The Browns and their fans are about to find out as Nick Chubb was placed on injured reserve, but that's the downside as Chubb's MCL was sprained, not torn and as a result Nick Chubb's season is not over as he is expected to miss six weeks, but not the remainder of the year.
Chubb suffered a severe knee injury during his time at Georgia that ended his 2015 season and even though Chubb bounced back to rush for over 1,000 yards in the following two seasons, he shared rushing duties with Sony Michel and it was the knee injury that caused Chubb to fall to the second round in the 2018 draft.
The unusual feature of the 2020 season is the increased injured reserve and practice squad, so the Browns would have had to have made a decision on Nick Chubb's status for the season or carried him on the roster as an inactive player.
Chubb will be eligible to return in three weeks, although he will likely be placed again with the six-week expectation before a potential return for the stretch drive.
The Browns will turn to Kareem Hunt as their workhorse and no team has a better second back than a player that has led the league in rushing and is in his prime at twenty-five.
The immediate problem for the Browns is that Hunt is dealing with a groin injury.
Hunt rushed for two touchdowns against Dallas with the injury, so it wasn't a problem against the Cowboys, but the Browns did manage to keep his carries down with eleven so it is an issue,
Can former Orlando Apollo D'Ernest Johnson repeat his performance against Dallas with 95 yards rushing?
If Hunt is able to run as he has in the past, Johnson won't have to be depended on as often, but the Browns will likely have to add a running back to the practice squad after the promotion of Dontrell Hilliard to the main squad.
The loss of Nick Chubb is a huge loss, but the Browns can handle it.
The question is can they handle the newfound prosperity that comes with 3-1?
I'm excited and hopeful, if they can make it to 4-2 or heaven forbid 5-1, I'll be a believer.
Why then?
Well, they will have gotten past two more games against good teams, and let us look at the schedule after week six.
At Cincinnati
Las Vegas
Bye
Houston
Philadelphia
At Jacksonville
At Tennessee
Baltimore
At NY Giants
At NY Jets
Pittsburgh
Even if the Browns fall to 3-3, Cleveland should be favored in their next five games.
Run the table, that's 8-3.
Be conservative at say they win four of five (any less would be disappointing), that's 7-4.
At Tennessee will be tough and the home games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh will be as well, but
you hope you win both games in New York.
Your worst-case scenario is 9-7.
That's if the Browns are capable of doing that.
Two of their three wins are against two of the worst defenses in the league and the other win is against a
questionable offense, so I'm still a little uneasy on saying this is a playoff team yet.
BUT the avenue is there to become one...
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