Players to watch in Sunday’s Chiefs-Browns showdown: Keep an eye on the edge rushers
When the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns square off on Sunday, it’ll be important to keep an eye on each team’s edge rushers, including AFC defensive player of the month Dee Ford.
No. 55 Dee Ford, OLB
27 years old, 6-2, 252 pounds, 5th season
The AFC defensive player of the month will look to continue his momentum against a Browns offense that’s struggled to protect its quarterback. Rookie Baker Mayfield has been sacked 20 times this season, including five times each against the Ravens, Chargers and Buccaneers. For Ford, who has eight sacks this year, this game is a big chance to add more to his total. He’s coming off a three-sack game against the Broncos. In October, Ford led the NFL in forced fumbles and ranked second with six sacks.
No. 87 Travis Kelce, TE
29 years old, 6-5, 260 pounds, 6th season
After six years in the league, Kelce is finally playing at home. The Cleveland Heights native is one of a handful of Chiefs players from the Cleveland area, and he’ll have a big crowd on hand to watch his homecoming game at FirstEnergy. Once a magnet for unsportsmanlike conduct flags, Kelce has been under control this season. Could this environment cause him to revert back to his bad habits or will he show off his more mature mentality in front of a hometown crowd? Last week against the Broncos, Kelce scored his first touchdown in a month.
No. 6 Baker Mayfield, QB
23 years old, 6-1, 215 pounds, 1st season
Mayfield, the 2018 No. 1 draft pick, faced his first ‘Welcome to the business’ moment this week when his head coach and offensive coordinator got fired. Mayfield has been through adversity before, but nothing quite of this magnitude. Not since arriving in the NFL, anyway. He has had a rocky start to his time as Cleveland’s starter. He led the Browns to their first win in 635 days when he took over for Tyrod Taylor in September, and he helped them to another win against the Ravens. So far this season, he has thrown for eight touchdowns and six interceptions and fumbled four times. Now, he’ll take play calls from interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, but the Browns said the scheme will stay the same.
No. 95 Myles Garrett, DE
22 years old, 6-4, 272 pounds, 2nd season
Garrett, the No. 1 draft pick in 2017, was critical of the Browns’ defensive game plan after their loss to the Steelers and said the team should’ve gone with more base calls to “punch them in the mouth.” He was frustrated in the aftermath of a 33-18 loss in which Cleveland gave up 421 total yards — including 146 to running back James Conner. Garrett wants to be a dominant force on this team, and with eight sacks already this season, he has the potential to do that. This week, he’ll go up against an offensive line that only allowed Broncos linebacker Von Miller to sack Patrick Mahomes once.
Brooke Pryor
Brooke Pryor covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
