NFL
Who plays on Thursday Night Football? NFL | Week 7
The battered Cleveland Browns host the Denver Broncos on Thursday night to start Week 7. Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are out for Cleveland.
It has been a rough few weeks for the Denver Broncos or the Cleveland Browns, but this Thursday both teams will have a chance to course correct on Thursday Night as they prepare for battle from FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
October blues for Broncos
Wake the Broncos up when October ends, or wake them up after this losing skin is snapped. The tenth month of the year has not treated the boys from the Mile High City kindly.
Denver had sky high expectations after a 3-0 start to the Teddy Bridgewater era. The Broncos were beneficiaries of a cake walk of a schedule as they racked up wins over the Giants, Jaguars and Jets.
The defense was allowing just 12 points a game, and Bridgewater was averaging 275 yards a game while throwing 4 touchdowns and no interceptions in the three wins to open the season.
From 3-0 to 3-3 in the Mile High City
Since the start of the month, Denver has plummeted into a three game losing streak and Broncos fans have gone from euphoria to despair as their team are back to .500 on the season.
The quality of competition has undoubtedly raised over the course of the last three games. They were dealt their first loss of the season at home against the Ravens in a game which Teddy Bridgewater was forced to leave with a concussion. He returned the next week, but to no avail as the Steelers topped the Broncos in Pittsburgh.
Last week the Raiders got all over the Broncos in an AFC West matchup. Las Vegas were up 31-10 in the third, after intercepting Bridgewater three times. A couple Broncos touchdowns in the fourth came as little consolation and Denver dropped their third straight.
Browns injuries continue to pile up
The Browns have been decimated by injuries lately, especially on the offensive end. They went into last Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals with Nick Chubb sidelined due to a calf injury, and lost Kareem Hunt in the second half of that game to the same injury as Chubb.
Baker Mayfield had a terrible fall in which he dislocated his after being sacked in the third quarter of las game. He stayed on the ground for a while before going to the blue tent and having his shoulder put back into place. He came back to action briefly, but couldn’t mount the comeback over the undefeated Cardinals.
Keenum will start for Browns on Thursday
Mayfield said this week that he will play on Thursday, despite the bummed shoulder, but the Browns Twitter feed announced that Case Keenum will be starting under center for the primetime matchup.
Odell Beckham Jr. is questionable for the game against the Broncos, and both Browns running backs Chubb and Hunt will miss Week 7 which will make Keenum’s job even more difficult in his first start of the season.
The Broncos quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater is battling a quad and foot injury but is expected to play against the Browns this week.
Kick-off from FirstEnergy Stadium is set for Thursday night at 8:20 p.m. ET.