Month: September 2021

That Was Nice.

Who still wants to fire Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods? Talk about a dominating defensive performance, wow. The Browns held the Bears to 47 total yards, one passing yard and six first downs. What makes the 47 yards of total offense even more impressive is the Bears had 24 yards on their first three plays. The defensive line did it’s job yesterday, pressuring a rookie QB and getting nine sacks. They seem to have finally gotten used to playing with each other. So what are the positives and negatives from the game.

Positives. According to Pro Football Focus, the Browns are currently the number one offensive team in the NFL (84.6). As a team, they’re the second highest graded team (87.9) in the NFL behind the Rams. RB Kareem Hunt was the highest graded offensive player with a 90.6 grade. QB Baker Mayfield is currently fifth in completion rate ( 76.5%) and fourth in yards per attempt (8.9). Through three weeks Arizona and Cleveland are the only two teams ranked in the top seven in both offense and defense. The Browns are seventh offensively and third defensively. The highest graded defensive players were Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (93.9), Myles Garrett (90.0), Troy Hill (83.8), Malcolm Smith (80.0), Ronnie Harrison (79.8), Jadeveon Clowney (77.8), Mack Wilson (76.5) and Takk McKinley (70.9).As for the special teams, RB Demetric Felton has 129 yards in punt returns, the most in the NFL after three weeks. Kicker Chase McLaughlin was four for four on field goals including a 57 yarder.

Negatives. The offense had a very slow start and the play calling on the first two fourth down conversions was strange. I know the Bears have a top five run defense and they love to blitz, but a quick pass or a running play might have worked better. Seven penalties for 98 yards and the penalties on special teams didn’t help the offense. The offensive line gave up five sacks, 2 to Khalil Mack and 1.5 to Robert Quinn.

Injuries. CB Greg Newsome, II left the game with a calf injury and had a MRI today. The extent of the injury is not known. LT Jedrick Wills, Jr. left the game briefly because of his ankle injury. And WR Odell Beckham, Jr. looked great catching five passes for 77 yards.

It was a good team win. When the offense scored right before halftime, this game was over. Next week the Browns travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings at Noon CST. Everyone stay safe and Go Browns.

No Moral Victories.

Usually I wait 48 hours after a Browns loss to write about it, but this game was different. If you still think QB Baker Mayfield is overrated or just a game manager, go away. He was 21 of 28 for 321 yards against the best team in the AFC in their home stadium. That’s a 75 % completion rate and 11.5 yards per pass attempt. From ESPN Stats & Info., Mayfield was 5 of 5 for 101 yards against the blitz, 5 of 5 for 94 yards on play action, 4 of 4 for 61 yards and three first downs on third and fourth down and 3 of 5 for 103 yards on passes 15+ yards downfield. The Browns had five drives of 75 yards or more. So far the Browns are number one in the NFL in total offense (457 yards) in offensive success rate (55.9%), in yards per play (8.2 yards) and the sixth highest graded team (80.0) in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.

The highest PFF rated player on offense was LG Joel Bitonio at 93.5 and the highest on defense was DT Malik McDowell at 82.9. Rookie WR Anthony Schwartz had a PFF grade of 82.2. WR Jarvis Landry was targeted five times and caught all five passes. That’s his 111th straight game with multiple catches. The Browns defense pressured Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes on 44% of his drop backs, the fifth highest rate in the NFL in week one. According to BrownsDailyMockDraft @BrownsMockDraft DE Myles Garrett had 8 pressures (five hurries, 2 QB hits and 1 sack). DE Jadeveon Clowney had 4 pressures (three hurries and 1 sack). DT Malik Jackson and DT Malik McDowell had 5 pressures (four hurries and one QB hit). As a group, the starting defensive line had 11 tackles and 11 stops.

Bottom line, the Browns have an elite offense and a developing defense. If you had told me the Browns defense would hold the Kansas City Chiefs to ten first half points, I would have made you pee in a cup. Yes, against a team like the Chiefs, you can’t let up and you can’t make mistakes like turning ball over three times. No, the Browns are not going to fire defensive coordinator Joe Woods or cut punter Jamie Gillan. If you want those two things to happen, then why aren’t you calling for RB Nick Chubb to be benched because he fumbled? Relax. The defense will get better the more they play together. I have complete faith in the Browns coaching staff to fix any problems this week in practice. Head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked today whether he feels better about his team, that they were in position to win if they fixed things that went wrong. He said “No.” Next up the AFC South division leading (weird right?)Houston Texans. Everyone stay safe and Go Browns.

And So It Begins.

We finally made it, week one of the 2021 Cleveland Browns season is here. Optimism reigns throughout NFL fandom. Fans of all 32 NFL teams believe in the success of their favorite team. On Tuesday morning, if their team lost, fans will tie themselves in knots rationalizing how the loss really doesn’t matter. Cowboy fans this morning, “They took the Super Bowl champs to the final gun and Dak looked great. The team needs to find a kicker.” If Cleveland losses on Sunday to the Chiefs, Browns fans will be doing the same thing, including clutching their pearls about the kicker. You know your team is good if your only worry is about the kicker. Last year the Browns got boat raced by the Ravens in game one and still won eleven games and a playoff game.

This weekend the national talking heads will remind Browns fans that since 1999 the Browns are 1-20-1 in opening games. They’ll tell you the Browns have never beaten a team coached by Andy Reid and Chief’s QB Patrick Mahomes is 10-0 in September with 32 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Some talking heads have reasoned the Browns won’t win this year because the team hasn’t had back to back wining seasons in 32 years. That’s true, but from 1985 to 1989 the Browns were very successful. I count 1985 because even though the Browns finished 8-8 they made the playoffs. I bring up this period in Browns history because the Browns roster was very talented, they had a innovative head coach and a young brash quarterback. Sound familiar? I contend the 2021 Cleveland Browns are more talented then any of those teams.

So what’s going to happen? I have no idea. I do know this should be a great game between two very good teams. I have full confidence in the reigning NFL coach of the year and his staff. The Browns have a top five offense and a lot of new talent on defense. Kansas City is a tough place to play, but the majority of the team already knows that having played their last game in K.C. As for the stats I mentioned earlier, streaks are meant to be broken. Remember each team comes into this game having lost their last game and only one will start the season 1-0. It would be great if it was the Cleveland Browns. If it is, there’ll be some national media types tying themselves in knots rationalizing it really doesn’t matter, it’s just one game, the Browns got lucky, the sun was in Mahomes eyes, I was drunk when I picked the Chiefs to win, I thought KC was playing Cincinnati. Enjoy the games everyone and Go Browns.