The Cleveland Browns are off to a hot start in 2022 after a resounding win over the Carolina Panthers, and attention is being drawn to their highly potent run game after they found so much success on the ground in Week 1. With a two-headed monster in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, defenses must pick their poison against this Browns team, and both players and coaches alike are all-in on establishing the run as Cleveland’s calling card this season.
Starting guard Wyatt Teller spoke to members of the media on Monday about the use of the team’s running backs, telling reporters that the team’s run-heavy identity has been part of their plan all along. In tandem with the top-tier defense that the Browns have put together, he said a strong running game would be a very difficult prospect for opponents to contain.
“I think that is the formula that we have always wanted to portray,” Teller explained. “Obviously, our defense played really well. There were a handful of plays that changed it or that brought them close. For the most part, the three phases of football working together, complementary football, that is how you win games.”
Ball control will play a key role in Cleveland’s success this season, especially as they wait for their new franchise quarterback to come off suspension. Their strength lies in their exceptionally talented backfield, so it makes sense that they would lean on the running game to carry the offense to victory in a league that is set up to stop the air attack first.
The Browns’ throwback style of play will prove to be one of the most exciting offensive spectacles in the NFL if they can keep putting on performances like the one they managed against Carolina. If they can maintain the level of success they found in the Week 1 matchup, expect them to lean even more heavily on the ground game to grind out wins down the stretch in 2022.
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