Month: September 2024

Right now, the only team the Browns could beat is the Browns, and they’re doing it every week. They take the opening kickoff, go on a long drive, eating clock, and score. Then the team from the opening drive vanishes and is replaced by a team of practice squad players. I know it’s a new offense and there are backups replacing starters on the offensive line, but I was told the offense would be clicking by now. Cleveland brought back key defensive players, and I was told the team would build on the outstanding defense from 2023. Instead, they can’t stop the run, like last year, and they can’t tackle, like last year. Here’s the scary part, the best offensive player for the Browns Sunday was QB Deshaun Watson. Did he make mistakes again, yes. Did it happen again on fourth down, yes.

Last year the Browns had a top ten offense. It was flexible and adaptable to the different quarterback who started. All five signal callers last year were different, yet the offense worked. The offensive line last year was poor, yet they were able to overcome the mistakes. Can this offense get back on track, I hope so, because this is getting ridiculous. Here’s a notion, how about committing to the run. This game wasn’t a blow out, it was close, so running the ball was still an option. All of a sudden, wide receiver Amari Cooper is inconsistent as hell. If this continues, Cooper is a prime target for a trade.

On defense, the Browns still can’t stop the run. Going into this game, the Raiders were averaging 51 yards per game and a 2.8 average per carry. If your rushing game needs a boost, play the Browns. Las Vegas had 152 yards rushing for a 5.2 average. As I mentioned earlier, the defense can’t tackle. I counted over a dozen misses. Tackling is kind of important in the NFL. CB Martin Emerson can’t cover small fast guys so stop putting him on small fast guys.

Why is the Browns kicker missing important extra points in the fourth quarter? He can kick from the fifty plus but can’t hit an extra point. He did it last year, but the team overcame those misses. The Browns had the opportunity to win that game in the end, three times. The same thing happened against the Giants. Again, they had three opportunities to win the Giants game and failed. I just want the team that starts the game to show up the rest of the game. Stay safe and Go Browns.

That was totally unexpected. Last year the Browns were 8-1 at home, but this is the NFL, where anything can happen. Sunday winless teams won. Besides the Giants, the Ravens, the Broncos, the Colts, the Panthers and the Rams all won. It’s a weird league. Maybe someone should turn off the Browns and turn them back on again.

On offense, the problem is the offensive line. Plain and simple. Add eight more sacks and thirty-six more pressures. The Browns have no offensive identity, none. You have to adjust your offense to the team you are playing. They did it last week against Jacksonville, but for some reason not this week against the Giants. The Browns didn’t adjust to the Giant’s blitz. In the previous two weeks, New York blitzed 25% of the time. The Giants noticed early, the Browns were chipping and doubling certain players. New York adjusted and blitzed 57% of the time. Meanwhile, the Browns offense didn’t go into “heavy” offensive sets and run the ball. You beat the blitz by running the ball. Have you noticed after Cleveland breaks the huddle, the offensive linemen don’t communicate with each other? They don’t set their blocking scheme, adjusting to the defensive front. By the way, Dawand Jones looks slow and overweight.

The Browns also need to get rid of lining up in empty sets. Please keep a back or a tight end in the backfield. Put Watson under center and do some play action pass plays. You don’t have to do it the entire game, just enough to keep the defense honest. Set a game plan that’s designed for the opponent you’re playing, the offensive players you have and to adjust to what the defense adjusts to. Next week the Browns offense has to prepare for Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins on the Raiders defensive line. Yikes.

On offense, the Giants only had two legitimate weapons, running back Devin Singletary and wide receiver Malik Nabers. Both were allowed to go crazy. Browns cornerback Martin Emerson had no answer for Nabers. I know Denzel Ward has a shoulder injury, but when Ward wasn’t covering Nabers, could you have least double teamed Nabers? I’ll give the defense some credit. In the second half, they didn’t allow a point or a third down conversion. They gave the offense the opportunity to come back and win the game.

Finally, yes quarterback Deshaun Watson deserves some blame for this loss, about 20%. But with an offensive line that’s probably going to get him killed, they need to get the majority of the blame for this loss. If you are hoping for the Browns to trade for Joe Flacco, not going to happen. And if hoping for Watson to get hurt, go away, you’re not a Browns fan. Stay safe and Go Browns.

It wasn’t pretty, but there was improvement and effort. A team effort in all three phases of the game. The offense in the first half had three drives all resulting in points, one touchdown on the opening drive and two field goals. The first drive was a thing of beauty, 89 yards, 16 plays, over nine minutes. QB Deshaun Watson was 7 of 8 for 83 yards and a QBR of 109.8. For the half, he was 11 of 15 for 108 yards and rushed four times for eleven yards. He finished the game 22 of 34 for 186 yards and a QBR of 78.8. The start of the second half is when things started to go bad. Head coach Kevin Stefanski got a little cute with his play calling. In the fourth quarter the Browns kept shooting themselves in the foot with stupid penalties. The coaching staff has to clean up these mistakes.

The defense played like they were playing at home. Very aggressive. What impressed me was the red zone defense. Last year they were the worst in the league. Yesterday, they held the Jaguars out of the end zone two of three times. The Jags had to settle for field goals. They just need to hold on to interceptions. They had two right in their hands. Cleveland harassed Sunshine all game. Jacksonville did have 323 total yards, but most of those came late in the game. The defense had four sacks and seven pressures. The Alex Wright sack for a safety gave the Browns an 18-13 lead and the breathing room they needed. The Wright safety was set up by a great punt by Corey Bojorquez.

Other positives, running back D’Onta Foremen may not have had a lot of yards, but the way he ran the ball punished the Jaguars defense and kept running back Jerome Ford fresh. WR Jerry Jeudy stepped up and looked like a number one wide receiver. On defense, LB Jordan Hicks was a great signing. Made the right calls and had a massive sack. The three corners, Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson and Greg Newsome played very well. Newsome gave up a long pass play, but the Jacksonville WR pushed off on his route and of course it wasn’t called.

The penalties are ridiculous. thirteen for 100 yards, eight on the offense. Last week they had eleven for 67 yards, ten on the offense. Make it stop. This game should have been a blowout. The penalty on kicker Dustin Hopkins cost the Browns points because the Jags return man fumbled the ball. Then to add insult to injury the Jags scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive. The first drive in the second half was a head scratcher. Cleveland didn’t need to score a point, all they had to do was move the ball, get some yards and kill some time off the clock. Finally, two of thirteen on third down will not win you a lot of games. The coaches will be busy this week cleaning up a few things. Stay safe and Go Browns.

That’s how yesterday’s game landed in my mind. Other words like ugly, embarrassing and disgusting could also be used. It was a complete team loss. Every phase of the team sucked. The offense was chaotic, the defense was average, and the special teams were especially bad. And to think we had to wait till 3:30pm CST to watch the game. I wish it was a noon game, so I could’ve gotten the pain over with early. If you’re calling for the team to cut Watson, it isn’t going to happen, well at least not till after the 2026 season. A lot of fans are watching Baker Mayfield on the Buccaneers and wondering what if. Mayfield wore out his welcome by ignoring the play calls and lying to the medical staff about his injury. After watching the Patriots game, why don’t you call for Jacoby Brissett to be the quarterback? Here’s my solution, let Ken Dorsey call his own offense. And no, they won’t bench Watson and start Jameis Winston.

Blame also has to placed on GM Andrew Berry for not drafting a tackle to replace James Hudson. I don’t know if a rookie would have done better against Dallas, but their two rookies on the offensive line did very well. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with Hudson. Because of Hudson and Dawand Jones, who picked a bad time to have his worst game, the team couldn’t run the ball or pass the ball. To add to it, Watson was way to uncomfortable. He seemed antsy in the pocket with his eyes and his feet. Wide receiver Amari Cooper seem to “check out” late in the game.

As for the defense, they seem to have problems with very good quarterbacks and the wildcard game against the Texans seemed to have broken them. Kind of like Kansas City has broken the Ravens. The Dallas defense was doing things I remember from the Texans game that Houston did. At least the defense didn’t commit a ton of penalties like the offense. Eleven for the game, ten on the offense. That’s on the coaches for not having the team ready to play.

The special teams were also a mess. A 60-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter when the score was 20-3, turned into a 27-3 Dallas lead and the game was over. Cleveland seems unprepared for any kicks. The question now is can this be fixed in a week when the Browns travel to Jacksonville? Yes, it can. But it needs to happen today during team meetings. If the Browns can get a victory against the Jaguars, then the schedule is favorable the next three games. Finally, the Browns will need to sign a veteran tight end because of the injury to David Njoku. He has a high ankle sprain and those take at least five to six weeks to heal. Stay safe and Go Browns.

The waiting is over, it’s game week number one for the Cleveland Browns and it’s a big one. Dallas Cowboys, afternoon start, Fox national game of the week and Tom Brady’s debut in the booth. Just a normal week one for the Browns. No pressure. The Browns are currently a 2.5-point favorite at home. Last year the Browns were 8-1 at home and the Cowboys were 4-5 on the road. While the national media is focused on the quarterback position, I’m focused on the left tackle position. Jedrick Wills didn’t practice again today, but Jack Conklin did. Looks like he’ll be the team’s starter on Sunday. Head coach Kevin Stefanski said today that Wills was getting closer to practicing and didn’t say if Conklin would start. I originally thought he only played LT his freshman year at Michigan State. Nope, most of his college career. Conklin doesn’t seem to be concerned about playing on the left side, so I won’t either.

The other position I’m worried about is the running back room. Because the Dallas pass rush (Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence) will get a ton of attention in the media, a good run game will help take the pressure off QB Deshaun Watson. Dallas last year finished sixteenth (112.4 yards per game) against the run and fifteenth (4.2 yards) in yards per rushing attempt. If the Browns are able to have their quick passing game working, that will also help. Dallas’s secondary is good but will be missing starting corner DaRon Bland due to injury.

Finally, the anticipation for this game will build every day this week. I know a lot of Browns fans don’t like the 1:00pm EST start time, but I do. The late afternoon games are hell on my nerves. There’s pacing and wondering. The game will be played over and over in my head. The good thing, I’ll be able to test out how I’m going to watch games this year at home. I’m leaning towards Streameast. It worked during the preseason, so hopefully it will work during the regular season. One last reminder, I’ll have my preview article for the game on http://@FansFirstSN. Look for it either Friday or Saturday. Stay safe and Go Browns.