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.