Cleveland Browns vs. Tennessee Titans: What Are Experts Saying About Cleveland?

The Cleveland Browns (1-2) come out of their bye week and head into Tennessee to battle the Titans (1-3).

Tennessee has lost its last three matchups after winning the season opener.

The Titans offense is underwhelming at best, particularly at quarterback where the combination of Jake Locker and Charlie Whitehurst hardly strikes fear into the hearts of opponents. Tennessee's passing game is ranked 29th in the league, and the ground attack isn't much better.

An aging Shonn Greene leads the backfield with unproven rookie Bishop Sankey and veteran Dexter McCluster behind him. Much of the running back production has come in garbage time when the game was already decided.

However, Cleveland is in no position to overlook any team as it tries to rebound strong after the disappointing home loss to Baltimore in Week 3.

Let's see what a variety of experts and analysts are saying about the Browns leading into Sunday.

Tony Grossi, ESPN Cleveland: Browns Are Ready for a String of Wins

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ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi is optimistic about the Browns' next stretch of games coming off the bye week, despite the team having a 1-2 record:

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The offense is much better than anyone expected. The defense and special teams -- not. But it’s the nature of the NFL nowadays. If you can score, you have hope.

The Browns have proved they can score and they’ve done it with receiver Josh Gordon out for all three games, running back Ben Tate out for 2 ½, and tight end Jordan Cameron out for 1 ½. Like last season, quarterback Brian Hoyer has injected confidence in the locker room and outside of it.

The other source of optimism is the immediate schedule: At Tennessee (1-3), home v. Pittsburgh (2-2), at Jacksonville (0-4), home v. Oakland (0-4), home v. Tampa Bay (1-3).

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Grossi's prediction that Brian Hoyer leads a fourth-quarter comeback in enemy territory is an interesting one.

The Browns have lost their past seven road games. When did they last win away from Cleveland? It was Week 3 of the 2013 season in Minnesota and Hoyer's first start in an orange helmet.

He overcame three interceptions to march down the field and score the game-winning touchdown. The club was energized and full of hope. That all went down the tubes of course when No. 6 tore his ACL two weeks later against Buffalo.

Hoyer's road comeback in the 2014 season opener fell short versus Pittsburgh, but he did produce a "W" off of a late score the following Sunday at home. A Browns victory would put them back to .500 and very much alive in the AFC North. Can Hoyer play hero once again?

Marty Gitlin, CBS Sports: Barkevious Mingo Not Embracing Pass Coverage

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Barkevious Mingo

Big things are expected out of a top-10 draft pick. So far this season Cleveland's sixth overall selection from 2013, Barkevious Mingo, has not shown up much on the stat sheet.

Mingo has been nursing a shoulder injury and is being asked to play a different role on defense then he's used to. CBS Sports' Marty Gitlin gives some insight:

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Browns second-year outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo has been used mostly in coverage this season. He doesn't particularly like it.

'(Rushing the passer) is what got me here,' he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. '(Dropping back) is a complete turnaround.'

Mingo was a disappointment as a pass rusher after a strong start his rookie season.

Browns linebackers struggled in coverage last season, which is why his speed and quickness has been utilized with decent success in that area this year. He has no sacks, however, in the two games in which he has been healthy.

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Cleveland's new defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil has proclaimed on several occasions how much he wanted the Buffalo Bills to draft Mingo when he and Mike Pettine were there last year.

The 6'4" linebacker had some knocks on him coming out of college that have proved relevant at the pro level. He's thin, not overly powerful and too inexperienced as an OLB, as he played defensive end in school.

The upsides to No. 51 are his incredible raw athleticism and elite level speed on the pass rush. The former LSU star is still clearly a work in progress no matter what his assignments are.

Mingo's comfort level may be getting after the quarterback, but he stalled as a rookie after gathering 2.5 sacks early on and finishing the year with only five in 2013.

He may be coming along as a pass-coverage linebacker; however, the completely missed assignment in the loss to Baltimore that allowed Kyle Juszczyk to walk in uncontested for a touchdown is proof that he still has a long way to go.

If the Browns coaching staff believes that Mingo is more valuable dropping back, then they need to hurry up that learning process and make sure his attitude becomes more positive to embrace it.

Mary Kay Cabot, the Plain Dealer: Mike Pettine Warns Browns to Ignore 4-16 Mark

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The Browns are the last team that should look past an opponent or assume victories based on what looks like an easy schedule on paper.

Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer breaks down Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine's thoughts on this:

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'We can't think about our schedule or look at our next opponent beyond Tennessee,' he said. 'That's just not how we operate. I think it's a dangerous thing. Hey, I talked about being confident at 1-2, but it's so hard to win in this league. There's so much talent parity-wise that your mindset to me is equally important or more important than how you are physically.'

Pettine cited the upsets around the league over the weekend, including Tampa Bay's 27-24 victory over the Steelers in Pittsburgh and the Giants' 45-14 rout of the Redskins on Thursday night.

'Everybody had written that game off for Tampa that they had no chance,' said Pettine. 'Everybody had written off the Giants and look what they did. This is a 'you are in the moment' or 'what have you done for me lately' or any cliche you want to use. We can't afford to look ahead. We've got to learn how to win on the road.'

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As mentioned in an earlier slide, the Browns last road "W" came in Week 3 of 2013 in Brian Hoyer's first start. So it's been a while.

Tennessee has had unreliable and at times downright awful quarterback play. Jacksonville's offensive line is one of the worst in the league, and the receiving corps is riddled with injuries. The Raiders fired their coach, have next to no offensive weapons and possess a Swiss cheese defense.

It's easy to see how fans in Cleveland would get excited about that trio of upcoming adversaries.

However, the actual Browns players need to see those contests as a chance to work as hard as possible to build confidence and work out the kinks on both sides of the ball.

This club hasn't earned the right to take any matchup for granted. How to win away from home and close out fourth-quarter leads are two of the many lessons that can be learned during this "soft" portion of the schedule.

Barry McBride, Fox Sports Ohio: Gordon Speaks on NFL Drug Policy and Suspension

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Josh Gordon

Cleveland's Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon will get to play in 2014, which was far from a given and looked unlikely after the NFL banned him for at least one year.

The new drug policy agreement between the league and NFLPA gave the man they call "Flash" another chance, and his suspension was dropped to 10 games.

It hasn't been easy for Gordon, as Barry McBride of Fox Sports Ohio explains (including quotes from ESPN The Magazine):

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Among other things, Gordon's recent DUI put him into a situation where checked himself a fancy rehab center in California. There, he was assigned a horse to feed and encouraged to 'be nice' to the animal.

'It's definitely some hippie ****,' Gordon told the magazine.

Beyond that, though, Gordon has been put through a repetitive program of tests that he refers to as 'definitely harassing for sure.' Gordon estimates that he has taken about 180 tests over the last two years, each test representing a multiple-hour commitment and a day interrupted by the NFL's testing program.

Gordon's test earlier this year, which put him on the recently-reduced suspension, was just barely over the league's then-threshold of 15. And he was lower than that on a second test.

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The last paragraph is especially important for Gordon. No not the horse part, but where Flash is able to be around his teammates again.

It looked like No. 12 was heading down a similar path to that of another troubled stud receiver, Justin Blackmon.

A multiple-time NFL drug policy offender, Blackmon was indefinitely suspended in 2013. Jacksonville's 2012 first-round pick was not allowed at the Jaguars facility or around the club in any capacity. Without structure, some individuals crumble.

Blackmon was arrested for a third time in July of this year on possession of marijuana, which obviously threw any chance of reinstatement for this current season out the window.

The Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com)reported some good news this week for the outcast receiver. He has apparently voluntarily checked himself into a treatment facility to get help. 

Gordon and the Browns caught a huge break that the league's policy was adjusted when it was. It allows him to be in a healthy environment and gives the franchise its top offensive weapon for a portion of this season.

Tom Reed, Cleveland.com: Why Game Against the Titans Is so Important

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We can look ahead at the potentially favorable matchups on the Browns schedule this season that include Jacksonville, Oakland and Tampa Bay, but so much hinges on how Sunday's battle in Tennessee goes down.

Yes, Cleveland's fourth game of 2014 coming out of the bye week is that important.

Tom Reed of Cleveland.com breaks it down nicely:

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The Browns should beat Tennessee, the league's only squad without a first-quarter point. The Titans are as nondescript as tapioca pudding, a club that does nothing particularly well and is led by big-armed, erratic passer Jake Locker, who missed last week's game with a wrist injury. Under respected first-year coach Ken Whisenhunt, the Titans are in the process of simplifying an offense ranked 26th overall and 29th in passing.

(...)

A big part of building respectability is beating teams you're expected to beat. The Browns are relatively healthy, rested and coming off a bye week. What more could they ask for heading into a road game against a 1-3 opponent?

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Titans QB Jake Locker has three touchdowns, four interceptions and a completion percentage of 56.4. If there was ever a chance for this underperforming Browns defense to come alive, it is this Sunday.

Struggling cornerbacks Joe Haden and Justin Gilbert will not have a Super Bowl-winning quarterback to contend with for the first time in 2014. Tennessee also doesn't own any overly threatening receiving weapons. 

The leading receiver is Delanie Walker. He's a 30-year-old, 6'0" tight end whose best season came last year when he posted 571 yards and six touchdowns. He's hardly a household name.

For Haden and Gilbert, the Titans can be a reboot to a disappointing first three games. They can build up confidence and, in Gilbert's case, more valuable experience.

Barkevious Mingo can be thrown into that same group of Browns players who need some positives when it comes to pass coverage. As mentioned in an earlier slide, Mingo didn't seem overly pleased in having to drop back instead of rushing the passer.

Perhaps an underwhelming set of Tennessee targets will give him some success in coverage and help progress that skill set.

From an overall team perspective, grabbing Cleveland's first road victory in over a calendar year would be a tremendous building block at all levels. The table is set for the Browns; now it's up to them to clear it.

Andy McNamara is an international sports broadcaster and journalist.

Follow Andy on Twitter @AndyMc81