the Rams in this one.

Loot’s Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the Los Angeles Rams minus 4 points.

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