49ers’ 5 keys to winning at Cleveland for first time since 1984

CLEVELAND The NFL s two franchises with arguably the majority contrasting quarterback lineage clash Sunday in a rare meeting on the shores of Lake Erie In this rendition of the ers - vs the host Browns - the QB pairings are Brock Purdy vs Shedeur Sanders Spoiler alert the quarterbacks likely won t dictate the outcome amid inclement weather rain snow -mph wind temps in the s yikes Sanders is looking to win his first home start having just become the first Browns rookie quarterback in the past tries to win a starting debut Cleveland beat the host Las Vegas Raiders - last Sunday Purdy is looking to become the ers first winning quarterback in Cleveland since Joe Montana in as part of their best Super Bowl-winning organization in franchise history Since that - mastery current Pro Football Hall of Fame seniors finalist Roger Craig ran for two touchdowns the ers have gone - in Cleveland The quarterback matchups Sept Steve Young ers vs Bernie Kosar Browns Number - Dec Chris Weinke vs Derek Anderson - Dec Blaine Gabbert vs Johnny Manziel - Oct Purdy vs P J Walker - To avoid a fifth straight loss in Cleveland here are the ers five keys RUN BETTER Coach Kyle Shanahan gave a fabulously sarcastic response Friday when a reporter inquired for the ers weatherproof match plan Can t give you our secrets Shanahan mentioned before quipping but we re going to air it out throwing it every play The harder it rains the more we re going to throw Folks they re going to run And that won t shock Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz who is - against a Shanahan-called offense We re run-blocking our best of the year so far right tackle Colton McKivitz explained Shanahan reinforced that in Friday s meeting with his offense before flying to Cleveland Everyone has bought in now and everyone sees the value in blocking and straining as hard as we can McKivitz added November and December are where your season is made so I m glad we re all coming together right now It s going to be raining and snowing typical Cleveland but if we need to throw the ball we can do that too Prior to yielding just rushing yards last encounter to the woeful Raiders the Browns three previous games saw them allow an average of rushing yards and carries per encounter to the Patriots the Jets and the Ravens The ers are averaging only rushing yards per match their lowest mark since ypg But that average jumps to rushing yards in their four wins since Oct against Atlanta BALL PREVENTION This truly is the No factor in any encounter and the ers are fresh off a challenge with serious ball-security issues Of class there were Purdy s three interceptions thrown before halftime and he has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of this season Inclement conditions will fuel concerns about Purdy s past weather games In that losing visit to Cleveland he was just -of- for yards but don t overlook him finishing -of- to set up a last-seconds field goal which Jake Moody missed from yards Sidebar Matt Gay will be the ers kicker this championship If it s certain kind of rain or if the ball s wet I mean it does change the mindset of taking care of the ball Purdy declared But at the same time you do have to drop back you ve got to throw it on time And if it s not there in time let s be smart with the ball Christian McCaffrey hasn t lost the ball amid a NFL-high touches this season but he fumbled last encounter at the ers -yard line and McKivitz recovered McCaffrey also didn t lose a fumble in Week against Jacksonville The ers defense after one interception through games has a pair in each of the past two games BEWARE OF GARRETT Browns defensive end Myles Garrett obviously poses the biggest threat to the ers possessions He leads the NFL with sacks and he s forced three fumbles Obviously I think he s the best in the league at what he does and you have to have a competition plan ready for him and more than anything understand I can t be holding onto the ball too long explained Purdy whose blindside will be protected by three-time All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams While Williams expects Garrett on his side of the snaps McKivitz has done his homework for facing Garrett He has speed length and good bend to turn the corner McKivitz revealed He s putting on a show so far this year RATTLE SANDERS Sanders emerged from last Sunday s starting debut in Vegas with a message A lot of people wished to see me fail and it ain t going to happen It ain t going to happen People saw Sanders infamously slide in the draft to a fifth-round flier by the Browns and he opened camp as a fourth-string option The ers are wary of the play-making ability and resiliency he revealed at Colorado He s mobile he s got a big arm tremendous confidence ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh noted You anticipate someone like him who s got that confidence who has that skill set he s just going to get better and better every week Sanders father Deion won NFL Defensive Athlete of the Year honors with the ers group that won the Super Bowl and he also won over a teenage fan in Kyle Shanahan who s in his ninth year as the ers coach and proudly admits he wore a Deion Sanders jersey daily during that playoff run It is weird just because he was my hero growing up Shanahan declared of this matchup THE OTHER ROOKIE Sanders isn t the Browns rookie that is majority concerning Rather it s running back Quinshon Judkins a -foot- -pound second-rounder out of Ohio State Of his seven rushing touchdowns six have come in the Browns three wins including two scores last Sunday at the Raiders and three against the Miami Dolphins Related Articles Kurtenbach ers can exploit Shedeur Sanders weaknesses but they can t overlook the rest of the Browns How to watch ers vs Browns on Sunday ers defense has penchant for red zone takeaways McCaffrey resumes practicing ers Kyle Juszczyk returns to Ohio roots on cusp of another milestone ers Brock Purdy don t downplay Browns sack artist Myles Garrett After debuting in Week he s rushed for yards with an average of yards per carry That s not bonkers but he s on the st-ranked offense that generates yards overall per tournament The ers will be without arguably the best run-stopping defensive end they had left as Sam Okuayinonu ankle is sidelined with earlier casualties Nick Bosa Mykel Williams and Yetur Gross-Matos Linebacker Curtis Robinson requirements better productivity than last Sunday s starting debut when he had three tackles and two missed tackles