The Underhill Report: Outrageous Week 10 Predictions

Be that as it may, the Bills roll onto the reeling Cleveland Browns, who have done an extraordinary job of under-performing from their crazy preseason expectations. Without further ado, let’s get to my outrageous week 10 predictions:

Bills hold Cleveland ground game to under 50 yards

You have to imagine Sean McDermott and the Bills coaching staff spent the entirety of last week hammering home run defense fundamentals and gap assignments after Buffalo got absolutely chewed up on the ground against the Eagles giving up over 200 yards. The problem was clearly not fixed, however, as evidenced by the ageless wonder Adrian Peterson. The Washington back gashed the Bills all afternoon, going for 108 yards on 18 carries, including a trio of consecutive 15+ yard runs to put Washington in the redzone.

It surprised me greatly to see the Buffalo D get exploited in the same area in back-to-back weeks. It’s not typical of McDermott’s unit. No need to panic though. I still have incredible faith in coach’s ability to get this issue resolved. He’s too good as a defensive coach to let this trend continue.

Expect Nick Chubb to be bottled up all afternoon.

Brian Daboll opens the game with three straight Isaiah McKenzie jet sweeps for -10 yards

For whatever reason, it’s becoming increasingly clear Brian Daboll has an affectionate love for getting Isaiah McKenzie to run horizontally down the line of scrimmage pre-snap. He can’t seem to get away from it. That pre-snap motion has become a signature of Buffalo’s 2019 offense. Sometimes it’s just used as a fake, and other times Josh Allen completes the little “pop-pass” to the wide-out as he is streaking across the formation. It’s guaranteed you’ll see this action between five to ten times every Sunday.

The problem is, opposing defenses are starting to figure it out. Last week, McKenzie received the pop pass and got snuffed out immediately by the Washington defensive end, resulting in a big loss on the play. At this point, there is a lot of film out there on this play, making it harder for Daboll to design this action effectively.

Of course, Daboll will immediately go back to it this week, but this time the results will not be in his favor.

Josh Allen explodes with 3 touchdown 300 yard game

Ok, I get it. We’re all waiting for the REALLY big Josh Allen game. It’s coming, I swear. He’s been getting better every single week, and he’s really starting to eliminate the ugly interceptions. Fumbling is still an issue, as shown last week when Allen was lucky enough to have Quinton Spain fall on top of the ball.

I know I’ve said it before in this piece, but this is the week it all comes together. The Cleveland defense has been anything but stellar, and Allen will rip it apart. Is this the game Allen connects on the much anticipated deep ball? I think so.

Paper bag masks back in fashion for Cleveland fans

Of all the terrible Cleveland Brown seasons, this one might be the most heartbreaking. Worse than the 0-16 season of two years ago. Worse than all the years of mediocrity and terrible football. 2019’s season is different because the Browns had legitimate expectations. With a promising end to the 2018 campaign led by dynamic then-rookie Baker Mayfield, things were trending in the right direction.

Then the hype-train really picked up steam in March when the Browns traded for superstar talent Odell Beckham Jr. There was not only talk of playoff expectations but also Super Bowl discussion. With all the noise, head coach Freddie Kitchens was put in a tough position from the beginning.

It’s hard to imagine things going worse than they have. Baker has taken a significant step back from his impressive rookie season, Kitchen’s play-calling has been suspect at best (especially in the redzone), the defense is underwhelming, and the Browns are barely utilizing Beckham in their offense. All that has taken Cleveland to a 2-6 record.

Fans will be downtrodden at FirstEnergy Stadium this weekend, and why shouldn’t they be. The franchise ripped the Dawg Pound’s hearts out this year. Time to break out the brown paper bags and the scissors to cut some nice eye-holes.

Bills Mafia invades FirstEnergy Stadium

Some fanbases in the NFL aren’t willing to take the extra step and travel with their team. Bills Mafia is not one of them. Just four weeks ago, Bills fans showed out in force in Nashville, turning the road test into a home atmosphere. The extra support helped as Buffalo ground out a victory over the Titans.

Expect the same type of turnout in Cleveland as this sets up for the perfect recipe. The road trip is only about 3 hours long, not too much of a hassle for diehard fans. Even casual fans might be motivated to attend with Buffalo flexing their best record through eight games since 1993.

On the other side, I can’t see Browns fans showing up in droves. With the lack of excitement surrounding the Cleveland organization, it will be interesting what type of atmosphere we’ll get.

Baker Mayfield self-destructs against media yet again postgame, this time with a new variation on facial hair.

Rough last week for Baker, huh. First, he exploded in a reporter’s face when asked a pretty standard question:

No Title

Baker Mayfield got into a heated moment with a reporter and walked out of his weekly press conference. #Browns pic.twitter.com/lSGxos3Ce8

Then he lost to the Brandon Allen-led Broncos and proceeded to take on three separate identities as the game went on.

First, here is arriving-to-the-game full-facial hair Baker Mayfield:

Now, here is pregame Fu Manchu Baker Mayfield:

Finally, here is post-game sad mustache Baker Mayfield impersonating Randy Marsh:

The images speak for themselves. I have nothing else to say here.

Week 10 Confidence Index: 8/10 broken folding tables