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Nick Chubb Return Hardly Capable of Salvaging Browns' Season


Source: Jason Miller/Getty Images


In the midst of a very decent AFC North division in the NFL, where teams are confidently in contention for January football (or, in Baltimore's case, for February football), there is one ballclub the season of which might already be over and in a very disappointing fashion at that. The 2024 Browns were anticipated to have their obstacles, which is likely why the expectations were not awfully high. 

However, Cleveland, locked at the bottom of the division with a 1-6 record, has squandered whatever reason for positivity had existed prior to the start of the campaign. Firstly, high-value quarterback Deshaun Watson put on a terrible opening phase to just the campaign that was described by many as the one to determine his future in professional football. Then, in the Browns' last game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he suffered an Achilles injury that eventually required a season-ending surgery.

Nevertheless, prior to his injury, Watson was also less than stellar. According to Pro Football Reference, amongst the 32 main starting QBs in the league, he ranks as the 10th-least accurate passer. Moreover, his passer rating was the sixth-worst in the National Football League.

But Deshaun Watson, despite his broad flaws, did not single-handedly ruin Cleveland's year - far from it. For starters, he had very little support - the issues here included, among others, a mightily struggling offensive line and an injured Nick Chubb for the first six weeks of the 2024 season. With regards to the former, Watson was easily the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL, with a sack percentage of 13.25%, or the equivalent of 33 sacks. Furthermore, the Browns O-Line's 35 conceded sacks are at least ten more than any other team has allowed at this stage of the season.


To address the latter, it is certainly a positive sign that Nick Chubb finally made his return this past Sunday at Huntington Bank Field - and had a subpar performance at best. Chubb had just 11 carries and registered only 22 yards for an average of 2.0 yards/rushing attempts in a 14-21 defeat. Needless to say, this figure needs to improve significantly in order for him to both reach his peak level and provide a spark to a struggling offense that puts up the fewest yards per game in the league.

It also bears mentioning that Chubb is slated to hit the free-agent market after the conclusion of the 2024 NFL season. Therefore, the display he showcases in the remainder of the campaign, should he stay healthy, will be vital to his future paycheck, be it with the Browns or elsewhere. So the incentives are there to go off. 

In contrast, the defensive units have been the silver lining for Cleveland in 2024. Both the rushing defense and the secondary rank in the middle of the pack, which, for the Browns’ standards this year, indicates a noticeably strong performance.

Considering the above three points, as well as the fact that Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Bailey Zappe are the best Browns fans can look forward to at the QB post between now and the end of the 2024 campaign, seemingly only a strong Nick Chubb can make an uplifting difference for the 1-6 team.

Will he match his per-attempt average of 5.0 and over on more than 200 carries from his prime years in 2021 and 2022? He didn’t play well against the Bengals but only time will tell if that performance ends up an outlier. How much difference would that make to Cleveland’s position in the standings? In any case, it will be very tough for the Browns to get anything out of 2024, standing at 1-6 and with the second-toughest remaining strength of schedule.


Teodor Tsenov is an aspiring sportswriter and a HBO Bachelor of Arts graduate in International Sports Management at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in The Hague, the Netherlands. Moreover, he has previously covered NFL, MLB, the New York Jets and the Miami Marlins for Franchise Sports (UK) and Overtime Heroics (USA). You can reach out to him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, and via email tedogoshov@gmail.com.

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