'It's just execution': Browns look to restart run game against resurgent Bucs defense

BEREA − Nick Chubb's is a man of very few words. That's when things are going great for the Browns' running back.

The last two weeks, though, things haven't been so great for either Chubb or the Browns. The former is struggling to get both carries and yards, which has helped lead the latter to back-to-back losses to Miami and Buffalo.

Chubb, though, didn't have some kind of detailed explanation for why the Browns' vaunted running game was running on empty against the Dolphins and Bills.

“I mean they played good," Chubb said Wednesday. "They played really well against the run, did some things we couldn’t overcome. Yeah, just props to them.”

The last two weeks, Chubb has rushed for a combined 82 yards on 25 carries. It's not a surprise, then, the Browns were outscored by a combined 70-40 in those two games.

The nadir, both Chubb and the Browns hope, came last week against the Bills, when he was held to just 19 yards on 14 carries. That's the lowest single-game total for him since Baltimore limited him to 16 yards on eight carries in a Week 12 loss last season.

Since Chubb essentially became the Browns' No. 1 option at running back − against the same team they play this Sunday, Tampa Bay − in Week 7 of his rookie season in 2018, it's the second-lowest net rushing total he's posted. Those two games are the only times in that span he's been held to fewer than 24 yards.

“First of all, they (the Bills) did a nice job in that scheme," coach Kevin Stefanski said earlier this week. "They were penetrating. There are things that we can do to give Nick and our backs a better opportunity, but we have to run the ball better obviously, and I think we will.”

It's not just Chubb struggling the last two weeks. It's been the Browns' run game as a whole.

Cleveland ran for just 80 net yards as a team on 26 attempts against Buffalo, with Kareem Hunt's 32 yards on just five carries tops on the team. That's on the heels of Cleveland's 24-carry, 112-yard performance against Miami.

The four lowest rushing performances of the season have come in the Browns' last five games. They ran for a season-low 70 yards in a Week 6 loss to New England, then just 113 yards the following week in a loss to Baltimore.

“I think it just comes down to our execution," quarterback Jacoby Brissett said of the run game. "Obviously, there is an emphasis on that this week. Obviously, after what we did last week, and that’s all of us, all 11 of us out there, and yeah, it’s just execution.”

The Browns remain the league's No. 5 rushing offense, with an average of 150.9 yards per game on the ground. Chubb, who was leading the league in rushing at the bye week following the Week 8 win over Cincinnati, is now No. 4 in the league with 923 yards on 174 carries.

At their bye week, the Browns were the No. 3 rushing offense in the league, averaging 164.6 yards per game. They had run for at least 171 yards as a team in six of their first eight games, including 217 yards in the opener at Carolina and 213 in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

That's the kind of production − not necessarily more than 200 yards in a game, but in the 160-to-180 range − the Browns know they have to return to in order to have success. Why that's not happened of late, they're not giving one reason.

“I just think it’s that every week is different," Brissett said "Obviously we hit a lull in our execution in the run game. So it’s just doing a better job of that and obviously focusing on that this week.”

This week the Browns face a Buccaneers defense that is 14th in the league against the run, allowing 116.6 yards per game. However, like Cleveland's run offense, Tampa Bay's run defense has seen an uptick over the last two games.

The Buccaneers allowed 231 yards on the ground in a Week 8 loss to the Ravens. The last two games, though, they've surrendered just 68 yards to the Los Angeles Rams and 39 yards to the Seattle Seahawks.

That's the first time Tampa Bay has held two consecutive opponents to less than 100 yards rushing this season. Those performances have allowed the Bucs' run defense to jump from 24th in the league after Week 8 − allowing 132.6 yards per game at the time − to their current spot.

Tampa Bay defenders point to an issue to which Browns defenders − who have had their own well-documented run-stopping issues this season − can relate.

"One of the things we've been doing a lot is going over our run fits and being gap-sound – everybody having integrity on the defense of where they're supposed to be," Buccaneers linebacker Devin White told Tampa reporters on Wednesday. "I think that's what we were missing a lot – people being a lot of misfits. Now, we're getting everything under control. We felt that way going against Seattle and I think we did a great job so we're just trying to keep the momentum going."

Or, in the case of the Browns rushing attack, trying to get the momentum going again.

Wyatt Teller absent, Joel Bitonio back for Browns practice

The Browns offensive line once again was missing multiple players on Thursday, with right guard Wyatt Teller (calf), right tackle Jack Conklin (foot/rest) and potential starting center Hjalte Froholdt (illness) all listed as having not practiced on the official injury report. Left guard Joel Bitonio, though, was back after missing Wednesday due to illness and rest.

Cornerback Greg Newsome II (concussion) was the only other listed as having not practiced. Tight end David Njoku (ankle) and safety D'Anthony Bell (concussion) were limited after having not practiced on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay's injury report listed four players as having not practiced: quarterback Tom Brady (rest), nose tackle Vita Vea (foot) and receivers Russell Gage Jr. (hamstring) and Julio Jones (rest). Gage and Vea both missed Wednesday as well.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns look to restart run game against Buccaneers