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Daily Dawg Chow: Browns news (12/8/18)

More of the latest Browns news and notes from around the web in today’s dose of the Saturday Dawg Chow.

NFL: Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Browns:

NFL:

  • Running the football still works! (NFL.com) - If you’re a devoted sportstalk radio listener, you’ve become quite familiar with the following proclamation in recent years: The NFL is a passing league. I certainly can’t squash that notion -- the aerial evolution of this league is undeniable -- but I’m here to tell you that making a concerted effort to run the football is still the best way to consistently win games.
  • Inside the NFL’s scoring explosion (ESPN) - Through the first 13 weeks of the 2018 campaign, the NFL is averaging more points (47.8), yards (718.4) and passing touchdowns (3.5) per game than at any similar point in its history. Expected points added (EPA) -- a measure of each play’s change in net point advantage for the offense, based on down, distance and yard line at each snap -- has increased nearly 1,200 points from 2017, a massive jump. So how did it happen, and why now?
  • Packers hope to avoid charade over final four weeks (PFT) - The Packers absorbed a surprising amount of criticism for firing coach Mike McCarthy with four games left in the season. But NFL teams firing coaches with games remaining in the season is hardly uncommon; nearly every year, one or more teams part ways with a coach before the final game is played.
  • Sammy Watkins likely out until playoffs (NFL.com) - The Kansas City Chiefs’ signing of wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin brings some clarity now. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who has missed the past two games with a foot injury, is out for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. He was officially listed as doubtful. Rapoport added Watkins isn’t ready to return and rest is the best option.