Any chance, however how remote, the Cleveland Browns had of making the playoffs went away after Sunday’s 29-13 loss to the Houston Texans.
The Browns dropped to 4-7-1 on the season as the Texans won their ninth straight contest. Cleveland took a step up in class after beating Atlanta and Cincinnati, and failed the test. Houston looked like a team that could have some success in the playoffs against Gregg Williams’ squad.
The Browns have played a number of the top teams in the NFL this season: New Orleans, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles Chargers, and Houston. The Texans rank right up there with Kansas City and the Chargers as the toughest foes for the Browns.
We are sure there will be those complaining about Baker Mayfield’s performance in the game, but to us, it was just a reminder that last year’s Heisman Trophy winner is a rookie. He hasn’t played like it for, really, most of the season, but he still has played only 10 NFL games.
It was a learning experience, and our guess is Mayfield will learn from it, and be better this Sunday at home against the Panthers.
Think about how few games many of the best players on the roster have played in the league. Besides Mayfield, Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb, Denzel Ward, David Njoku, and Larry Ogunjobi have all played less than two complete seasons in the league.
And we would bet at least two of those players will be Pro Bowl selections this season.
As for Garrett, we can’t believe some fans are disappointed in last year’s first overall selection in the draft.
He’s second in the NFL in sacks this season, for cryin’ out loud!
We think there are some fans who think Garrett should sack the opposing quarterback on every certain passing down. It just doesn’t work that way.
Garrett commands double teams and opposing offensive coordinators make sure they know where is at on every down. Believe us, they are aware of him.
Since sacks started being tracked as a statistic in the NFL in 1982, the Browns all time leader is Clay Matthews with 62, followed by Michael Dean Perry with 51-1/2.
If Garrett gets four more before the end of this season, he would join the top ten all time for the Browns, tying Kennard Lang and Jamir Miller.
In two years!
Barring injury, he is going to be one of the cornerstones for this franchise as they move into playoff contention.
With four games left in the season, and none of them against the class of this year’s NFL, the Browns have a very good chance to finish the season 6-9-1 or even 7-8-1.
This week’s opponent, Carolina, is reeling with four straight losses and is 1-4 on the road.
Traveling to Denver is always tough, even if the Broncos are 6-6. They have won three in a row.
Then come divisional games against Cincinnati at home, and the non-passing Ravens in the season finale. Andy Dalton is done for the year, getting hurt last week against the Browns, and although Baltimore is a playoff team right now, it will be interesting to see how the league adjusts to the Lamar Jackson experiment.
Six or seven wins coming off a winless season would be phenomenal improvement, and so would not finishing last, which is also very possible.
On the other hand, it’s tough to gauge how this young football team will handle, what for many, is their first 16 game schedule.
For the first time in a while, the last four games should be interesting to watch, at least from a developmental standpoint.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 