Well, you have to hand it to the Cleveland Browns. You never know what you are going to see when you watch them and Sunday’s 27-14 loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh reminded everyone of that.
Punt returner Kadarius Toney was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after making a fair catch. That’s right, it wasn’t after a long return or after he made a great move to make a would-be tackler miss, he merely caught a punt and for whatever reason, decided to jaw at an opposing player.
Why he had the opportunity to muff a punt later in the 4th quarter is simply beyond us, not more on that later.
Add in two more missed field goals by Dustin Hopkins, the second occurring with a 13-7 Pittsburgh lead (meaning the game would be tied if both were made), and it will lead to more questions for the organization today.
He has now missed five of his last eight field goal attempts. In the NFL, that’s unacceptable.
During Sunday’s loss and the Monday night loss to Denver, the announcers spoke about how hard the Browns played, despite their poor record, a tribute perhaps to Kevin Stefanski.
However, is the front office failing this team right now? There hasn’t been a lot of accountability for players who are not performing from the front office.
There has been no report of kicker tryouts during the week despite Hopkins’ terrible season in which he has missed a career high nine field goals, five of those inside the 50-yard-line.
As for Toney, he should be released immediately.
But Cleveland being Cleveland, most of the conversation revolves around the quarterback.
Because Jameis Winston has a reputation for throwing interceptions (he has a 3.3% pick rate this year), there were many after the game blaming the loss on his turnovers.
His first pick was on a screen pass that the defender read and stepped in front of Nick Chubb. The second was him trying to get the Browns back in the contest. CBS’ Tony Romo criticized the throw (ironic because Romo forced throws), but the Browns were down 13 with just over three minutes to go.
If Winston was dinking and dunking, yes, the Browns might have scored a touchdown, but they likely would have had no time to score another.
We alluded to Winston’s interception rate earlier; did you know Joe Flacco’s rate a year ago was 3.9%? Flacco didn’t have the turnover reputation that Winston has from his days in Tampa Bay, so it wasn’t highlighted.
While we understand people who don’t want to go with Winston to start the 2025 season, we say find a better alternative. Because that won’t be easy, because of availability.
We hear a lot of rumblings about Justin Fields being available again, but frankly, we do not see that as an improvement.
Seeing what Winston could be with a viable running game would be of interest here. The Browns are the worst in the league at running the ball, and we know how important the play-action pass is to Stefanski’s offense.
We get the interceptions are an issue for Winston, but he does move the football, and that gives you a chance to win.
And we will stick to our guns about Dorian Thompson-Robinson. If you want to see him, play him in the last two games. That should cure your curiosity.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 