A Visit to Cincinnati Moves the Browns to 5-4
I really take a weird personal satisfaction when the Browns beat the Bengals, and I’m not sure why that is. Despite being in the same state and sharing an interstate, it’s not really a rivalry like you would expect, it’s not nearly the delight I take in beating the Steelers. Maybe my dislike for Cincinnati goes back to Sam Wyche’s famous address to the crowd in 1989, or maybe it’s my disrespect for their bizarre chili concoction. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Cincinnati is more Kentucky than Ohio, sort of like a red-headed step cousin that you see once a year. The Browns have now beaten them 4 straight times, averaging 35 points a game, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Not a lot of game notes to mention, the Browns absolutely trucked the Bengals. The tone was set early on after Denzel Ward ran back an interception for 99 yards, and Cincinnati never got on track. Baker had a perfect QB rating for the first half, and the offense (again) looked much better with Odell Beckham mucking it up with temper tantrums and pouty sideline behavior. Good Riddance. All in all, a fun time was had by all in a 41-16 win over the hapless Bengals.
A Trip to New England is the Stuff of Nightmares.
It all started out so promising, the Browns received the kickoff, and marched 84 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. My man D’Ernest Johnson rushed for 61 yards on 5 carries, but Austin Hooper had the score and it looked like the Browns had a solid game plan for the patriots. However, as you are well aware, the Browns couldn’t get out of their own way for the remaining 55 minutes of the game and the Patriots rattled off 45 unanswered points. It is as one-sided a loss as maybe I have ever watched, and I am including those garbage teams immediately after 1999. Inexplicably, after all of the success running the ball on the first possession, the Browns only ran twice for the remainder of the first half. That’s squarely on the coaching, from my perspective Stefanski had a rough game calling plays. (I’m still unclear on why you have an offensive coordinator if he doesn’t call plays on game day. What really is Alex Van Pelt’s role?) But the defense also had a nightmare day as New England tortured them with screens and reverses all day. Rookie quarterback never really broke a sweat as he went 19/23 against the Browns swiss cheese pass defense.
It wasn’t just the defense and the coaching staff who had a bad day, Baker was as bad as I have ever seen him, missing guys by a few yards when they were wide open and generally running for his life. I think the thing that Browns fans might have observed most prominently was the performance of Mac Jones. We saw him do everything we wished Baker could do. Quick outs, deep throws, incredible touch, delivering the ball with different speeds. (Baker is 100 mph regardless of if the throw is 6 yards or 60) Mac Jones was drafted in the middle of the first round, and time will tell if he turns out to have a fruitful career, but so far he looks like a gem that Patriots stumbled across. However, it’s worth noting that Baker had a great rookie year, but in subsequent offseasons, it looks like NFL defensive coordinators have caught up to him. We all know that Baker has a serious injury in his (non-throwing) shoulder as well as various other bumps and bruises, and while we respect that he wants to play hurt, maybe it’s not worth it. Look for the Baltimore preview where I detail the tough decision Stefanski has if Baker stinks it up in the first half. Also, mid-week I’ll publish a piece about the problem surrounding Baker’s contract status.
Oh yeah, we also played the Lions.
Detroit made their way to Cleveland in week 11, and despite a plucky effort, they managed to maintain their winless record. You would think that the Browns could play relaxed, Nick Chubb was coming back, Detroit has a terrible run defense, and a winless team is winless for a reason. However, Lions head coach Dan Campbell has managed to get his guys to play very hard each week, and sure enough it was close down the stretch. With the Browns leading 13-7, Baker threw an interception and everybody in FirstEnergy Stadium got pretty nervous. Thankfully, Coach Campbell inexplicably kicked a field goal to make it 13-10 with nine minutes left in the game. Lions fans are right to be angry about that, when you don’t have a win and it’s mid-November, I would think you do everything possible to get a win and avoid a winless season. Detroit ended up with another possession, and ended up punting with 2:36 remaining, which also is tough to explain. Regardless, the Browns find themselves at 6-5 after a bizarre month.
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