I hope every Browns fan woke up this morning with a smile on their face and a little pep in their step, I know I did. The offense was vastly improved and the defense was good as usual. The Browns showed more movement on offense and even threw in some trick plays, one which should of resulted in a pass interference call against the Ravens. I had a great afternoon with over 200 Browns fans at the home of the Middle Tennessee Browns Backers, the Dawg House Saloon. Nothing like high fiveing strangers in a crowded, noisy bar. There were more positives than negatives, so lets get the negatives out of the way.
Penalties. The Browns had six penalties, which compared to previous weeks wasn’t that many. The bad news two were on Kush and three were on Ratley. Ratley had a bad game all the way around. I give Kush a little break, because on Chubb’s big run, he took out two Raven defenders. The officiating was as bad again, but Beckham has to control himself. You can’t take a couple swings at an opposing player. The only other bad news is Landry going into the NFL concussion protocol. It’s like being sent the corner for a time out. The team has no control over the process. Only the league can release a player and we know how much a well oiled machine the NFL can be, just watch the officiating.
Positives. The offense was outstanding. Lots of motion, lots of play action and lots of creativity.The Browns ran a few trick plays and even though some didn’t work, it still makes future opponents have to game plan for them. I think Mayfield came out understanding what he needs to do as the starting QB. He trusted his offensive line, stepped up in the pocket and read the defense. The second drive that resulted in the Brown’s first touchdown was a thing of beauty. 13 plays, 84 yards taking eight and a half minutes. The Browns scored first and kept the ball away from the Ravens offense. They converted on 3rd down (6-13), racked up 530 yards of total offense and averaged 8.7 yards per play ( 10.5 yards per pass and 6.7 per rush). Most importantly they controlled the game and never trailed.
Nick Chubb is a beast. Once he got going, the Ravens couldn’t stop him. Landry was fantastic as usual and the Browns really do have players at the tight end position. I loved the Ricky Seals-Jones pick up and said last week he can be a good target. Beckham was doubled and held all game long, which helped the other offensive weapons. Who knew Beckham was such a good blocker? As long as he stays involved and doesn’t turn into Mike Tyson every game, he’ll get his chances. The offensive line did their job, Mayfield was only sacked once for five yards.
On defense, and this sounds like a broken record, but Steve Wilkes is a genius. Taking out the last Raven drive for a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the game, the secondary didn’t really let the Raven’s wide receivers get loose. Ingram was held to 71 yards rushing and Jackson to 66. The Browns sacked Jackson four times and got two interceptions and a fumble. Schobert, Carrie, Mitchell, Whitehead, Vernon, Wilson, Richardson, Ogunjobi, Murray, Lawrence and Randell all played their butts off. Hell, the whole team did. There was even a Chad Thomas sighting. Finally, the Browns handed Lamar Jackson, the MVP of the first three weeks of the NFL season, his first home loss.
On special teams, Austin Seibert hit all six of his kicks and the Scottish Hammer had another shanked punt, but still averaged 42.3 years per punt. The special teams are finally special again in Cleveland. My only concerns are when Gillan hurries he does shank a punt, that’s one in each of the last two games and the kick returner game needs an upgrade. Freddie said today that Callaway should be ready to go, coming off his suspension, so that will help the return game.
There were reports prior to the game that GM John Dorsey was calling teams about offensive line help. Before you ask, no Washington’s Trent Williams is still not available and is not even healthy. The Higgins injury is troubling. We were first told it was an ankle, then on Friday, it was listed as a knee. If the Browns can get Higgins, Callaway and Landry back by Monday night that would be awesome, but so would winning the lottery. I’ve got my fingers crossed for both. So now the Browns head to San Francisco for the Monday night game. I’m looking forward to this game, I think the Browns have the right attitude right now. All the reports out of the locker room suggests this team has come together and they believe in each other. Another Prime Time game awaits, GO Browns.