The Cleveland Browns have a seasonal record of 4-3 as they head into a game against the 3-3 Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 31. Obviously, this isn’t the season Browns fans expected with Baker Mayfield playing subpar with a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and with Odell Beckham Jr. having another year lacking productivity and many other injuries to core players.

The offense has been off to a slower than expected start, but still are ranked the seventh best offense, and they are really strong with the run, first in rushing yards led by Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and second in rush touchdowns. The pass game has been mediocre, with Baker in 22 for passing yards and 11 in pass touchdowns. Although the pass game numbers look bad, it is expected with Cleveland’s rush heavy offense.

The passing offense has been struggling and not putting up their expected numbers. The problem with Odell Beckham Jr.’s lack of production is not Baker Mayfield. Odell has a target rate per route run of 25%, which is higher than Justin Jefferson, Keenan Allen, Ceedee Lamb and Ja’Marr Chase, who are all putting up way more receptions and receiving yards than Odell and scoring more TD’s than Odell with much cheaper contracts.

The defense is down from last year ranked as the 24 overall defense when last year they finished in 18, the Browns are giving up 23.3 points per game by not living up to the expectations they were given. But, they have shown flashes of a successful defense with an impressive win against the Bears, where they allowed 46 total yards and six total first downs.

Although the defense has not looked good on paper, Myles Garrett has been playing a great season with nine and a half sacks through seven games. Rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has surprised many fans by being the highest graded defensive rookie by “Pro Football Focus” before getting put on the injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. One cannot forget about Jadeveon Clowney, who had zero sacks last year and currently has three and a half sacks. Although those stars are exceeding expectations, this is not true for the rest of the defense. Grant Delpit and John Johnson have both been massive let downs for the Brown’s defense, as both safeties are hurting the pass defense and are both receiving bad grades by “Pro Football Focus.”

On top of the defensive players playing poorly, the defensive coordinator, Joe Woods, is partially to blame for the defensive failures as Woods’ play calling has been awful– he has not been using his new acquisitions correctly and putting in schemes that do not work for these players.

Many teams have unfortunately dealt with injuries this season, especially the Browns. The offense has missed out on Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, Donnovan Peoples-Jones, Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin for at least one game. Andon defense Jadaveon Clowney, Denzel Ward, Anthony Walker and Jeramiah Owusu-Koramoah have also missed game time.

Although they have been underperforming so far this season, do not give up hope just yet as the last time the Browns were in the AFC championship, they started off 3-3, and the season is far from over. The Browns have some wiggle room to turn around their season and get in the playoffs, the schedule does not get much easier, due to the fact the browns are in the AFC North, but I can see them losing only a couple more games and winning most due to the fact many players are coming back from injuries.