Week 16 Preview: Browns at Jets, Second of Many, The Carnage!!! Articles

Will Antonio Cromartie step it up and slow down standout receiver Josh Gordon today? Photo from ocnnreport.com

OUT
Browns: WR Davone Bess (not injury related), TE Jordan Cameron (concussion), OL John Greco (knee), TE Andre Smith (calf)

Jets: None

DOUBTFUL
Browns: None

Jets: None

QUESTIONABLE
Browns: CB Joe Haden (hip)

Jets: None

PROBABLE
Browns: LB Tank Carder (shoulder), P Spencer Lanning (knee), LB Eric Martin (illness), RB Willis McGahee (concussion/knee), DL Ahtyba Rubin (calf), OL Mitchell Schwartz (toe), T Joe Thomas (back), DB T.J. Ward (shoulder)

Jets: Everyone. The Jets are fighting to the end on this injury report nonsense

My prediction for last week was generally correct. The Jets kept it close, but still lost to a team that is simply a lot better. But somehow, that happened even with Geno Smith having a bad game, which was rather encouraging. The running game, led by Chris Ivory and Sheldon "The Fridge" Richardson, had a big day against one of the better run defense in the NFL.

The DeAngelo Williams touchdown was our weekly reminder of how susceptible the Jets are to big plays. Which of course, brings us to this week's game against Cleveland.

Obviously, Jason Campbell can potentially have an awful game, as he did last week. But, even if he plays poorly, the most likely scenario is that the Jets see a lot of this:

Photo from mmqb.si.com

That's Josh Gordon celebrating a touchdown. Just the sight of that makes me afraid for this week's game. He's one of the best offensive weapons in all of football, and thrives on big plays. Antonio Cromartie is having a really bad year, and the safeties are not helping him out at all. It's going to be a long day for him going up against Gordon. What makes Josh Gordon such a scary threat is his usage. He's targeted deep most of the time, and then uses his speed to break away. That should be very effective this week.

The rest of the Browns offense does not scare me at all, especially without Jordan Cameron and Davone Bess. It's going to be the Josh Gordon Show in New Jersey today.

At the same time, the Jets should keep it close, as I expect Geno Smith to have some success this week. The Browns defense has been decent, but I just happen to have a hunch about the Jets being able to move the ball well.

But of course, that will not be enough against the Cleveland Josh Gordons.

Browns (+1.5) over JETS. 

Browns 27, Jets 24