Rams Browns Preview or; Was Marilyn Monroe a Browns Fan?

For the second week in a row, your Cleveland Browns will be featured in a primetime tilt.  This time on Sunday, from a place called FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, against superbowl losers, the Los Angeles Rams.  That sounds like I am taking a shot at LA, which I am, but it is warranted when you only score 3 points in the superbowl. Perhaps you had forgotten about superbowl 53, widely regarded as the most unwatchable event on TV since the series finale of Lost, the 2016 election returns, and most of Friends.  The halftime score was 3-0, and by then I imagine that a lot of fans had exited that obnoxious space ship stadium in Atlanta. Even going to that place where they put that gross chili on a hot dog while shouting at you would have been a better option.  That would have been more entertaining than watching the 27 yards of offense that the Rams put up by halftime.  But at least they got to watch Maroon 5 perform the halftime show.

Just like last week, I am faced with the difficult decision to wake up at 2:30 AM to watch the game live, or watch it on delay the next morning before work.  (I will certainly choose the latter) Eggs, coffee, and Browns football early in the morning remind me of watching football at the Kailua Pub on the windward side of Oahu.  I wore my Browns jersey faithfully for 8 years to the 7 AM kickoffs for breakfast and NFL.  I endured lots of ridicule, particularly from Eagles fans, and at times I got a lot of sympathy for any number of brutal last minute losses.  There was also the famous near fistfight when defending my wife from a drunken Raiders fan. All of these things happened amidst delicious scrambled eggs, bacon, and rice. What a treat to watch NFL until 10:00 AM, then head to the beach to ruminate on the latest Cleveland Browns fiasco.

In any case, the game tonight has some interesting stories to it.  Let's fire up the Wayback machine one more time, this time to December 16, 1945. The football team from Washington D.C. was in town to take on The Cleveland Rams in the 1945 NFL championship game.  It was bitter cold, -8 ˚F (-22 ˚C) and only 32,178 people braved the conditions and watched Rams QB Bob Waterfield outduel Slingin' Sammy Baugh in a barn burner, 15-14.  Bob Waterfield was married to Hollywood starlet Jane Russell, and Sammy Baugh was as big a star as there was at the time in sports making this championship game an event to remember. However, one month after winning a championship, team owner and grocery store magnate Dan Reeves announced the team would move to Los Angeles. So Art Modell isn't the original villain in Cleveland after all, and perhaps even less egregious than Reeves. That move did create the space for Paul Brown to bring in the Cleveland Browns, who promptly went to five straight championship games (1950-1955) winning three of them. No wonder there are so many hard core Browns fans in their 80's who grew up with those fantastic teams.

Fast forward to 2019. The Rams opened up by beating (the anaemic) Carolina Panthers 30-27 then beat the Saints 27-9, but Brees left the game in the first quarter with a hand injury. I am not sure there's a lot to be gleaned from those wins; week one was against 60% of Cam Newton's shoulder (who seemed more concerned with his press conference attire than the game) and week two was against a team that was totally lost without their leader. Todd Gurley has been good (30 carries for 160 yards) and they have three good receivers; Cooper Kupp, Brandin Cooks, and Robert Woods. They generally throw more than they rush so I think the Cleveland secondary could have their hands full. However, I think the biggest advantage is the defensive line, and the Browns should be harassing Jared Goff all night long. I'm concerned about the Browns offense in this game, the Rams defense is stout for sure, and I am not sure the Browns really know what they want to be offensively. Mayfield has been erratic at times, and teams seem able to disguise their coverages at the line of scrimmage, which forces Mayfield to change the play late in the play clock. I think I'd prefer if the Browns identify their bread & butter, and just keep grinding. I'm disappointed that Chubb doesn't seem to have been more impactful so far, but perhaps this week the offense and Chubb can start hitting their stride a bit more. Tonight is a big opportunity for Kitchens, if we get a win against the NFC champs coached by wonder-boy Sean McVay, that gets a lot of momentum started as we go into this stretch of games. If you read my season preview, I picked the Browns to go 8-8, which suggests that I cannot pick the Browns to win all 16 weeks. So sadly, when I try to capture a more objective perspective I have an unsettling feeling that points to the Rams coming out on top tonight. I hope I am wrong, maybe Cleveland comes out like wildfire at home tonight, but I think it is more likely that they struggle to put up points. So I see the Rams winning something like 24-20. You never know, a pick six or special teams TD from the Browns could make the difference in a tight game, as could the offense shaking off their early malaise. Enjoy all of this national attention heaped upon the Browns, it's been a long time since we were anything except the butt of jokes. I hope on Monday I am writing about how far off my week 3 prediction was.

Go Browns.