A NIGHT THAT WILL REVEAL MUCH ABOUT THE BROWNS

By STEVE KING

We’ll find out a lot about the Browns as they take on the Los Angeles Rams at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday Night Football.

We’ll find out if they can continue to get better. They were horrible in the opener in losing by a whopping 43-13 count to the mediocre Tennessee Titans and then improved a good deal in their 23-3 victory over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. The next step is to play even better against a much better team, and there is plenty of room for the Browns to grow.

We’ll find out if they are worthy of being called an AFC playoff contender. If they can beat the Rams, then perhaps they are. And if they can’t, then perhaps they aren’t.  

They’re all banged up injury-wise – really, really banged up – so we’ll find out how much depth the Browns have as they go to the bench and try to fill in all the blanks.

We’ll find out if this much ballyhooed Browns offense, after, just like the team overall, laying an egg in the opener and then improving against New York, can take the next step. It will have to be a big step, because the Browns will need to move the ball and score points in order to keep pace with the Rams, who will move the ball and score points.

We’ll find out if quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has been just OK in the first two games, can start playing like the guy who did so well in the last half of last season.

We will find out, as part of that, if head coach Freddie Kitchens, who doubles as his own offensive play-caller, can be anything close to the excellent play-caller that he was last season. He has struggled, to put it mildly.

And, quite simply, we will find out how much the Browns want this win, want to be good and want to prove to a national TV audience that all this offseason hype about them was warranted. They are at home – in front of the Dawg Pound – so there is no excuse for them not to shine in the limelight.