Month: December 2023

How sweet it is, the Browns are playoff bound. This one feels great because of everything this team has been through this year. I won’t go down the list of players injured, because I have other things to do this weekend. It’s unbelievable to me, that players who are tied to the success of the Browns, weren’t on the team when they traveled to West Virginia. Cleveland GM Andrew Berry started this process in the off-season by signing and drafting the right players. Then continued his NFL Executive of the Year path by finding players to replace the injured players. Raise your hand if prior to the season you had heard of Geron Christain, James Proche and Duron Harmon. Anybody…..I didn’t think so.

The Browns offense in the first half was surprisingly good considering WR Amari Cooper wasn’t playing. I hope everyone sees how valuable WR Elijah Moore really is, because after he left the game no one could get separation against a very good Jets secondary. He’s top five in the league in separation. I hope he can return for the playoffs. Alert the media, the Browns ran the ball and were surprising good considering the Jets are pretty good against the run. Again, forget about the second half, at that point the Browns had no capable wide receivers, and the Jets defense were determined to stop the run. How important is Joe Flacco to the Browns offense? Thanks for asking. Prior to Flacco, the Browns were 31st in offensive yards per play and 28th in passing offense. After Flacco, they’re eighth in offensive yards per play and first in passing offense. Head coach Kevin Stefanski has designed an offense for four different style quarterbacks this year. Give him an extension and Coach Of The Year.

After the first Jets drive, which was scripted, the defense again showed why they are the best. I know New York’s offense stinks and you saw why last night. Myles Garrett is odds on favorite for Defensive Player of the Year. Finally got a sack, plus nine more pressures and a quarterback hit. Jets left tackle Mehki Becton had no answer for Garrett, two false starts. Then they put Za’Darius Smith opposite him and again another false start. JOK again showed up, as did Sione Takitaki. You could tell he was getting tired of Jets players running out of tackles. This could be the best secondary I’ve seen in Browns uniforms. Just a reminder, Ronnie Hickman is an undrafted player. Since the Denver game, Greg Newsome has become a completely different player. Duron Harmon was a genius late season pick up and Shelby Harris was a genius pre-season pick up.

Pro Football Focus Grades. Offense, TE David Njoku, 85.3, RB Jerome Ford, 77.3, LG Joel Bitonio, 75.4, TE Harrison Bryant, 75.3 and RG Wyatt Teller, 72.3. Defense, S Ronnie Hickman, 92.5, Sione Takitaki, 88.5, Greg Newsome, 83.7, S Duron Harmon, 83.4 and DE Myles Garrett, 77.8.

Rooting Guide. It’s simple this weekend, Miami over Baltimore. Both these teams are trying to get the number one seed in the playoffs. But so are the Browns. The Dolphins beating Baltimore would help but isn’t the final answer. If the Browns beat Cincinnati, Baltimore loses to Miami and Pittsburg and Miami then loses to Buffalo, the Browns are the number one seed. Raise your hand if you had that scenario at the beginning of the season. Anybody……I didn’t think so.

Enjoy all the college and pro football this weekend. Have a great New Years, stay safe and Go Browns.

That was a loss that turned into a victory. Joe Flacco threw three interceptions, and one was a pick-six. I thought the Browns were headed to another loss. But no, they wouldn’t let that happen. Flacco threw for 212 yards in the fourth quarter. That’s never happened by any Browns quarterback in any quarter. His QBR in the fourth was 144.4. The Browns are 5-0 in games decided by three points of less. They’re the only team with multiple wins when trailing by ten points or more in the fourth quarter. This team just doesn’t give up.

On offense, the Browns were under constant pressure. The Bear’s defense is as good as advertised and Montez Sweat is an offensive game wrecker. Cleveland just couldn’t run the ball. Then, Joel Bitonio gets hurt (back, day-to-day), and the offensive line is down to one starter. Even Nick Harris left the game. Luckly, he came back, but rookie Luke Wypler had to come in and take a couple snaps. Tight end David Njoku has found a connection with Joe Flacco. The last two games have been great. It was great to see wide receiver Marguise Goodwin catch that long pass. That’s why the Browns signed him, to play ten to twelve snaps and get that one shot down the field. Cedric Tillman and Elijah Moore had key receptions. Amari Cooper is a beast.

On defense, several players stepped up. DE Alex Wright, CB Denzel Ward, CB Cameron Mitchell, DT Shelby Harris, S Ronnie Hickman, S D’Anthony Bell and LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. JOK was fantastic yesterday. Six tackles, two TFL, one sack, one QB hit and an interception. DE Myles Garrett was held on just about every play and tackled twice. He still had eleven pressures. Wright and Mitchell had key stops on two fourth downs. This defense plays so much better when the secondary is playing well. Now do the same thing on the road. Maybe this week.

Rooting guide. Browns over Texans, Steelers over Bengals, Chargers over Bills, Falcons over Colts, Patriots over Broncos and 49ers over Ravens. The Browns have an 89% chance to make the playoffs and are the number five seed and number one wildcard team. They still have a chance to be the number one seed and division winner. Cleveland needs to win out and Baltimore needs to lose two.

Thank God the Hail Mary at the game bounced the Browns way. That seems to be happening quite a bit this year. Next up is Houston on the road, let’s hope the defense that played yesterday travels. Stay safe and Go Browns.

It’s been a few games, but this one was sweet. After a lost west coast road trip, the Browns responded with a great game against a quality opponent. Jacksonville was undefeated on the road (6-0) and featured a head coach who has a super bowl ring and a very good quarterback. Was it perfect? No, still too many turnovers. The good news was the Browns had more takeaways than giveaways. The running game is still not where it needs to be, but when the team needed to run and get first downs, it worked. It also helps having a quarterback who can throw short passes which are basically long handoffs.

The offense is starting to click and head coach Kevin Stefanski has already announced Joe Flacco will be the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. Don’t worry about his demotion to the practice squad. Because he’s a vested veteran, no team can sign him away unless he wants to be signed and he doesn’t want to go anywhere. Did you notice how open the wide receivers were? That’s the result of fifteen-year veteran at quarterback. Flacco is making the right decisions at the right time. I’m still worried about offensive drives after the first one, the scripted one. The team seems to get bogged down in three and outs for the next few drives.

The defense worked through injuries and the secondary played great without their best cornerback. The return of CB Cameron Mitchell was the key. Then the Browns had to start D’Anthony Bell and Ronnie Hickman at safety with the injuries to Juan Thornhill and Grant Delpit. I guess being yelled at by defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz really helped the defensive line. They turned pressures into sacks. The Jaguar offense would start to get rolling and boom, a takeaway. Then when the Jags scored their last touchdown, DE Myles Garrett comes up big to keep the Browns lead at four points. Great job on the on-side kick as well. I almost had nightmares from 2021.

Pro Football Focus grades. Offense, RB Jerome Ford, 76.1, RB Kareem Hunt, 73.1, TE David Njoku, 71.5, RG Wyatt Teller, 69.8 and QB Joe Flacco, 68.6. Defense, DE Myles Garrett, 92.0, CB M.J. Emerson, 84.5, DE Za’Darius Smith, 82.2, DT Shelby Harris, 82.1 and LB Anthony Walker, 81.9.

Rooting guide for next week. Vikings over Bengals, Colts over Steelers, Lions over Broncos, Titans over Texans, Cowboys over Bills and Jaguars over Ravens.

The Browns are currently in the fifth playoff spot and the number one wildcard team if the playoffs started today. They still have a path to winning the division because Baltimore’s next three games are tough, at Jacksonville, at San Fransico and home against Miami.

Injury news. Right tackle Dawand Jones is out for the season and is having knee surgery. The Browns are now without their top three tackles. James Hudson will be the starter. He’ll need to stop committing stupid penalties moving forward. As for the other injuries, the two that bother me the most are Grant Delpit (groin) and Ethan Pocic (stinger). We’ll know better by Wednesday.

Next up is the Bears in Cleveland. They are playing better as of late and if this game was in Chicago, I’d be worried. But at home, this should be a win. Stay safe and Go Browns.

The west coast and the Pacific time zone continue to be a nightmare for my favorite professional football team. Haven’t won there since 2012 and are now winless in their last nine trips. The Browns have now fallen behind after the first quarter in 19 of 31 games under head coach Stefanski (61%) and the team is now 12-19 on the road under Stefanski (39%). Thanks to CLEology (@_CLEology) for those statistics. The good news is the Browns are headed back home and play three of their last five at home were they’re 5-1 this season. Win three of those five and the Browns will have ten wins and that just might get you into the playoffs. Playoff odds, ESPN FPI, 65%, DVOA, 62% and Sumersport 70%. The Browns still control their own destiny for a wildcard spot over the Colts and Steelers.

As for the game, quarterback Joe Flacco showed what a difference a 15-year veteran could make in the offense. His passes are poetry in motion. He also threw the ball out-of-bounds when he needed to. Kevin Stefanski declined to name a starter for next week’s game against Jacksonville, but I hope it’s Flacco. The offense was sharper yesterday. My biggest complaint, beside abandoning the run, was the fact that Stefanski kept calling passes to the running backs in the flat. The Rams figured it out early and he kept calling them. I thought the dropped passes would decline with Flacco as the QB. Nope. I was glad to see wide receiver Elijah Moore step up and I had totally forgotten wide receiver David Bell was on the roster. The interception Flacco threw was the nail in the coffin. Flacco even admitted after the game he shouldn’t have thrown the ball. Still, As I said, let’s juice up the offense and roll with Flacco next week.

Could someone tell me where the hell the Browns number one defense went? The Rams scored on every offensive drive they had in the first half. The Browns had no sacks, hardly any pressures and only two quarterback hits. Rams QB Matthew Stratford doesn’t play well when the other team applies pressure. No pressure by the defense. Now everyone knows how valuable cornerback Denzel Ward is to this defense. I’m done with CB Mike Ford, the team elevated A.J. Green from the practice squad, why not play him? When he’s played, he’s done well. DE Myles Garrett is still hurt and by playing, he’s hurting the team. This defense is limping to the finish line. Hopefully a home game this week will recharge their batteries.

The Browns might get some players back this week. Both LT Jedrick Wills and CB Cameron Mitchell are eligible to return from injured reserve. We won’t find out until Wednesday. It appears WR Amari Cooper will not play this week against the Jaguars, he’s in concussion protocol. Hopefully Ward can return, but I doubt it. The next game is Jacksonville in Cleveland. The Jags are undefeated on the road this year (5-0). However, Kevin Stefanski is 9-0 versus the AFC South. Something has to give. Pray for bad weather. Stay safe and Go Browns.