But hey, how about that blocked punt?

A question I am often asked by my students is "Can I just write bullet points instead of sentences?"  Normally, I scoff at such a request, and I point out that it doesn't take a whole lot of work to convert 4 or 5 bullet points into a nice paragraph.  However, spending time crafting sentences about the lowlights of the Browns game may do irreparable damage to my brain.  The giant bag of garbage delivered by the Browns yesterday can be attributed in large part to the following:

• turnovers on three straight plays in the first quarter, that's impressive even for the Browns
• thirteen penalties in the game
• an offensive line that had five penalties and gave up five sacks
• two terrible challenges that cost timeouts

So that's it.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Browns sabotaged themselves yesterday.  They went into Gillette Stadium and promptly gifted 17 points to the most successful team in recent history.  Several thousand Patriot fans were probably still in the clam chowder lines when Dont'a Hightower ran in Chubb's fumble for a touchdown.  All of my excitement and anticipation burst like a blister in the sun as I stared in horror at the TV.    

Let's take a closer look at the events of the first quarter.  On their first possession, the Browns went three and out, then held the Pats to a field goal. Next possession, one pass play to OBJ, then Chubb fumbles and Pats run it in for a touchdown.  The next possession Chubb rumbles for 44 yards, then fumbles again, but the Browns force a punt.  On the first play of the next possession, Baker throws a pick in the shadow of his own goalpost, and the Pats promptly score another touchdown.  So if you're keeping track at home, the Browns ran a total of 8 plays, and were down 17-0.  I cannot imagine a worse start to a game, short of some sort of horrific natural disaster. 

At this point the Cleveland Browns apologists would point out that for the rest of the game, the Browns outscored the Patriots 13-10.  Great.  Super awesome to have scored 13 points in the remaining 46 minutes.  For me, it's not good enough to say "Hey, we seemingly can be competitive at times in games against good teams."  This is not a shot at the astute Browns analyst @bgsu3, I truly wish I had 10% of his optimism, and also patience is not my strong suit.  Or is it?  I've been basically patient since 1999; I've endured 30 different quarterbacks, 11 different head coaches, countless bad draft picks, and a winless season.  Meanwhile, Patriot fans have enjoyed one coach, the greatest QB of all time, former Golden Flash and children's author Julian Edelman, and nine superbowl appearances.  (I can't imagine rooting for a team with that amount of success, although Liverpool is headed in that direction.)  Anyway, my larger point is that I'm ready for more wins, not more of just being competitive.  In the 20 seasons while we have languished at the bottom of the league, there have been more than a couple of stories of franchises going from rags to riches.  (It irritates me to no end that the Carolina Panthers have been to the superbowl twice, both times just a few seasons removed for 1 or 2 win seasons)  So coming into 2019 (despite my 8-8 prediction) I anticipated a good offense at the very least, and that the Browns would be mostly entertaining.  That's not been the case, outside of the Ravens game.

Once again, Freddie Kitchens was totally underwhelming in the postgame press conference.  It's getting repetitive when every week he goes on his rants about how penalties and turnovers lose games, that these guys are still not a cohesive team, and that the only thing he's thinking about now is the Denver game.  For reasons unknown to me, he cannot seem to get the attention of this team.  Clearly they spent the off season reading about themselves, and somehow got the idea they could just show up and be competitive in games.  Well, the NFL doesn't really work that way, and now this team has slipped to 2-5, and is on the precipice of falling much further.  Freddie did say one relevant thing yesterday, that there are 5 divisional games remaining, so there is a (mathematical) opportunity to win the division.  However, this Browns team appears to be in total disarray heading into a tricky game at Denver next week.  The Broncos offense is barely averaging 14 points a game, but they have a top 10 defense, and the Browns have historically struggled in Denver.  I have no idea right now what to expect next week, but if Freddie doesn't change the message or the delivery this week at practice, the Browns will be exactly halfway through another lost season.

Go Browns.

**Try as I might, I could not figure how to work in a reference to The Great Molasses Flood in Boston's North End in 1919.  It's far too tragic to be glib about, but worth reading about it you have an extra minute.  Possible Matt Damon and Ben Affleck film in the works? 

"So you're sayin' there's a chance"

I really expected that writing a preview of Browns-Patriots would be easy. Surely I could come up with lots of snarky insults for all things New England including (but not limited to) fall foliage, lobster rolls, the terrible Boston accents in The Departed, and everything Red Sox related. (I will probably never recover from the Indians blowing a 3-1 series lead in the 2007 ALCS. Truly the stuff of baseball nightmares.) I could even make fun of Plymouth Rock, which looks like when those Brady Bunch kids tried to glue that vase back together (Mom always said don't play ball in the house.) But really, it's hard to truly despise the New England Patriots. I don't think they are a lightning rod like the Yankees, Manchester United, or Michigan football. The Patriots just really aren't that hateable, partly because they're a pretty generic team, mostly devoid of personality, especially now that Gronk has retired. It's actually crazy to me that Tom Brady is without question the G.O.A.T. when it comes to quarterbacks, but the dude has zero panache. He has his strange diet that I think has to do with drinking a liter of parsnip oil every day, and I think he briefly was into Ugg boots. I also think their fan base is pretty bland as well, at least Philly has their criminally insane fan base, and the Raiders have whatever this is. But Patriots fans are just..."meh" (as the kids say) Maybe my indifference to the Patriots is because I understand there are no football arguments to be won with a Pats fan. I refuse to google any stats about the Patriots, but I'm pretty sure that Tom Brady has only missed the playoffs 2-3 times since becoming a starter almost 20 years ago, and I know he's 6-3 in the Superbowl (still crazy he was outdueled bye aw-shucks Eli Manning twice). It's bananas that Brady and Belichick have been the only constants and a million other players have come and gone, and all they do is keep winning. I know lots of Browns fans that have a lot of animosity towards Bill Belichick for cutting Bernie Kosar a hundred years ago, but the hard truth it that we would live in a different sports world if Belichick had logged 25 years as a head coach in Cleveland.

Anyway, on to matters at hand for the Cleveland Browns. Everybody is hoping that the bye week allowed every person in the organization to sort of gather themselves, and recharge a bit.  Freddie makes it sound like they've had great practices this week, and they better have because a rather daunting trip to New England looms in our near future.  Everything seems to be aligning against Cleveland this weekend. The Patriots are 7-0, allowing 6.9 points per game (not a typo), and scoring 31.9 points per game.  I'm not sure I can recall a time when the same team led in both of those categories. However (said aloud in Stephen A. Smith fashion) only one opponent is over .500 (Buffalo, 5-1)  The other 6 teams they beat are collectively 7-31, including the likes of the Jets, Dolphins, and that team in Washington.  I'm not calling the Patriots a schedule fraud, but I can see why it's legitimate to point out that they have played one good team, and struggled to beat the Bills 16-10 in Buffalo.  My point is that yes, the New England Patriots are a very good team, but possibly overrated to an extent because of far inferior competition.  Also, could the Pats be looking ahead to a game in Baltimore next week? Plus they're on a short week, so I think there's a (slim) chance the Browns (with extra rest)  are catching them at an opportune moment. 

All that being said, it's still tough to pick the Browns to come out a winner on Sunday.  The only thing really going in their favor is the absolute necessity of winning this game.  I truly hope the mindset of this Browns team has shifted to a one week at a time mentality. Every coach and every player spouts that phrase almost automatically but I would wager that the Browns came into this season thinking about 9-7 or 10-6, clearly they weren't thinking about the Tennessee Titans in week one.  If this group of guys can stay in the moment Sunday, maybe take Freddie's words to heart (Do your job) then they can be competitive.  We'll know a lot after the first 5 minutes.  I'm assuming if Cleveland wins the toss, they'll take the ball and try to get points on the board immediately.  Otherwise, it could be a demoralizing 10 minute touchdown drive like the Pats did Monday on the first possession of the game.  Not matter the problems and failures that have happened this season, they still have bona fide talent, and are still a tricky offense to defend against.  I hope we see a lot of Chubb right away, and I hope OBJ gets a lot of looks as well. Both of those guys are a threat to score every single time they touch the ball.  The Browns defense is going to have to find a way to harass Brady, against the Jets he had time to tie his shoes and make a ham sandwich before completing passes. I think those things could happen, and I hope that a sense of urgency will permeate that locker room and the Browns get into a one play at a time mentality.

So I'm going way, way out on a limb.  I think the Browns will be able to keep it close most of the way, and get a lucky play towards the end to win this game.  It might be special teams, a big turnover, or something along those lines. I think the heavens will align, Freddie Kitchens will channel his inner Vince Lombardi, and the Browns are going to bring the ruckus to Foxborough tomorrow. I like the Browns to win this game 24-20, get to 3-4 on the season and along the way relaunch 2019 Cleveland Browns Football.

Honorable mention this week is the obituary for David Keith Miller. He sounds like a remarkable guy, and sincerely I offer sympathies to his family. Read the first few sentences and I think you'll see why this caught my eye. (Thanks @Reflog_18 for the tweet)

Go Browns.

Bye Week Shenanigans, and a look forward

I wonder what it was like in Berea this week.  I mean, besides the sports bars being packed by the throngs of people watching the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets take down the Muskingum Muskies.  (Keagan Armitage tore apart the Muskies to the tune of 42-28, throwing for 282 yards and 4 TD's. That's great and all, but clearly the class of the OHA are the Purple Raiders of Mount Union.  They've won their past three games by a combined total of 187-6.) Besides that, I imagine the tension was palpable in the hallways at Cleveland Browns headquarters, and all of the conversation at the The Lazy Beehive was centered around the questions we are all mulling over these days.  Is Kitchens the problem? What's wrong with Baker? Why can't OBJ just wear a regular uniform?  Are there people that really believe Sky-Way burgers are better than Swenson's?

It's an NFL tradition for the general manager to hold a full-on press conference during the bye week.  John Dorsey did just that, and here is a great piece from Mary Kay Cabot with some highlights.  To nobody’s surprise, he didn't mince words in expressing his support and belief in Kitchens and Mayfield. Terry Pluto hit it right on the head, “They are all together in Cleveland. Dorsey is the glue. Mayfield was his idea. Kitchens was his idea."  Dorsey can't afford to waver on either of those guys, his success as a GM depends directly upon their success.  I read a lot about the Browns, and lots of comments on stories and there seems to be two distinct camps of Browns fans.  One group wants to fire Freddie immediately, and the other preaches patience and claims 8-8 would be an incredibly successful year.  I don't subscribe to either viewpoint. Firing Kitchens would not all of the sudden vault this team to 8-2 the rest of the way. I actually think it's pretty rare that firing a head coach has immediate benefit in terms of wins and losses. (Yes, I realize the 2018 Browns did just that) However, I feel like the team is precarious right now, and that would upset the apple cart too much.  I also don't think that 8-8 is successful enough, and would only be so if there were some signature wins along the way like beating New England next week, beating Pittsburgh twice, that sort of thing. Anyway you cut it, it's nonsense to talk about firing Freddie no matter what happens the rest of the way.

Speaking of upcoming games, loads of Browns fans are making the (false) claim that the schedule is softer after the New England game next week.  I totally, 100% disagree. When your team is towards the bottom in most major statistical categories on both sides of the ball, and one of your two wins is against the Jets, and you are 0-3 at home, you're pretty clearly not better than many teams in the NFL.  I'm sure it's true that the remaining teams we play have fewer wins than who we have played so far, but I don't think that matters. And actually, I wonder if other teams are put off by all the hype surrounding the Browns this season. To be fair, they haven't really hyped themselves, it's mostly ESPN that has created this buzz around the team, and the NFL as well by scheduling them in so many primetime games.  I wonder if opposing teams are rankled by all the hype and buzz that has surrounded this team, particularly Baker Mayfield, and perhaps there's a little more intensity that we have to play against each week. Regardless, it's all uphill sledding now, and maybe it's a good thing that the Browns can really only afford to focus on one opponent at a time, and they'll have to play desperate, relentless football to claw their way back to .500 at some point.  It is true that we play the Bengals twice, the Dolphins, Cardinals, Broncos, and a diminished Steeler team twice, so I can see how fans fall into the trap of the "softer" schedule after the Patriots.

It's tough to say what difference the bye week will make for the Browns, and what questions might get answered. Will they have made modifications the playbook? Has the offensive line been reshuffled a bit? Will OBJ go one week without some ridiculousness about what he wears? Will Lebron and Bill Hader get to the bottom of the Swensons-SkyWay debate? These are the burning issues that hopefully be resolved on Sunday.

Go Browns.

Football can be a wily temptress sometimes.  Like many other fans, I relished the 5-2 finish to end the season last year, a stretch that contained an actual three game winning streak.  That hadn't happened since 2014 when local kid Brian Hoyer was slinging the ball for the Browns while being anointed the savior of the franchise.  Times were good back then on the sports landscape. Lebron was back in town, Ohio State was on their way to an eventual national championship, and Brazil had recently been humiliated in the World Cup semifinals 7-1 by Germany on Brazilian soil.  (Truly a wonder to behold, it was 5-0 at half, and the grieving process was in full swing in the stands.  For a nation that is so arrogant about soccer, it was fitting that on the biggest stage they were completely dismantled.  They are still trying to recover from that loss) Back to that Brian Hoyer streak... The team sat at 6-3, people were making playoff plans, buying Hoyer jerseys all over town, and nerds around the world were eagerly anticipating the release of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies".  For the Cleveland Browns, November 7th was as good as it was going to get.  In true Cleveland Browns fashion, they lost six of the last seven games that season, including a 30-0 shutout in Cleveland to the Bengals.  And so the malaise returned, and the Browns granted us four wins out of the next 48 games from 2015-2017.

Anyway, the point is that last season I too was swept up in Baker-Mania after the three game winning streak.  I spent the first months of 2019 feverishly dreaming about what could be possible for the Cleveland Browns. Things were looking good; Myles Garrett was a monster all season, Denzel Ward was shaping up to be a lockdown corner, and Nick Chubb was a just a hair short of being a 1,000 yard rusher.  Then a month before the draft, the bombshell trade happened and OBJ made his way to Cleveland. The offense had played well to finish the season, and with Odell surely we'd be scoring points left and right. All the pieces were seemingly there; receivers that can stretch the field, a stud running back, a good O-line, and more than anything a winning culture was starting to take root up there on the lake.  I was even getting pretty excited that we drafted a player whose real first name is "Greedy".

Fast forward to today.  The Browns and all of this talent sit at 2-4.  It's a common cliche about you are only as good as your record, and I suppose that's generally true.  However, like I wrote last week I think it does matter how you lose.  Terrible blowouts to Tennessee and San Francisco, and then throwing away the Seattle game after roaring out to big lead are as ugly as it gets.  And don't lose sight of the fact that Browns fans haven't seen this team win a game in Cleveland this season. (outside of a thrilling 5-0 defeat of the Eagles in preseason)  So when I take stock of the 2019 Cleveland Browns, there are very few bright spots, and more question marks than anything. This team is in a precarious place right now. Offensive players are openly questioning the play calling, defensive players are probably tired of seemingly always being on the field, and the post game pressers aren't a whole lot of fun.  Talk about a sinking feeling when Baker threw an interception in the end zone with 1:36 remaining in the first half against the Seahawks.  Instead of a 27-12 halftime lead against a good team, the Browns had to swallow hard and try to formulate a second half game plan.  But after a fumble, an interception, and being stuffed on fourth and goal, the Browns are left searching for answers once again.

So is six games enough of a sample size to pass judgement on a team?  Probably not, and John Dorsey would like you to remember that there are 10 games remaining on the schedule.  True enough, but this post is about the six games we've already played, and I see 57 penalties, 11 interceptions, 0-3 at home, and a frustrated team and coaching staff.  As is stands right now, my preseason prediction of 8-8 is looking wildly optimistic. (It's worth nothing that the Browns have only had two seasons at .500 or better since 1999)  As it stands right now, I think Kitchens is on the hook for this deflating start, and so far it looks like the job is too big for Freddie. That's not say he won't eventually be a good head coach in this league, but the start to the 2019 season is inauspicious to say the least.

Tune in for the next post for some analysis about what possibilities might remain this season. 

Go Browns.

Browns-Seahawks Preview

So here we are, Canadian Thanksgiving weekend 2019, and to celebrate the event, I have decided to take the entire staff of 4338 out to celebrate with plum and fig lemonades.  (Staff pictured below)

Thanksgiving doesn't get a lot of run over here in Central Europe; neither the American holiday, or the knock-off version celebrated by Canada.  Despite rigorous searching I couldn't find anywhere in Prague that makes a decent tourtiére.  It did cross my mind to stop by the the Canadian Embassy here in Prague, but it's a weirdly intimidating place.  I did recently see the musical Come From Away, and my take away from the show was that Canadians are incredibly welcoming and goodhearted people.  So probably I could stop by, enjoy some poutine, and some maple infused deserts. 

Enough of my thinly veiled envy of all things Canadian, it's time to talk turkey about the Seahawks and the Browns.  A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how the Ravens game was a 100% must win situation.  Clearly my words rang in the ears of the team as they went to Baltimore, ran up 40 points like it was nothing, and assuaged the fears of Browns fans near and far.  However, it's two weeks later and the Browns find themselves in the same place, except now there's much more hanging in the balance.  It feels like we are a whisker away from being 2-5. (I'm not optimistic that the Browns can defeat the evil genius in New England, even though Cleveland will be coming off a bye) So I think the sense of urgency tonight is going to be sky high in Cleveland tonight.  The last time Seattle came to town, it was a thrill-a-minute game that finished 6-3 in favor of the Seahawks.  Colt McCoy threw for 178 yards, and the leading rusher for Cleveland was Montario Hardesty.  Fortunately, I don't think there are any players from those teams in 2011, so hopefully offense tonight won't look like 1936 football.  

In 2019, the Seahawks do have Russell Wilson, actually let's rephrase that, MVP candidate Russell Wilson. (12 TD, 1400 yds, and no picks) He's an amazing player, end of story.  I'm not sure why he doesn't get more accolades, all he does is win.  There's not another quarterback I would trust more in the fourth quarter than Russell Wilson. (Including TB12, Manning, Montana, Kosar)  He's unflappable, takes care of the ball, and they almost always have a chance to win when he plays.  The same cannot be said of Baker Mayfield right now.  If I look at Baker this year objectively, there's not a lot of bright spots.  He's obviously super talented and a fantastic athlete, but this season is largely forgettable so far.  That's not to say he can't turn things around, Baker is a fierce competitor, hates losing, and is capable of having games where he's electric.  I'm just not sure that can happen tonight, after the debacle last week.  There were fewer practices this week, and a laundry list of things the team needs to fix in the offense.  However, I am confident that he (and the offense) will play better tonight (literally cannot be worse than last week) but I'm not sure it will be enough tonight.

So now it's time to prognosticate.  I occasionally look at betting lines during the week to get a sense of where the public is on a game, and it opened at Browns -2.5 and as of right now it's a pick em game.  For the life of me, I cannot understand why it's not something like Seattle -6.  Their offense is clicking, the Browns are sputtering, and it's not like there's a crazy home field advantage in Cleveland.  Unfortunately, I think Seattle wins this game something like 27-20.  I hope I'm wrong, maybe this team can rally with their backs against the wall, but I'm skeptical.  What I really hope for the most (outside of a blowout) is Cleveland to at least be in the game most of the way.  If it's a one score game in the fourth quarter, at least we're within shouting distance.  There's nothing worse than being down two scores 9 minutes into a game like last week.  (All this talk about point spreads...good thing I'm not a gambler)

Go Browns.

San Francisco Treat? More like San Francisco Cleat. (In our faces)

Here is an actual sentence I  typed in an email Monday afternoon. "I might be foolishly optimistic to think we can score four touchdowns"  I will not dodge it when I have made a horrendous prediction, I will own my mistakes, and try to make sense of where it all went so wrong.  I cannot imagine what that team flight was like coming back from California.  It was probably similar to a trip I had leaving San Francisco when I was carrying along some of these little critters in my intestines.  (If you ever need a compelling argument about why to treat water when backpacking at high altitudes, I'm the the guy to make the case for that.  Yikes.  Double yikes.)  Regardless, that 4 hour flight from SFO to CLE had to be brutal for this team, I'm guessing there were a lot of headphones, eye masks, and silent introspective meditation about the dismantling of the Cleveland Browns at the the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.  The nine readers of last weeks post (sad, crying emoji) saw me pick the Browns to win 31-20, but I crazily thought the Browns could get some first downs, complete some passes, and at least interfere with the 49er offense.  The only thing I can think of that maybe the whole team fell victim to some bad cioppino from Scoma's in Sausalito, as I did several years ago.  (I do not mean to disparage the good name of Scoma's, or shellfish in general, but on that day, something was a little bit off in the kitchen)

So here it is, six days later and I am still mulling over the shit sandwich that was Monday Night Football last week.  (That's pretty strong language for a guy like me, good thing my mom doesn't read my Cleveland Browns blog)  But I can't really put it any other way.  The Browns went to San Francisco, coming off a great win at Baltimore where the offense looked 1000 times better, and they absolutely could not have played much worse.  Terry Pluto referred to the Browns as "underprepared and overwhelmed" but I bet he would secretly agree with my own astute shit sandwich analysis.    Cleveland wasn't ready for any aspect of the game; they gave up 275 yards rushing, three sacks in the first half, and an 83 yard TD run on San Francisco's first play of the game.  Perhaps the most telling stat is that Baker Mayfield had one completion in the second half.  It didn't help that the 49ers seemed to have the ball the entire game. (The Browns ran only 46 plays compared to 71 by San Francisco)  So my five AM wake-up call turned into being down 14-0 by about 5:09.  And actually it could have been worse.  Baker threw a pick right after Breida scored the long TD but 49ers couldn't cash it in, then Baker fumbled 3 minutes later and they missed a field goal, so it stayed 14-0.  

After that, not a thing could get going in the right direction, the Browns were clearly demoralized to the point of no return, and it's pretty clear there's not really a leader who can rally this team when adversity strikes.  That's mostly a shot at Kitchens, who once again didn't really put the offense in a position to be successful.  It looked to me like they tried to add plays during the week, I'm not sure why that would be necessary because they were generally successful against Baltimore.  I'm not sure why Callaway was even on the field.  He look totally confused at times; I think he had at least one false start, looked like he didn't know where to lineup, and of course the pass that was a sure touchdown bounced off both of his hands and his chest for an interception.  He couldn't practice with the team while under suspension, and it showed.  I can see why it might be worth it to have him on the field, he could just run deep routes and try to get the 49ers secondary to shift.  Even more bizarre was OBJ returning a punt down 21-3 late in the game, that made no sense whatsoever, and Freddie's defense of that decision was pretty thin.  Speaking of OBJ, the book is out on Baker and his tendency to roll right when under pressure, so I am not clear why OBJ lines up on the left so often.  What I am clear about is that he has 4 catches in the last 2 weeks, and has been far from impactful for the Cleveland Browns this season.

Final comment on the game: I am not sure how I would have liked Freddie to look in the post game presser, but he looked shell-shocked, with a dazed sort of look in his eye.  Some of his responses to questions just sort of tailed off into Alabama mumbling, without really offering much insight or even opinion about the game.  Mumbling is okay if you are Bill Belichick, but it's not okay not if you've got two losses by more points than Hue Jackson ever lost by.  (That's poor sentence construction, but you get the idea)

So here we are, 2-3 with a reasonable chance at getting to 3-3 at home against Seattle tonight.  On one hand, 3-3 could be construed as mildly successful at this point in the season. (Let's not forget the black hole of 2015-2017 where we won a total of 4 games out of 48)  However, my opinion is that the manner in which you lose is relevant, sometimes I don't buy into a loss is just one game, they all count the same, and so forth.  The Browns have now been absolutely taken apart twice, but maybe we can let week one slide a little.  In those losses we looked completely lost, Baker looks to be making binary reads, then running for his life when neither option is good.  (Thanks Doug Farrar for that expression) The Browns are 29th in offensive DVOA above Miami (trying to intentionally lose), the team in Washington D.C. (recently fired a coach), and the Jets. (who are the Jets)  DVOA is a pretty deep dive into football statistics, way beyond the linear algebra and differential equations I muddled at university.  But really, the take away is that the offense is among the very worst teams in the NFL, a far cry from how they were #1 in DVOA during the second half of 2018.  We have a talented defense that can control aspects of a game, but the offense has got to score 20+ points to even give use a chance in today's NFL.  And it falls on Freddie and his staff to get this figured out pretty quickly.

Look, I'm not quite ready to utter the three big words words that strike fear into Northern Ohioans everywhere (Same old Browns), but if they lose tonight, then dump another game at New England, we are right back in the familiar territory of a 2-5 start.  A place where we have spent a lot of time since 1999. (look for a brief preview of tonight's game later tonight)

Go Browns.

Browns-49ers Preview

There are many, many perplexing things about San Francisco.  Is Rice-A-Roni really as delightful as the commercials make it appear?  Can a person really cling to the sides of a moving trolley in a haphazard fashion like the end of that commercial?  Why does the city tolerate those lazy (and kind of pushy) sea lions all around Pier 39 area?  Why be so proud of having some of the steepest streets in the world? (Seems like something to be embarrassed about actually) But right now what has me flummoxed is why in the world the San Francisco 49ers are playing home games almost 50 miles away from the City of San Francisco?  That's like if the Browns played home games in Wooster; nice place but probably not what you were expecting.  

Regardless, in about six hours the Browns will be somewhere in the Bay area to take on the 3-0 San Francisco 49ers.  There's obviously a lot at stake in this game.  The 49ers desperately want to get to 4-0, and doing so in front of a national audience will go miles towards that franchise getting some much needed credibility.  They're 25-55 in the last five seasons, and on their third coach in that time.  And of course the Browns want to string together a couple of big time wins and prove that this team is more than just hype.  A win on the west coast puts Cleveland in a position to come back home, maybe get a win against Seattle, and be 4-2 with an off week to get ready for a tough game in week 8 at New England.  

So what do the 49ers bring to the party?  I guess you could point towards their 3-0 record, although that's a bit dubious considering they beat Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, and the Big Ben-less Pittsburgh Steelers.  What does jump out about this team is their monstrous defensive line.  They have two players that are 6'7" and we've seen Baker have passes batted down, so that could be problematic.  San Francisco is third in the league against the rush, so Cleveland's offensive line is going to have to build on the improvement from last week so Chubb can get going, and Baker can remain upright.  They'll likely run the ball like crazy, and try to get this Cleveland offense off the field.  Incidentally, the Browns offense just got faster with the return of Antonio Callaway.  He is a legitimate deep threat, and also should open up some opportunities for OBJ and Landry tonight.  Noticeably absent on the defensive side of the ball(for the third week in a row) are Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, both out tonight with bad hamstrings.  However, the Browns have pieced it together pretty well in those weeks, and actually I might be nervous about losing my job if I were either of those guys. 

So, in the back of my mind, I am starting to second guess my season prediction of 8-8, because I feel like most weeks we ought to be able to find advantages this Browns team has over the opposition.  This week it's the passing game, if they double OBJ all night, Landry can make them pay, and it wouldn't be shocking if Callaway has a couple of big yardage plays.  I also think the Browns defensive line will harass Garoppolo all night, and make it difficult for them to get that run game going.  So for the second week in a row, I am going to pick the Browns to win a game that Las Vegas indicates they will lose.  Despite being a 5 point underdog, and despite the fact it's a long road trip to play an undefeated team, I think the Browns win this one 31-20, and come back to Cleveland to city that will be abuzz with excitement like maybe we've never witnessed before.

Go Browns. 

Quoth the Browns, "Nevermore!"

So, the Cleveland Browns appear to have righted the ship.  I can only imagine the elated looks from drivers on I-77 going in and out of Cleveland Monday morning, that is if they can look past to 15 miles of permanent orange barrels on the highway.  (It's probably worthy of an archeological survey at this point, I am quite sure that some of those construction projects began when I was in the third grade.)  The tone of Cleveland sports radio had to be jubilant all week long, as fans basked in the warm glow of a 40-25 beatdown of the Baltimore Ravens.  There are loads of stats worth mentioning, but let's highlight just a few.  Baltimore came into the game with zero turnovers in their first three games, and the Browns made them cough it up three times.  Baker was 20/30 for 342 yards, very reminiscent of his performance from last year. Chubb had 20 carries for 165 yards and 3 TD's, and Landry caught eight balls for 167 yards.  If you're the type of person who has a need to know the air yards per completion, or the receptions per broken tackle, here are enough stats to drown an insurance actuary.  As much as I love math and data, sometimes there's just too much information, and one does not need a PhD to know that last Sunday, the Browns were a far, far superior team to the Ravens.

One name not mentioned is Odell Beckham Jr, who was preoccupied throwing punches and maybe getting choked by Marlon Humphrey.  Perhaps that's why he registered only two catches for 20 yards on seven targets.  Time will tell if OBJ can maintain his composure in a game that unfolds like this.  He's notoriously volatile, perhaps you'll recall the time he fought a kicking net and somehow lost.  I love that emotional, fiery personality, even if it is problematic at times.  I have watched a lot Browns football in the last 20 years that has been apathetic, with overpaid mediocre players that were playing out the string.  So I love that OBJ plays so passionately, and that generally speaking there is a culture building in Cleveland of players that believe they can win, and they are willing to put it on the line each week.  (Postscript on the OBJ kerfuffle, he was fined $14,037 for the incident with Marlon Humphrey.  Does the NFL really think that's any kind of deterrent when his paycheck for the day was $1,046,875?)

A couple of other bright spots on the day involve penalties and Nick Chubb. (not simultaneously)  The Browns committed 6 penalties for 41 yards, a far cry from the 18 in week one.  Clearly that has been a point of emphasis in practice, so I need to give credit to Kitchens for that.  Along those lines, it's worth noting that the offensive line seems to have improved dramatically as well, Chubb ran wild on the Ravens defense and Baker was only sacked one time.  Speaking of Chubb, there was a huge moment in the game when Baltimore scored and got a two point conversion to make it 24-18 with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter.  However, 16 seconds later, Chubb ripped off an 88 yard touchdown, a whisker short of his 92 yard run last season, and it put the game out of reach for Baltimore.  Consider that information when compared to the following Browns running backs and their longest runs; Jim Brown (80), Leroy Kelly (70), Mike Pruitt (77), Greg Pruitt (78), Kevin Mack (65), Ernest Byner (54).  I'm not making the claim that Chubb is in that league (yet), but he has been electric at times in his first two years, and looks to be trending in the right direction.  

So the Browns now sit at 2-2 with a west coast road trip (against a rested 3-0 team) looming in their future.  For the third time in five weeks, the Browns will be on primetime, which means a 5 AM wakeup call here in Prague.  Every week is huge for this team, and having gone to Baltimore and beaten a coach who was 10-1 against the Browns was quite an accomplishment.  But now the trick will be to build on that, and keep the momentum going against a good 49er team.  Check back soon for a week 5 preview.

Go Browns.