Dawgpoundsouth

No I’m not talking about Jermaine Whitehead’s tweets. It’s been 48 hours, so lets get to it. So according to the head coach of the Cleveland Browns the first eight games don’t matter. Really? They sure as hell mattered to me and a ton of Middle Tennessee Browns Backers I know. The key word in practice this week wait for it…is execution. The Browns had ten drives and seven of them reached inside the Denver 30 yard line. Seven. Execution or play calling? The red zone execution and play calling in this game was horrendous. Might as well call the Browns red zone the dead zone. Why on third and short is the best player on this team on the sideline? I like Hilliard as a player, but Nick Chubb, even as a decoy, is better than Hilliard. And again for another game, where the hell is Higgins?

In the third quarter on fourth and one from the Denver four yard line, instead of bringing out your most important offensive weapon, Austin Seibert, you go for it. Kick the field goal and the score is 17-15, in the THIRD QUARTER. Kick off and hope Wilkes has the right defense to stop the Broncos and get the ball back. No, our fearless leader calls a sneak and then challenges the spot, wasting another time out. Put Chubb out there on third down and roll the dice. Look at Carolina, OC Norv Turner rides his stud running back Christian McCaffrey, and the Panthers win. Turner did the same thing in Dallas with Emmett Smith.

Is Freddie in over is head? Could be, but first year head coaches in the NFL struggle. Only one has a winning record this year, but he has Aaron Rogers as his quarterback. My worry is what this is doing to Baker Mayfield. You can ruin a young quarterback in a season like this. If Freddie is retained, which I think he will be, new coordinators need to be hired, starting with an experienced quarterback coach. Mayfield is thinking too much. Sure defensive coaches are throwing the kitchen sink at him, but the offense has to find a focal point and let Mayfield feed off of that focal point and that focal point needs to be Nick Chubb.

The offense needs to find a handful of plays that Beckham is successful at and run them at key points in the game. I saw this online from Paul Hembekides, OBJ on 3rd & 4th down this season: 83 routes run, 42 rec. yards, 17 targets, 7 receptions, 3 first downs and 2 drops. Not acceptable and that’s play calling and execution by the quarterback. Mayfield just hasn’t come through in the clutch. The end of the Rams game, the Seattle game and Sunday against the Broncos. Where’s the QB that beat The Ohio State in Columbus and the guy who played against Georgia in the playoff game.

The positives: Only 5 penalties and zero turnovers. Apparently, whatever they did in practice last week worked, so lets do the same with play calling and execution this week. Remember in the preseason when we all worried about the kicking game? Seibert has been great and the special teams has been the only prepared unit on this team. Another positive for the Bills game is the return of Kareem Hunt. I hope this coaching staff uses him correctly and doesn’t screw this up. I want to see both Chubb and Hunt on third down this week. PLEASE.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about the season being over. I’m a very optimistic kind of guy and still have hope. But as all Browns fans know, when the wheels fall off this team, it’s usually in a spectacular way. To make the playoffs, 10-6 is the safest way to make it happen. History lesson time, the last time the Browns had a winning streak, Eric Mangini won the last four games of his first season as coach. He was rehired and guess what, the wheels fell off. The franchise record for a win streak was six games in 1972. So to achieve a 10-6 record this team has to win eight in a row. Can it happen? Sure. In 2016 the Cavs came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat a 72 win Warriors team on the road. I know, Lebron isn’t walking through that door, but maybe the football gods will look down on us and the Browns will win their first home game of the season against the Bills. (What, are you kidding me, November 10 would be the first win at home?) Sorry, still can’t believe it. Lets start that eight game winning streak this weekend, right Browns fans? Next home game is against Buffalo. GO BROWNS.

One last thing, the first college football rankings come out tonight and The Ohio State University better be in the top four. My top four are 1) LSU, 2) The Ohio State, 3) Alabama and 4) Penn State. This weekend will clear up LSU/Alabama and a week from Saturday will clear up The Ohio State/Penn State. Whoever wins LSU/Alabama will make the playoffs because there is no team in the SEC east that can beat either in the SEC championship game. If The Ohio State runs the table, they’re in the playoffs no matter who they play in the Big Ten championship game. Go Buckeyes.

It’s been 48 hours, so lets get this over with. Usually I avoid Browns twitter world after a loss, but with the trade deadline today, I had to go there yesterday and today. Total meltdown, some justified some not. Let’s get the game discussion out of the way first. 13 penalties, three turnovers on three offensive snaps and again odd play calling. Freddie made the comment at his press conference yesterday, that he doesn’t coach penalties. Well it looks like he doesn’t punish players for penalties either. The Browns after seven games lead the league in penalties with 70. I’m an accountant and doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s ten a game. I know officiating is incredibly bad in the NFL, but still that’s unacceptable. I don’t condone player only meetings, because that’s usually the nail in the coffin for a head coach. But it’s time for Freddie to gather his team leaders to have such a meeting. Players listen to other players more than coaches and it is time for Mayfield, Bitonio, Landry, Schobert, Garrett and Randall to have a come to Jesus meeting.

The Browns defense stops the Patriots on their first series. The Browns get the ball back and start with three straight passes? On a cold wet day, your calling three straight passes. As we all saw later in the game, running the ball worked. A shuttle pass deep on your side of the field? Really? Nothing bad can happen there, oh wait, it did. Two challenges, that Freddie wasn’t going to win, wasting two time outs. A side line warning by the referees. This team is a hot mess on the side lines. Even the commentators were laughing at Freddie and the Browns. As for the turnovers, Nick Chubb had two fumbles, but the first one was kicked out of his hands by his only player and the second one was Chubb not holding the ball with two hands. If you noticed as the game went one, Chubb corrected this and made the adjustment. Just wish the coaching staff would make adjustments. Somebody find out where Beckham is, because he’s not making any difference.

As for the positives, Nick Chubb can run the ball on any team in this league. If this team had half his heart and professionalism, the Browns would have a winning record. Mayfield played better. He had the best passer rating of any quarterback so far against a really good Patriot defense. The ball came out of his hand better, he was more accurate and showed improvement after the bye. As for the offensive line, McCray played okay, despite playing left tackle for the first time. The defense played well. Three turnovers in three snaps and the Patriots were only up 10-0. CB’s Williams and Ward played well, but you could tell the lack of practice effected them early in the game. Ward blocked a field goal and the Patriots very good special teams really didn’t have an effect on the game.

As for firing Freddie. please stop. The Browns are not going to fire the head coach. Why would anyone want the cycle of dysfunction to continue? The Browns were the laughing stock of the league because they kept firing the combination of head coaches and/or front office. He’s a rookie head coach and Freddie has a chance to change this. This front office is the best this team has had since they came back and this is the most talented team they’ve had over the same period. Now if Freddie goes 5-11, then staff changes must be made. I still don’t know what the hell Todd Monken does and some of Steve Wilkes defensive play calling and player decisions are mystifying.

Looking at the rest of the schedule, the Browns have the opportunity to string some wins together. They played the second hardest schedule of any team after seven games and have the second easiest schedule for the next nine games. As I said last week, the Browns had to play a perfect game to beat New England. They didn’t and they lost. I also said I worried about games at Denver, at home against the Bills and at Pittsburgh. Denver is starting a quarterback this week who has never taken an NFL snap. He was a sixth round pick out of Arkansas by Jacksonville. I live in Nashville, TN with two SEC schools in the state, my Alma mater Vanderbilt and the state school Tennessee, and I have never heard of Brandon Allen. The Bills just got their ass kicked at home by an Eagles team that everyone had given up for dead. And the steelers, even though they beat a tanking Miami team, can be beat at home or on the road.

The trade deadline is 4 pm eastern today and Dorsey already made a trade, Genard Avery for a 2021 4th round pick. On Avery’s first play of the game against New England he pressured Brady to throw early and then played maybe three more snaps. Mark my words, Avery will make the pro bowl in 2020 for the Eagles. Wilkes had to find a place for him to play this year and didn’t. As for Trent Williams, Washington told teams they had an offer of a 2nd round pick on the table and now I’m hearing there is a deal in place for a 3rd and a 5th pending a physical. I’m not for this trade, Williams is 31 and even if he is healthy and ready to play as his agent says, this doesn’t help the Browns. If they’re going for a left tackle, then trade for Halapoulivaati Vaitai of the Eagles. He’s younger and has played this year and the Eagles have a wealth of talent on their offensive line. The Browns still need a linebacker. Now that the deadline has passed, the Browns stand pat. Okay Freddie win with what you got.

So the Browns sit at 2-5 going to Denver for a critical must win game. Denver is starting a QB who has never taken an NFL snap. The Bengals just announced they are benching Andy Dalton and starting Ryan Finley. The steelers are starting Mason Rudolph, the Dolphins will start either Josh Rosen or Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Browns will face rookie Kyler Murray when they play Arizona. They do face Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, but they have beaten Jackson once this year and I’m not sold on Allen. The potential is there to go on a nice win steak, but it starts in Denver. Go Browns.

Hello to the second half of the season. Let’s start with the good news, Kareem Hunt has been allowed to start practicing, however he is still suspended and won’t return to the playing field until week nine. But practicing for two weeks is great news. Kitchens said in his press conference today, they’re trying different players at different positions at practice. I would assume that means the offensive line and McCray and Teller practicing with the starters. I really don’t have a problem with the Browns OL. Mayfield stepped into the pocket against Seattle instead of rolling to his right and didn’t get sacked. Damarious Randall is day to day, but the depth at safety is good with Murray, Whitehead and Burris. Looks like Ward, Williams and Higgins will play baring something mysterious. So the Browns are full go for the late season run.

Yesterday was the bye week, but with Seattle losing to the ravens, it still felt like the Browns lost and now the ravens have a 2.5 game lead in the division. So lets look at the remaining schedules and see if the Browns can make up ground. The first test comes this week against New England. Hopefully the Patriots will roll over the Jets tonight and go into the Browns game 7-0. The Browns don’t need to play them at home when they’re mad. If the Browns can play error free football, have no stupid penalties and use the offense we all saw in Baltimore, they have a chance. The defense needs to play lights out and stop the run. The ravens have the bye week and the steelers host Miami on Monday night. So this week would be a nice opportunity for the Browns to take one game off the ravens lead.

Week 9, The Browns head to Denver and face another top ten defense, however the Denver offense is not very good. So, if there’s no let down like after the ravens game, the Browns should win in Denver. The ravens get the Patriots on Sunday night and hopefully New England is pissed off because they lost to the Browns and beat the ravens. The steelers host the Colts, so there’s a potential loss. Week 10 the Browns host the Bills, who have a top ten defense. If the Bills had a quarterback, I would worry about this game, but I think the Browns win this one. The ravens host the Bengals and the steelers host the Rams. Baltimore wins and the steelers lose.

Week 11 the Browns host the steelers on Thursday night and they should win this game as well. Baltimore hosts the Texans and hopefully the Texans take care of business and win. So after week 11, The Browns should be at least at 5-5, the ravens at 6-4 and the steelers at 3-8. Week 12, the Browns host Miami, another win and the ravens play at the Rams,another loss. The steelers are at the bengals, but by this time they’re both playing for draft position. Browns 6-5, the ravens 6-5 and the steelers who cares. Week 13, The Browns travel to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving and the ravens host the 49ers. Don’t look now, the Browns are 7-5 and the ravens are 6-6. Week 14, the Browns host the bengals and the ravens go to Buffalo. After the dust settles the Browns are 8-5 and the ravens are 7-6.

Week 15, The Browns go on the road and play the Cardinals and the ravens host the Jets on Thursday night. Browns at 9-5 and the ravens at 8-6. Week 16, the Browns host the ravens with the division on the line. Browns win and are now 10-5 and the ravens are hoping for a wildcard bid at 8-7. Week 17, the Browns play at the bengals and the ravens host the steelers. Final standings, Browns 11-5 and the ravens 9-7. Now you’re looking at this and you’re saying, the Browns only lose one game the rest of the year? The team that’s turning the ball over like they’re handing out Halloween candy to little kids and being penalized for being on the field? Yep, that’s what I’m saying. There are potential landmines on the schedule, at Denver, at home verses the Bills and the steeler game in Pittsburgh. Win or lose, if the Browns play well at New England, that will answer a lot of questions. If the Browns beat the Patriots, then I want to see how they react at Denver.

For all this to play out, the Browns have to become the team we all saw after week 9 of last year. Clean, error free football, lots of motion on offense and a defense that can stop the run and create pressure. Plus no injuries. AND WIN AT HOME. Also the refs need to be average. Yes, at this point I’ll take average. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the Browns use both Chubb and Hunt in the backfield. I know Green Bay has done it this year and the ravens have Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram in the same backfield, so it can work. As for the trade front, I hope Dorsey finds a interior defensive lineman and/or a linebacker. I still think Trent Williams isn’t going to happen. Like Dorsey said it takes two to tango and the redskins are one of the worst front offices in the league. What Dorsey can do is extend J.C. Trotter, he’s the Browns second best offensive lineman. On to New England and Go Browns.

Well, it’s been 48 hours, so here we go. Questionable play calling in the red zone at crucial times , turnovers, terrible officiating, dropped passes and penalties. Sounds like a broken record. The majority of the time the Browns moved up and down the field against a very good team. The first three drives ended in touchdowns. The no huddle offense had risen from the grave. However, prior to the half up 20-12, first and goal with about 1:40 on the clock and all three of your time outs, stop hurrying and burn some clock. Freddie said in his press conference yesterday, he wanted to be aggressive, score quickly, stop Seattle, and use his time outs and score again. What? Are you kidding me? How about take your time, make sure you score a touchdown, burn some clock, go up 27-12 and leave Seattle no time at the half. Instead the Browns are intercepted in the end zone and before you know it, it’s 20-18 at the half and Seattle now had the advantage.

Everyone is calling Mayfield a mistake as our quarterback. Not me. Yes, for some reason Mayfield is not seeing the entire field and is missing open receivers. But in the no huddle, he is the quarterback the Browns drafted number one. The interceptions are inexcusable, however 7 out of his 11 interceptions hit the receivers hands. Is he throwing the ball too hard or is he seeing a brief window to fit the ball into the receiver? A little of both. On the end zone interception, he really zipped the ball to Landry, but if the Browns weren’t in such a hurry, maybe run the ball on first and goal, things might of been different. The pass to Hilliard late in the game that bounced off his hands and was intercepted was a game killer. Here’s my question,why was Hilliard in the game to begin with? Chubb is the third best pass catching running back in the league with a 83% catch rate. So lets have him on the sidelines during a must score drive. That’s on the coaching staff.

Every NFL fan, except New England fans, can agree the officiating in this league stinks. Did it cost the Browns the game like last nights Lions game? No, but when was the last time a bad call helped the Browns? I can’t think of one game. Usually when the Browns play the officials are searching the glossary of the rule book to screw the Browns. From the touchdown/ non touchdown, the blindside block that killed a drive, the horse collar call and the non call on the face mask to Chubb, the officiating is just plain bad. The Browns aren’t completely innocent on penalties, they tried to keep up and succeeded to hurt themselves. Lane Adkins (TheRealLA_) of the Orange and Brown Report put it best, ” One issue with officiating of today, they anticipate a foul and throw the flag, rather than seeing one occur.”

It’s obvious this defense needs DL help and LB help. They just can’t stop the run and the poor tackling is maddening. All Browns fans thought the defense would be a strength of the team. Richardson and Ogunjobi are pedestrian at best. This team misses Christen Kirksey’s play and leadership. I know the defense is missing half their secondary, but that is not the problem. Myles Garrett did get two sacks and they did pressure Russell Wilson most of the day, but now you see why Wilson is the current front runner for MVP. Once Seattle got the mojo going, you could feel this game starting to slip away. Still after all the bad calls, the Browns had the lead late in the game.

The Browns did have over 400 yards of offense, but a little over 100 was in the second half. Chubb did get 20 rushes for about 120 yards and Hilliard did have two good returns, one great one to start the game. Beckham, despite two drops, played well, 6 catches for 101 yards. Some would say that even with all the problems they still almost beat the 7th best team in the NFL. Well whoopty hell, almost doesn’t count. This team blew chances to win 2 games and should be 4-2 at the bye. Freddie said yesterday, the Browns are a group not a team. I’m no expert, but I thought training camp is when you build a team. What were these guys doing in July and August? Also is preseason for the refs to work out all their problems, looks like they were just cashing checks.

Finally, The Rashard Higgins mystery can’t be explained. He comes off injury, listed as healthy and the Browns don’t want to play the guy who Mayfield has the best chemistry with is a healthy scratch. Yet, Callaway comes off injury and a four game suspension and plays right away at a position he practiced for the first time during the week. The 2019 Browns highlight video will be titled “2019 Browns, The Year They Shot Themselves In The Foot.”

The Browns go to the bye 2-4 with New England looming and a back half of the schedule with some pretty bad teams. Next week I’ll look at the remaining scheduling and see if the Browns can find finish 9-7 or 10-6. This may take awhile so wish me luck. Go Browns.

Late Breaking News. As I was finishing this, I heard Austin Corbett was traded to the Rams for a 2021 day three pick. Okay, I like a GM who can admit his mistakes. But then Steve Doerschuk (@sdoerschukREP) tweeted this, ” Trent Williams should be on Browns roster quite soon.” Wow. Remember Doerschuk was the first to report the OBJ Trade. And now Cleveland Channel 19 is also reporting. Don’t know if they are piggy backing off of Doerschuk, which wouldn’t surprise me, but if you’re a Browns fan despite Williams age, definitely an upgrade. Stay tuned.

It’s been 48 hours, so lets get this over with. That was a debacle. Lets start on offense. Because of the tackle position, or lack thereof, this offense can not do deep drops when passing the ball. Mayfield can’t hang in the pocket that long. The Browns started off pretty good with a trick play by Beckham. He hit Landry underneath but missed a wide open receiver which would of been a touchdown. Then Mayfield over threw or had dropped passes. Where the hell was the offense that worked so well against the Ravens? No motion and no creativity. That falls on Freddie. I think he’s doing too much.

Then, because of a poor defensive coaching decision, the Browns were down by a touchdown just like that. It looked like that one play threw off their timing and their game plan. One early touchdown takes you out of your game plan? Again, coaching is to blame. Just stick to the plan and work your offense. That probably would have worked if Mayfield hadn’t thrown another interception. Before you know it, boom down by two touchdowns. The Browns did come back with a field goal, but why are they using an empty backfield when they’re in the red zone? Again coaching. Lets put Mayfield in the position to be Baker Mayfield.

Not was all lost. The Browns drive down the field and on third and goal, Callaway doesn’t make the catch and it results in a turnover. Yesterday, Callaway said he was learning a new position. A guy comes off a four game suspension and you have him learn a new position? Either he needs to tell the coaching staff he’s having trouble with the position or you don’t put him in that position to begin with or you notice he’s struggling with the new position. One last thought on the coaching. you put Hilliard in to pass block and leave Chubb on the sideline? Chubb is the third best pass blocking running back in the league, while Hilliard is one of the worst.

It may sound like I’m blaming everything on the coaching, I’m not. Mayfield made some poor decisions and looked like he was rushing things. He really doesn’t trust his blocking and I don’t blame him, but he needs to just calm down. To win a game like this, everyone has to do their job. From the head coach all the way down the the backups on special teams. By the way, what ever happened to the no huddle, hurry up offense we saw in the preseason? Might not hurt to drag it out of mothballs.

Lets go to the defense. You start the game in a 4-2-5. You have Schobert and a rookie linebacker starting the game. So on the first play the rookie is out of position and the safety takes a bad angle on a 83 yard touchdown run. This defense really missed Kirksey Monday night. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the pick of Mack Wilson, but lets give the rookie some help on the first defensive play of the game. Considering the turnovers, the defense held their own at certain times. If it weren’t for the 49ers having their third long snapper this year and a rookie holder, this game would have been much worse. And like I said, give the defense credit for forcing the field goals.

Special teams. The “Scottish Hammer” can punt the ball and get the roll. The spin he puts on the ball is outstanding. However even the special teams got into the act by allowing a long punt return in the second half. Only the third punt return allowed this year. Austin Seibert was good as usual, just wish he had more opportunities for extra points. One last mystery, why was your star wide receiver returning a punt when you’re down by 28? In the words of some of my ancestors, Oy vey.

So now the Browns turn to the Seahawks who are coming off a bye week. The only things the Browns have going for them are a west coast team going east and playing the early game and the game is at home. Russell Wilson, right now is the best quarterback in the league and can make a serious case for MVP. Pete Carroll is one hell of a coach and the defense can be very good. For some reason WR D.K. Metcalf scares the crap out of me. Hopefully the Browns will be back to full strength in the secondary. This is a must win game. Seattle is up next and Go Browns.

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.

This season I promised myself I would wait 48 hours after a Browns loss to write on my blog. Times up. Lets start with the bad. Freddie’s play calling on the last goal line series. I would of liked to see a run play on first of second down. Three time outs, less than a minute to play, run Nick Chubb once. Or how about the inside hand off to Jarvis Landry who’s in motion. It worked twice against the Panthers last year. The draw play on fourth and goal will go down in Browns history along with Metcalf up the middle, the fullback pass and the flea flicker pass from the end zone thrown into triple coverage. During the game, the mixture of questionable play calling and Mayfield’s holding too long on to the ball or not trusting his offensive line and feeling phantom pressure led to problems.

We all want the offense we ran last year late in the season, but there’s still a meshing of new coaches. Yes the offense shows, at times it can function at a dangerous level. There was a drive Monday night that was RPO and Chubb heavy and the Browns went right down the field and scored. It’s the lack of consistency from one drive to the next that’s maddening. Freddie keeps saying he needs to do a better job at calling plays. How about calling the plays that best suit the personal on the field. That’s all I ask.

Everyone wants to blame the offensive line for all the troubles. Not me. Sure Kush had trouble with Aaron Donald, but so did Bitonio and he’s the Browns best lineman. The tight end position is still underwhelming, but I did see signs of life. Seals-Jones looks like a very good target and Mitchell is doing well in his blocking and route running. Lastly, Mayfield is still leaving plays on the field. Everyone thinks Monkin has changed the passing game to more deep passes. I don’t agree, Freddie likes the deep ball as well. Mayfield is missing the underneath passing routes. I still think the offense is at 85% and with the next four games, it needs to be at 100% this week. There are still too many penalties, 35 in the first three weeks and that on the coaches.

The positives. Nick Chubb had 27 touches, 25 carries for 96 yards. My only problem, don’t run him to the right. He gets big chunks of yardage on the left side and small yardage on the right side. Mayfield might be missing some plays on the field, but when they’re there, man this kid is good. Remember, Sunday’s night game was his 16th start. LaCharles Bentley tweeted yesterday, “Baker Mayfield isn’t regressing, he’s still learning.” I’ll take whatever Bentley has to say, he knows more football than me.

The defense. Wow. First they held Gurley to 46 yards rushing. Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson were beasts against the run. Myles Garrett was Myles Garrett again without the penalties. Goff doesn’t like to throw to his wide receivers along the sidelines and for most of the game, they forced him to do that. At linebacker, Kirksey may be the captain, but Schobert is the heart and soul of the defense. he was involved in another turnover, I just wished he could have scored. The defense had three turnovers, however they couldn’t do anything with them. You have to go for the throat after a turnover. Mack Wilson is a stud and will only get better. The secondary, or should I say the second team secondary, was outstanding. Justin Burris was re-signed late in the week and had to remember everything from training camp and still played well. The Rams may have the best three starting receivers in the league, until the Browns get Higgins back. The Browns led 6-3 at halftime and held the Rams to 20 points, not bad. As for special teams, the Scottish Hammer had a shanked punt, but still punted well. Seibert was great. His mechanics are so sound.

Now the Browns head to Baltimore with a share of first place in the AFC North on the line. The Ravens are a very physical and aggressive team. Kansas City took advantage of that in the first half of Sunday’s game and went into prevent because of their big lead which allowed the Ravens back in the game. Lamar Jackson is a good quarterback, but the Chiefs made him work. They took away most of his passes and he only played well because of his legs and some luck. I want to see a lot of motion on offense for the Browns and the defense to place a spy on Jackson and keep the pressure on him. The sky isn’t falling Browns fans, the season isn’t over and there’s no time for panic, yet. Everyone take a few deep breaths. On to Baltimore and Go Browns.

Don’t get me wrong, a much needed win for the Browns. As I watched, I never felt the Browns were going to lose this game, just frustrated they didn’t score more points. If that’s the Browns biggest problem, winning but not scoring more, I’ll take it. The Browns did what they had to do. The positives out weighted the negatives. Sure, Mayfield was off most of the night, but still hit when he was needed. I don’t know how much of it was Gregg William’s defensive play calling, how much was lack of flow or if Mayfield’s hand is still bothering him. Baker still hasn’t started 16 games yet, so I’ll give him a break. Plus, he didn’t have his security blanket, Higgins. After Njoku got hurt, the lack of depth at the tight end position was alarming. Pharaoh Browns still looks lost and uninspired and Demetrius Harris is just not that good. I didn’t see Ricky Seals-Jones play any, so I can’t really judge him. Maybe he’s still learning the offense. On Defense, Denzel Ward has had two of his worst games so far. You got to wonder if all the concussions he’s had are affecting his tackling technique.

Now the positives. The Browns won by 20. Odell Beckham, Jr. A spectacular one handed catch and an 89 yard catch and run for a touchdown, the longest of his career. Tony Grossi,@TonyGrossi, said on the radio today, that the Browns haven’t had a wide receiver like this since Paul Warfield. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t care if Beckham wears a watch on each wrist and on each ankle. Nick Chubb was classic Nick Chubb on his 19 yard touchdown run. Why he didn’t have the ball in his hands late in the fourth quarter is something I don’t understand. The offensive line was better, very solid, but still too much pressure coming from the tackle positions. I think the plays coming into the game from the sideline took too long and this causes the offensive line too long to wait in their stances. Freddie needs to get plays in quicker or go up tempo, no huddle. It looks like Mayfield is being allowed to call more plays at the line of scrimmage. If that’s the case, get the plays in quicker to allow Mayfield to read the defense. This isn’t a positive, but since I’m discussing the play calling, Mayfield needs to get rid of the ball quicker. Holding the ball over 2.5 seconds will get him killed.

Less penalties. Yes there were still too many, but less than the fiasco of the week one game. I know Myles Garrett was called for 5 penalties, but I don’t care, because he had 3 sacks. I really don’t think the first offside penalty was correct. He looked like he timed it perfectly, but because he’s so fast I knew he would get called for it. I don’t think the second roughing the passer should have been called, but again understand why. LB’s Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey were all over the field making plays and I’m very impressed with Greedy Williams. Morgan Burnett played a great game, as did Eric Murray.

Lastly the special teams. Seibert looked confident in his kicks and his mechanics were a lot cleaner. The Scottish Hammer was outstanding. He finally had a punt returned and his last punt was the most impressive. I know there is a different spin on the ball from a left footed kicker than a right footed kicker, but his last punt had a backwards spin on it that kept it out of the end zone. The coverage teams were very good. I love it when Seibert puts the kick off just barely in the end zone or just barely out of the end zone. Forces the other teams into a return and the coverage was there.

I still think the offense is at about 65% complete. But there is still plenty of time to right the ship. The next four games are going to be a true test. Freddie needs to clean up the play calling. That will help Mayfield get rid of the ball quicker. The Browns have to get better at converting on third downs. Also, getting Nick Chubb more involved and getting Higgins back will help. The Browns are a 2.5 point underdog at home to the Rams and that plays right into the hands of the Browns. They seem to play better as an underdog and with the lights of Sunday night football at home, this should be a good one.

Lastly, I never celebrate another teams misfortune, that includes the steelers. Big Ben is out for the season. As a Browns fan you know what’s going to happen, The steelers will stink, get a top five pick and pick their next quarterback of the future. No wait, they traded that pick. Oh well looks like Big Ben is planning to come back. By the way, the worst teams in the league are Miami, the Jets , the Giants and the Bengals. I’d put the Cardinals on that list, but I think they’ll be fun to watch and they really put a scare into the Ravens this past Sunday. One last thought how does ESPN still keep Booger MacFarland on the payroll? He’s God awful. Home game against the Rams up next. Go Browns.

Forget whoopty hell, how about what the hell? Where to start. Let’s start at 1-19-1. One of these days the Browns will be ready to play football week one. Discipline can’t be learned overnight and during the second scrimmage with the Colts, the rest of league learned you can get under this teams skin. So Freddie and his coaching staff have to empathize discipline and playing under control. The only good news out this effort is future teams might (and it’s a small might) now take the Browns lightly. I guarantee Greg Williams and his Jets defense won’t. So now that I’ve had time to digest Sunday, lets get to the game.

First the play calling. Freddie can’t be the coach and the offensive coordinator. It doesn’t work in professional football and barely works in college football. Todd Monken, when offensive coordinator of Tampa, made Fitzpatrick and Winston look good in the deep passing game. Someone needs to remind Freddie he has Nick Chubb on the team. The running game disappeared way to early. Mayfield played well for three quarters and because of game circumstances ended poorly trying to rally his team. The kid has no quit in him.

Offensive line. We were all worried about the right guard position and we should have been worried about right tackle. Chris Hubbard got abused. Greg Robinson was slightly better until he turned into the karate kid. Eric Kush was decent, but as I just stated the tackles are the problem. This pressure made Mayfield very uncomfortable whether there was pressure or not. He step into pressure and held on to the ball too long. Add to the problem, back up tackle Kendall Lamm got hurt and like I said last week, Justin McCray is a better guard then tackle. I don’t know what John Dorsey can do about this, good players don’t fall from the sky. As for Washington’s OL Trent Williams, if he’s not available for trade, you can’t trade for him. Play calling can ease this situation not solve it. Let’s hope Freddie can come up with something.

Penalties. 18 freaking penalties. The vast majority of them were the correct calls. But a few were just plain bad. Yes the most popular professional sport in the United States has the worst officials. Three come to mind. The defense push off on Beckham, the wrestling take down and hold on Garrett on Henry’s 75 yard touchdown catch and Devaroe Lawrence penalty. First, the Beckham call, sure he pushed off, the titan CB was holding him. The Garrett call, hit him from behind and laid on top of him. And the Lawrence call, cursed at an official, well maybe the official shouldn’t have told him to “get the f— out of his way.” The penalties are on the coaching staff and this has to be cleaned up before Monday night.

The defense. The vaunted defense line was a non factor. Olivier Vernon was in on 91% of the defensive snaps and had no defensive stats. How is that possible. Even on the above mentioned penalty on Garrett, Henry went untouched for 75 yards. Denzel Ward had the worst game, not only in his short Browns career, but also in his Ohio State career. And lastly, why was Genard Avery inactive. Even if the line is getting no push, Avery could have added something extra on the edge. Something is going on with Avery and the Browns. I don’t know what it is, but there has to be some reason he wasn’t playing.

Now the good news. The Browns, despite the poor play, were still in this game late in the third quarter. Jarvis Landry had a good day. Chubb, when he played, averaged 4.4 yards a carry. Hilliard was very good on returns. The Scottish Hammer did a good job on his punts and the coverage team was also good. Also on the injury front, Mayfield’s hand seems to be okay. Rashard Higgins is practicing today and says he’ll be ready for Monday’s game and Beckham’s watch is made of plastic so he’s going to keep wearing it. I don’t know why that’s good news, but hey, you got to hold onto something.

Now for sad the news reported today. Cav’s announcer Fred McLeod passed away today of a heart attack at the age of 67. When my wife and I would leave our coffee shop here in Nashville late, I would also tune to the Cav’s game to see what was going on. I really enjoyed listening to the broadcast on my way home. His love of Cleveland sports always came through the radio. Rest in Peace. On to New York. Go Browns.

Here in Nashville, the local sports talk radio shows are still talking about Tennessee’s loss to Georgia St. Which I don’t mind being a Vandy fan. I guess the titans aren’t playing this week, or they’re worried about something. Lets start with their offensive line. Like I said in my last blog starting left tackle Dennis Kelly wasn’t at practice Tuesday. Practiced on Wednesday and told reporters he was still working on his plan to face Myles Garrett. I wonder if it’s a dental plan or a medical plan? Or dinner plans after the game to make him feel better after Garrett’s attack plan overwhelms him.

Also on Wednesday starting RT Jake Conklin didn’t practice because his knee was bothering him. He did practice Thursday though. However starting RG Kevin Pamphile didn’t and still didn’t on Friday. His replacement is Jamil Douglas. who’s also the back up center. Like I’ve said in the past, this offensive line is a mess. The titans are going to have to run the ball to keep the Browns defensive line off of Mariota. Heard a guy on the radio Thursday say the titans haven’t seen film of Beckham with the Browns, then added Derrick Henry hasn’t played all preseason so the Browns don’t have tape on Henry. What? The last time the Browns played the titans was here in Nashville in 2017 and the titans won 12-9. The soon to be 0-16 Browns held Henry to 13 yards on 13 carries. Nope never seen him.

The other big news here in Nashville was the titans putting their kicker on IR. They signed journeyman kicker Cairo Santos. Might be a problem in a close games, but I don’t think this game will be close. Sure the titans defense is good and their secondary is very good. They mostly play a 3-4 defense with their linebackers generating most of the pass rush. Yes defensive lineman Jurrell Casey is a stud and the interior of the browns offensive line will have their hands full. If I were the Browns I’d go Cameron Wake’s direction a lot. He’s good, but because of his age, not as good as he used to be. I’d send Njoku his way all game long. And if it’s successful, then the titans will be forced to send a safty to help, which opens up both the passing game and the running game.

Like I said their starting secondary is really good. Lets see what happens when the Browns go four wide and spread things out. If the Browns win the coin toss, you know they’ll take the ball first and hopefully go up tempo. I have a feeling if the titans win the coin toss, they’ll defer. Their defense is their strength so that makes sense. Besides a new kicker, their punter Brett Kern is a Pro Bowler, lets hope he punts all day long.

On the Browns side, the local media are still talking about whatever Baker Mayfield says and of course blowing whatever out of proportion. He said his wide receivers should be “licking their chops” with the one on one match ups on Sunday. Well yeah, they should, what’s your point? Still no talk of Nick Chubb. This amazes me. He only played down the road at Georgia, remember? Played both Vandy and Tennessee once a year, REMEMBER? As for the Browns defense, they still only talk about the defensive line. No linebackers, no secondary. I guess they’re chopped liver.

So that’s it from Nashville. I’m pumped for Sunday. My wife and I will get to the bar, Dawghouse Saloon, early. The Middle Tennessee Browns Backers always start the season with a tailgate party at 10:00 am central, then pack the bar we call “Dawgpound South.” I love watching the Browns with 250 like minded individuals. Go Browns and DAWGCHECK.