With the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns still in the hunt for those final playoff spots Denver Broncos Hats , this Saturday night matchup is set to be extremely important. We sat down with Dawgs By Nature’s Chris Pokorny to discuss this important game under the lights of Broncos Stadium at Mile High.And awayyy we go!1) You guys have seen a revolving door of quarterback for a long, long time. What have you seen from Baker Mayfield to make you believe the Browns have finally found their guy?Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY SportsChris Pokorny: With the way the guy has been playing the last month, he looks like a Top 5 quarterback in the NFL already. The leadership factor is already there, and it isn’t forced: he already has the entire team, coaching staff, and fanbase gravitating to him. His on-field play backs it up. His completion percentage has taken a big leap since the firing of Hue Jackson and Todd Haley. New offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens has in the zone with his playbook, and the offensive line has been remarkable in the past month, allowing just 1 sack in Mayfield’s last four games. He hasn’t faced a pass-rushing duo like Von Miller-Bradley Chubb -- combined, they have combined for 25.5 sacks, so that doesn’t sound like an issue, right?2) After holding the Houston Texans’ pass rush to zero sacks a couple weeks ago Denver Broncos Womens Hoodie , what do you expect Denver will try to do differently? How do you think the Browns will counter?John Glaser-USA TODAY SportsChris Pokorny: The Browns’ interior has been very strong over the past two months, so the tackles are the weaker spots. Left tackle Greg Robinson and right tackle Chris Hubbard have been stable, which I think is the best word to describe them. The Texans comparison is a good one, but I think the Broncos’ rush is superior up front. Cleveland will negate the rush through the same game plan they’ve used the past month: quick decisions from Baker Mayfield, and some late dump-off screen passes when a blitz is coming from the edge.3) Injuries to both teams are going to give us a glimpse of some players in positions they’re not completely used to. Is there anyone on the Browns you expect step up in a big way?Ken Blaze-USA TODAY SportsChris Pokorny: The Browns’ main injury is the concussion for rookie CB Denzel Ward. Our defense had a taste of what life was like without him last week with respect to the secondary. The guy I expect to continue stepping up is C JC Tretter. Tretter has had a lingering ankle injury for about 2-3 months now, and he continues playing through it at a relatively high level. Last week, he tweaked it during the game, so the backup center started practicing snaps. By the time the Browns got the ball again, Tretter taped up his ankle and finished the game strong. 4) Continuing with matchups, are there any that you’re particularly worried about?Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY SportsChris Pokorny: I am worried about what Phillip Lindsay will do to the Browns’ run defense. I know the 49ers bottled him up a bit last week, but his yards per attempt average is tops in the NFL. The Browns have the talent individually to make plays in the backfield Womens Customized Denver Broncos Jerseys , but collectively, there are still some issues at one of the defensive end spots and outside linebacker when it comes to containing the run. I think Gregg Williams would be wise to send extra defenders to cover Keenum and Lindsay, while the rest of the defense focuses on what they are good at: having enough plays of short gains be run that eventually, an overthrown, tipped pass, missed field goal, etc will lead to a turnover on downs.5) Playoffs or not, would you consider this to be a successful season for the Browns? What do you feel needs to be addressed in order for them to rise to the “next level” of play?Photo by David Maxwell/Getty ImagesChris Pokorny: Yes, this is a successful season for the Browns. The home finale is next week, and the town is buzzing with people wanting to go to the game. That hasn’t happened for a Browns finale in who knows how long. The team will face a challenge of finding the right head coach, but I think Gregg Williams and Freddie Kitchens can both keep their jobs Cleveland wins out. Next year www.thebroncosfootballauthentic.com , Cleveland could still use a true, No. 1 receiver. But their biggest weakness is at one of the defensive tackle spots. If that player was a run stuffer, then the rest of the game would be far more challenging for opposing offenses to run the ball.BONUS: Score prediction?Chris Pokorny: I like the Browns to take advantage of the Broncos’ injuries at cornerback to win a tight prime-time game 23-20.Broncos 2018 first quarter (of the season) snap count review Since, I just wrote up 3rd and long as well. I’m about typed-out for the day, so there is gong to be very little prose in this piece. I’ll post the data, you can make of it what you will. Tables first for those who prefer that kind of view.OffensiveDefensiveNow for the pretty pictures :-)Offensive DataConnor McGovern, Matt Paradis, Garett Bolles and Ronald Leary have played every offensive for us so far this year. Turner has played quite well when he has been called upon. Turner has currently played 30% of the offensive snaps this year. PFF has him ranked as the 34th best OT in the game and he has only allowed one sack according the data from the Washington Post. Losing Jake Butt for the year hurts because Jeff Heuerman proved last game that he is not a quality NFL TE. There is no way he should be on the field for close to 90% of the offensive snaps in any game (just my opinion). He got his lunch money stolen on the interception last game.It’s interesting to see the balance here particularly if you factor out the 3rd game where Lindsay got ejected. I like the trend line for Andy Janovich and I hope that continues. Nothing really of note here other than to show we run 4WR sets about one out of every five plays. Defensive DataIt looks like we are trying to keep Wolfe fresh by getting Gotsis and Harris more PT.Todd Davis is now playing more than Brandon Marshall (due partly to injury). Josey Jewell appears to be an interchangeable part now at ILB, which is a good thing. The symmetry here shows that Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett and the Backups for Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. I like that we are getting Von some rest, but I don’t like that there have been critical late game defensive snaps where Von is on the sideline instead of in the game. That can’t be allowed to happen. I thought the whole point of getting him rest early in the game was so that he could be fresh in the 4th quarter when he really needs to shine. Justin Simmons has yet to miss a defensive snap for us this year. It will be interesting to see if Isaac Yiadom has learned enough at any point during his rookie season to start getting some rotational snaps in place of Tramaine Brock or Adam Jones (assuming that they both stay healthy or return to health). So did any of this surprise you? For those who want to see the special teams snaps you can view the data here.