Month: November 2022

Happy victory Monday. That was a complete team win and much needed. Tom Brady coming into this game was 218-0 when leading by seven points with two minutes or less left in regulation. Now he’s 218-1. Currently the Browns have a 4.8% chance to make the playoffs and are ranked twelfth in the AFC. The top seven teams make the playoffs. Ahead of the Browns are, 7. Jets (7-4), 8. Patriots (6-5), 9. Chargers (6-5), 10. Colts (4-6-1) and 11. Jaguars (4-7). I know its wishful thinking talking about the playoffs right now, but with QB Desaun Watson returning for the last six games, anything is possible.

After the total destruction by the Bills last week, I didn’t see this one coming. When WR Anthony Schwartz has a great game, you know you’re not planning to do doughnuts in a golf cart at FirstEnergy Stadium. Tampa isn’t the best team in the league; however, they have a very good defense and Tom Brady at quarterback. The Browns played well enough to win in all three phases of the game. After allowing 56 yards rushing in the first quarter, the Buccaneers ended up with 96 for the game. Because of the Browns run defense, Tampa went away from the run. This allowed DE Myles Garrett to make a difference late in the game and in overtime. The Browns even lost the turnover battle and still won. For the fourth time this season, RB Nick Chubb had twenty or more carries (26) and the Browns won.

Besides a missed field goal, the special teams played well. RB Jerome Ford had two kick returns for 67 yards (33.5 average) and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones had five punt returns for 75 yards (15.0 average). The last time the Browns had comeback win when trailing by seven or more points was against the Titans on October 5, 2014. The most important thing about yesterday was QB Jacoby Brissett goes out with a win. In eleven games he was 236 of 368, (64.1%) 2608 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and QBR of 89.1.

Now the Browns turn to Deshaun Watson at quarterback and his first game will be against his former team the Houston Texans. Talk about drama. No one knows how he’s going to play after almost two years of not playing in an NFL game. Let’s all hope the Browns have turned a corner and will continue to do the little things in games to keep winning. Please no repeat of what happened after the last win over the Bengals. Stay safe and Go Browns.

As a Browns fan, deep down in your soul you knew that was going to happen. The Bills are one of the good teams and the Browns are one of the bad teams. Cleveland could’ve won because NFL games hinge on three to six plays. To beat Buffalo, the Browns had to win each of those plays. They didn’t. Bills kick returns for long yardage, tight ends dropping sure touchdown passes in the end zone, missed tackles, blocked field goals, etc. Should Kevin Stefanski be fired? No. He has a top ten offense with a career backup quarterback starting. Does he need to give up calling plays so can focus on the team as a whole? Yes. Alex Van Pelt can call plays. Get your head out of Cheesecake Factory menu you carry around and watch the game.

The problem comes with the Browns defensive and special team’s coordinators. Could the Browns fire them both before the season is over? Yes, they could if the owner told Stefanski to do it. But he won’t. Linebackers coach Jason Tarver has been a DC before, so why not? As for special teams, Stephen Bravo-Browns is the assistant special teams’ coach, let’s give him a try. It would send a message to the players that things have to change. If they wait till after the season is over, for DC I would hope the Browns are considering Mike Zimmer, Brian FLores, Kris Richard or maybe Jim Schwartz. As for the special teams coach, I have no idea, but right now anyone would be better.

Like I said last week, GM Andrew Berry also carries some blame. A lot of Browns fans are pointing out none of his draft picks have made the Pro Bowl, I don’t care about post season awards, I care about winning games. It’s a chicken and egg situation, is it the defensive players or the defensive scheme? A little of both, changing defensive coordinators right now sure would bring clarity to the situation.

This week’s game against Tampa is yet another important game. Not for the playoffs, but for easing Browns fans pain. Being 4-7 before QB Deshaun Watson returns would help. It would be so Browns for the team to be 3-8, then go 6-0 with Watson, be 5-1 in the division and miss the playoffs at 9-8. Yep, that would be so Browns. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and Go Browns.

I’m getting to the point of apathy with this year’s Cleveland Browns. I’ll still watch and stress over every game, but yesterday was disgusting. I’d start looking at mock drafts, but I have to remind myself the Browns don’t have a first-round pick. Also, I’m now on the fire Joe Woods train. It won’t happen until after the season, because Kevin Stefanski won’t do it, but I hope someone in the front office is vetting defensive coordinators. They started vetting quarterbacks last year after Halloween, so hopefully the process has started. If they’re smart, they’ll make a serious run at Brian Flores. Head coach Kevin Stefanski will save his job with how well quarterback Deshaun Watson plays the last six games of the season. Here’s good news, starting today Watson can start practicing with the team.

The blame can’t just be laid at the feet of the coaches, GM Andrew Berry also has to except responsibility for not addressing the defensive tackle position in the off-season. Before you ask, there’s no player available right now that will help. Currently the Browns have eight draft picks in 2023. A second, a third, two fourths, two fifths, one sixth and one seventh. They also have $ 32.9 million in cap space. If they don’t spend it, they can roll it over into next year’s salary cap. The estimated cap space for 2023 is $ 225 million and the Browns, based on the current roster, have $6.2 million in space. I fully expect them to restructure Watson’s contract, so they could be in the $ 50 million range for the off-season.

As for the game, the lack of effort was stunning. You had two weeks to get ready and that’s the effort you put forth. The only good things that happened was the opening drive and the special teams didn’t cost them the game. After the opening drive, the Browns gave up 30 consecutive points. The Dolphins scored at will and it felt like they could’ve scored on every drive. Does Miami have a punter? They never punted the ball the entire game. I have no idea who the Buffalo Bills starting running back is, but he’s going to have a career day next Sunday. It felt like the Dolphin defense knew when the Browns were going to run and when they were going to pass.

Now it’s on to Buffalo and the only hopeful stat I can find is from Andrew Siciliano of @NFLResearch,”Josh Allen’s Bills are 2-8 in games decided by one score since 2021.” Pray for a close game. Stay safe and Go Browns.

Sorry I was unable to write my review of the Bengals game, I had to go out of town on family business, but I’m back and still happy about the Monday night game. I was absolutely stunned head coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t call any pass or run plays to the tight ends. Stunned. By the way, his trick play assortment has suffered and is need of an upgrade. Don’t let WR Amari Cooper throw another pass. I was also stunned to see RB Nick Chubb and RB Kareem Hunt on the field at the same time more than once. The play calling, game management and play selection was vastly improved. Nick Chubb had 23 carries and the Browns won. They are now 3-0 this season when Chubb gets at least twenty carries. Amari Cooper is an excellent route runner, for those who still didn’t know. Both WR David Bell and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones had excellent games. All in all, the offense was very good. Not bad with a career backup as your starter.

On defense, you could see the changes defensive coordinator Joe Woods made. It starts with safety John Johnson calling the defensive plays. He has a good command of the defense, communicates well and is more engaged. Playing LB Sione Takitaki at the middle linebacker spot proved important. I don’t know if the Browns can get away with that versus other teams, but it worked against the Bengals. LB Deion Jones had more playing time and that was a good thing. The safety coverage over the middle was excellent until late in the game when it didn’t matter. The secondary made QB Joe Burrow hold on to the ball more, which created pressure and sacks. CB A.J. Green needs to play more and rookie CB Martin Emerson, Jr. looks like a third-round steal. The special teams played better than average, which is all I ask for right now.

Moving forward, it’s time to heal up and get ready for the final three games with a very surprisingly good Jacoby Brissett as the Browns starting quarterback. At 3-5 the Browns still have a chance to make the playoffs, but these next three games will have a lot to do with it. Going 2-1 against Miami, Buffalo and Tampa Bay would help and it’s possible. Being 2-1 in the AFC North also helps. The starting quarterback for the Browns in their last three divisional games will be Deshaun Watson. He is due back week eleven against his old team the Texans. I think he has that game circled for extra motivation. I’m going to sit back today and enjoy a stress-free Sunday. I hope you do the same. Stay safe and Go Browns.