Offense Failed Tribe Down The Stretch.

It’s all over.

The Cleveland Indians’ hope for a post-season spot came to a crashing halt Friday night in Washington.

Following the home finale a week ago, the Tribe was tied with Tampa Bay for the second spot with six games to play. But after an 11-0 win in the first game in Chicago, highlighted by Jose Ramirez’ return to the lineup with two home runs, the offense snoozed and the pitching showed wear and tear in two disappointing losses, 8-3 and 8-0.

Another game of giving up eight runs eliminated Terry Francona’s squad, this one 8-2 to the Nationals. So, coming into the week, we felt the Indians could only lose one game, and they lost three straight.

We have compared the Tribe season to a basketball team that was down 20 in the first half and had to fight back to came it a game, only to have nothing left to win the game.

After Cleveland took a half game lead in the AL Central on August 12th by beating Boston on a Carlos Santana homer, thus erasing the 11.5 game bulge Minnesota had on June 2nd, the Tribe went 21-21 over the next quarter of a season, and that was simply not good enough.

Injuries didn’t help, that for sure. But the Indians got back into the race without Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, but losing Jose Ramirez at the end of August was a blow to the offense, one that added Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig at the end of July.

And it was the offense that failed Cleveland. The Indians finished ninth in the AL in runs scored after finishing third a year ago, while the pitching staff ranked third in ERA, one of only three teams in the Junior Circuit to have a team ERA under 4.00 (Tampa and Houston).

What happened to the offense? The simple view is the Indians probably only got better performances from the first base position (Carlos Santana vs. Yonder Alonso), catcher, and at centerfield.

Jose Ramirez didn’t produce in the first half, and Francisco Lindor had the lowest walk rate since his rookie year, and it showed in his numbers with men in scoring position. The all-star shortstop was very impatient in clutch situations, helping opposing pitchers by swinging at bad pitches.

The big deadline trade brought Reyes and Puig, but the former had an OPS about 60 points lower with Cleveland (785) than in San Diego (849), and the latter hit just two home runs with the Tribe, none of them at Progressive Field, at least as an Indian.

Puig did get on base a lot though, which is a good thing, just maybe not for your cleanup hitter. His slugging percentage was behind that of Oscar Mercado and Roberto Perez.

So, the offense still wasn’t up to that of the best teams in the AL. Again, you need to score runs to make the playoffs, and Houston, New York, Minnesota, and Oakland all finished in the top five in runs in the American League.

Depending on what happens today, the Indians could be sixth, just ahead of Tampa, but Cleveland doesn’t have the relentless lineups (read: no weak spots) that those other teams do.

The Tribe has just two hitters with an on base percentage over .350 and slugging percentage over .450. They are Carlos Santana and Jordan Luplow, who doesn’t play vs. right handers.

Houston has eight, the Yankees six. Those lineup make you work. The Indians need to get some of those guys if they want to get back in the mix in 2020.

The lack of consistent hitting hurt the Tribe. Averaging 5 runs per game is good, but not if it’s done by scoring 10 one night and getting shutout the next.

Good News…Browns Have Improved Each Week

To say the Cleveland Browns have disappointed their fan base would be an understatement.

Of course, after two seasons with a combined 1-31 record, last year’s 7-8-1 finish would compare to another franchise going 14-2 during the regular season.

And after GM John Dorsey traded for Odell Beckham Jr., the supporters of the Browns around northeast Ohio and all across the country had visions of a 12-4 or better record for the 2019 season.

So, the start after three games, with a 1-2 record, has greeted them like a bucket of ice water dumped over their collective heads.

No doubt, it has been a shock.

On the other hand, if you are a fan who didn’t allow visions of a Super Bowl dance in your head, then the performance of Freddie Kitchens and his football team is, although not satisfying, understandable.

In looking at the first three games of the season, the Browns are guilty of playing one horrible quarter, the fourth in the season lidlifter against the Titans.

Other than that, they’ve played okay. Not the above average brand of football many expected (including us), so there is certainly a lot of room for improvement.

Baker Mayfield hasn’t played to the level he showed in the second half of the 2018 season, and he appears to be indecisive, which could be an indication of running a different offense from a year ago.

This was illustrated to us in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game vs. the Rams when on a third and long inside the Browns’ own five, Mayfield was sacked by Clay Matthews III.

There was no outlet receiver for the quarterback. All of the targets streaked down the field, 20 yards from the line of scrimmage. There was no option to avoid the sack, outside of heaving the ball downfield and risking an interception.

This leads us to think there is more of the offense Todd Monken used last year in Tampa and less of what was successful for Cleveland when Kitchens was the offensive coordinator.

There is no question Mayfield plays better when he throws quickly, and also Beckham’s strength seems to be getting the ball on the move and his ability to run after the catch. So, why not do more of that?

We hope there was more than a discussion between Kitchens and Monken to do more of what Mayfield does well. After all, isn’t that the definition of coaching? Putting your players in positions where they have the best chance to succeed?

One thing that we think is for real is the Browns’ defense. Yes, the 43 points in the opener doesn’t look great, but 21 of them came in the last quarter with the Titans having a short field due to three interceptions.

Even with a totally new secondary against the Rams, they held the LA offense to just 20 points. And the Browns have a player offenses must account for in Myles Garrett, who has had a sack in all three games, and overall has six for the year.

John Dorsey added experienced depth in the secondary and it has paid off thus far. If that unit keeps improving and gets healthy, by the end of the year, it may very well be the strength of the team.

Because NFL teams play once a week, there is too much emotion involved in each game. If the Browns win this week at Baltimore, they will be tied for first in the division, and the optimism will no doubt be heightened.

Let’s all just take a deep breath.

Six Games To Decide The Playoffs For The Tribe

They always say the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, but with a week to go in the regular season, the Cleveland Indians are involved in a mad dash with the Tampa Bay Rays (and to a lesser extent the Oakland A’s) for the American League’s last playoff spot.

There are six games remaining for each team, and the Tribe is on the road for all of them, three with the White Sox, and three more with the Nationals, where the Indians will not be able to use the designated hitter.

Tampa has one more with Boston and a pair with the Yankees in Tampa, before heading north of the border to take on Toronto.

It does appear Terry Francona is getting some good news in that Jose Ramirez may return to the lineup tonight in Chicago. How effective Ramirez will be has to be seen, but judging from who has replaced him in the lineup, it won’t take much for him to be a positive impact.

Cleveland is able to start their current top three starting pitchers against the Sox, a team they have struggled with in 2019, going 7-9. Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and Aaron Civale draw the assignments in an effort to hold down the Chicago offense.

Clevinger will be available if the Indians need to win the last game of the season to get into the wild card game or to force a one game playoff with the Rays to qualify for the wild card game.

The other tough decision for Francona and his staff is what to do with Franmil Reyes in the nation’s capital. Reyes has mostly been a DH since coming over at the trade deadline, but to us, the Indians can’t afford to take his bat out of the lineup in the most important series of the year.

We would put Reyes in LF, and if the Tribe can get a lead after five innings, take him out for defensive purposes. Something tells us that the skipper will use him for an important pinch-hitting appearance.

More bad news is the Nationals are currently a half game up on the Brewers for the wild card in the National League, so home field for that game could be at stake, meaning Washington could be playing their “A” lineup and their best starters for all three contests.

A week ago, there was a hope the Nats would have a spot wrapped up, and they might, but the home field is up for grabs. However, a 5-5 stretch for Dave Martinez’ squad has made that possibility less likely.

With the Rays win last night, the Indians are down a half game starting the series.

We feel the Indians can only lose one game at a minimum and still make the post-season. And they may have to win all six.

Another positive for the Tribe is the performance of Carlos Carrasco, who was huge in the series against his former organization. Carrasco picked up a save on Friday night going 1-1/3 innings, and Sunday night, got a key double play with men on first and third and one out in a tie game.

If he can continue this, he could be a big weapon for Francona in these six games.

So, it all comes down to this: Six games. Six games you have to win. The post-season for the Indians starts in reality tomorrow night. It’s a nerve wracking time for a baseball fan.

Too Early For Judgments On Browns, Any NFL Team

We understand there are only 17 weeks to a professional football season and just 16 games for each team, so you can’t wait too long to start making judgments.

We do know, however, that in many cases, two weeks isn’t enough time to start making evaluating teams. You have to keep in mind what happened a year ago.

For example, we are hearing a lot of chatter about the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys being Super Bowl contenders. Both teams made the playoffs a year ago, so the optimism has some merit, but we feel people need to dig a bit deeper.

The Ravens are 2-0 and that’s great, it’s better than being 1-1 or 0-2, for sure. But to date, Baltimore has defeated the Arizona Cardinals, a team that qualified to have the first pick in the 2019 draft, and the Miami Dolphins, who will probably have the honor of making the first selection next spring.

Dallas, who the networks want to be good very badly, have beaten the New York Giants, who went 5-11 last season and are 0-2 in ’19, and Washington, 7-9 a year ago, and waiting for rookie Dwayne Haskins to take over at QB.

That’s why it’s difficult to evaluate the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams, who made the Super Bowl last season.

The Rams are 2-0, but their wins are versus the Carolina Panthers, off to an 0-2 start, and New Orleans, who lost superstar quarterback Drew Brees early in that contest.

Meanwhile, despite the fear and apprehension around northeast Ohio about the Browns, the defense has been pretty solid, despite the 43 points put on them by Tennessee.

Remember, with two minutes to go in the third quarter of the season opener, the score was 15-13. The Titans scored 21 of the 43 in the fourth quarter when Tennessee had short fields due to three Baker Mayfield interceptions.

And backup QB’s or no backup QB’s, holding an NFL team to three points for an entire game is an accomplishment. After all, the Rams gave up nine points to New Orleans without Brees.

The offense could be more consistent, and it starts with the play of Mayfield, who looks a bit different through two games. The second year signal caller feels like he is holding the ball longer, maybe looking to see if new weapon Odell Beckham Jr. is open.

Having a great receiver is a good thing, but you don’t have to throw to him on every play. Get back to last year’s quick passing game, where Mayfield was getting rid of the ball very quickly, and spreading it around.

If they get back to that and they still struggle, then everyone can be concerned. And if QB is still getting sacked in that attack, then the offensive line is a bigger worry than first thought.

Tonight’s game will go a long way toward determining what kind of team the Cleveland Browns are, but no matter what the result, don’t jump to any conclusions about Freddie Kitchens’ team.

Cleveland has a tough early schedule, we knew that coming in to the season. In the next few weeks, they play playoff teams in Baltimore, Seattle, and New England.

After the Patriots, they play the Broncos, Dolphins, two games against the Ben Roethlisburger-less Steelers, and two more vs. Cincinnati. If the Browns are healthy, and have developed some confidence early in the season, this late schedule could be very important for a playoff push.

Until then, look at the records of teams, and then look at who they played before making an evaluation.

It just makes a lot of sense.

Tito And The Young Players

To start, Terry Francona is a great manager, and will likely go into the Hall of Fame when he retires as the skipper of the Cleveland Indians.

He’s piloted two World Series winners, won three American League pennants, and currently ranks 18th all time in wins, and has a real possibility of getting into the top 15 if not higher before he retires.

And he has guided the Indians through a myriad of tough situations, most notably in the 2016 post-season when the team lost Carlos Carrasco to injury, and he used a starting rotation of Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, and Trevor Bauer (who really missed one start with a lacerated pinky) to get to the seventh game of the World Series.

There is certainly no one else we would like to have managing the Cleveland Indians.

His day to day approach resonates with the players. When injuries occur, and the Tribe has had many to deal with this season, including ones to star players like Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Kluber, and Carrasco, Francona stresses that the team should go about the business of winning the game played that day.

After all, that’s all you can do.

But we also say that doesn’t make the skipper infallible. He makes mistakes. He will go the extra mile for a veteran player who has performed for him in the past. And sometimes he crosses the line between stubbornness and patience, particularly with vets.

That gets frustrating in the race for a post-season spot, at least for the fans, that is.

It’s not like the manager has a lot of alternatives with the likes of Ramirez and Kipnis out of the lineup. Each night, Francona has to come up with someone who can play second base and third base, and he has to use the bullpen too, and that has become problematic recently with Brad Hand being unavailable.

However, we would take issue with not looking at a possible upside of young players, even if this is a pennant race.

Everyone should know what Ryan Flaherty is at this point. He’s a utility man, primarily at third or second base, and he can’t hit. He has a .215 lifetime batting average, and he’s been around the league.

Why not use Yu Chang instead? First, he plays Flaherty vs. right handers, and Chang is actually had more success vs. righties (9 for 39 with a HR). The only assumption anyone can make is Francona has more confidence in the veteran.

A veteran he should know is not going to contribute with the bat.

The same in the bullpen with rookie James Karinchak, who seems to strikeout everyone who steps in the batter’s box.

Wednesday night, the skipper brought in Nick Goody, who has spent the last month either walking people or giving up home runs, to face a pair of Tiger hitters in the ninth inning of a tie game.

That’s the ultimate sign of trust.

Goody got the two batters out, but Francona left himself open to big time questioning had the reliever given up the game winning hit.

Karinchak has pitched in two games, faced ten hitters and struck five of them out.

He used Tyler Clippard, arguably the Tribe’s best reliever in the last month, last night with a 7-0 lead against the worst team in baseball, when guys like Phil Maton, Dan Otero, and Jeffry Rodriguez haven’t pitched in over a week.

We feel fans have a right to ask questions and so should the media.

In most cases, we know what the veteran is going to do. Why not take a chance with the young player. He likely cannot do any worse.

Play Poorly And Win By 20? That’s A Good Thing.

It says something that the Cleveland Browns can win a game in which they played poorly.

They certainly didn’t play their “A” game while beating the New York Jets 23-3 last night in New Jersey.

In past years, the Browns needed to play very well, and have their opponents play bad to have a chance to win. The expectations nationally show how things have changed football wise here, but getting a win when you play subpar might be better.

We heard former Browns’ QB Trent Dilfer say recently that with teams not playing veterans much in the preseason, it takes about four weeks for teams to get in a rhythm.

Freddie Kitchens’ team can vouch for that.

We felt the penalties in the opener were an aberration, and that turned out to be true. Outside of Myles Garrett’s two roughing the passer fouls, the Browns played a fairly disciplined game.

Speaking of Garrett, much was made about this being Baker Mayfield’s coming out party, his debut on a nationally televised NFL game, but it was the 2017 first overall pick who impressed.

Yes, the penalties were bad, and he needs to play more under control, however, he dominated the Jets’ offensive line with three sacks, giving him five now on the young season.

The offense is still sputtering, and it seems like Kitchens is still a tad too pass happy, trying to use his new toys.

The second year passer threw 35 times, compared to just 18 rushing attempts for Nick Chubb.

It also hasn’t helped that Mayfield’s accuracy has been off through the first two games, he seems to be high on his throws. It may be because he doesn’t have the confidence in the offensive line just yet or it could be because defensive coordinators are disguising things a bit better for the second year quarterback.

We also think the QB is looking for big plays that aren’t there, and needs to take what the defense gives him more often.

We are confident that Mayfield will learn and adjust, and his play will improve as the season goes on.

Until then, we’d like to see the running game a bit more.

We also are feeling a little confident in the special teams. John Dorsey raised some eyebrows by going with a pair of rookie kickers, but through two games (again, small sample) Austin Siebert and Jamie Gillan have been just fine.

The former made three field goals last night and Gillan has had just one punt that has been attempted to be returned. And he made sure the Browns kept the field position advantage last night repeatedly making the Jets, with an inexperienced QB, start inside their own 20.

And the coverage has been very good too. After years and years of the special teams putting Cleveland in tough spots, this is refreshing.

It shows how far the Browns have come that they can still win a game on the road by 20 points, even if a backup quarterback plays for the opposition.

On the other hand, the NFC Champion Rams come to town this Sunday night, and a better effort will be needed.

As we always say, you don’t want to be playing your best football in week two. There is still plenty of time for improvement.

It’s On To The Wild Card For Tribe

It was a very disappointing day for the Cleveland Indians and their fans yesterday. After the Friday rainout, Tribe fans were giddy that the Minnesota Twins were using bullpen arms to start both games of a doubleheader.

Someone apparently forgot to tell the Cleveland hitters, because it seems like only Oscar Mercado showed up.

The Indians spent the first three innings of the first game trying to play home run derby against lefty Devin Smeltzer, and would up getting shutout, and then in the second game, with the Tribe going with a “bullpen day”, the relievers gave up three home runs, the biggest being a grand slam off Nick Goody, who is going through a rough stretch.

Cleveland now trails the Twins by 5-1/2 games with 13 to play, so they are all but out of it in terms of the division.

They still can play their way into the one game wild card spot, as they trail Tampa Bay by two games in the loss column (2-1/2 games overall). Again, though, Terry Francona and his staff are going to need some players who have been struggling to come through.

A few days ago, we pinpointed Yasiel Puig and Jason Kipnis as two guys who the Indians needed. Puig was 1 for 7 with a walk in the two games, and amazingly, has still not hit a home run for the Indians at Progressive Field.

Kipnis took a collar in game one, stretching his current slump to 0 for 12.

Here is a microcosm of the veteran’s season in the last three weeks. He went through an 8 for 60 streak, followed by going 7 for 10, and followed that (currently) by being 0 for his last 12.

That’s 15 for 82 (.183). And when people ask us why we would move on from him for 2020, that’s the reason. Baseball is a game of consistency, and Kipnis no longer has that, and hasn’t since 2016.

The bullpen has fallen on hard times as well. Goody giving up the bomb last night wasn’t shocking, he’s been ineffective for a month, giving up four homers and walking seven in his last 8-2/3 innings.

And while we are all very happy Carlos Carrasco is back on the mound, and hopefully regain complete health, he has not been the cure all for the bullpen either. He’s pitched to a 9.39 ERA in six appearances, and allowed four dingers in 7-2/3 innings in relief.

We felt the bullpen needed an upgrade at the trade deadline or at least bring up some of the power arms in the minors to help. The front office did neither and the relief corps has floundered.

They finally did bring up James Karinchak from Columbus before this series, and he did strikeout three of the five batters he faced last night. Maybe if he were called up a few weeks ago, he could’ve been trusted in a key situation.

Regardless, last night is over and the Indians need to win and win a lot in their last 13 games if they want to have a one game shot at getting to a post-season series.

After today, the Rays next eight games are against the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees, although just the Los Angeles series is on the road. They have been better away from the dome this season.

So, an opportunity is there, but we figure the Tribe will have to win 10 or 11 of the last 13, and even then, it may not be enough.

It’s an uphill climb from here, but not impossible yet.

Here Are Tribe’s Needs For The Stretch Run

The Major League Baseball, referred to by most people as a marathon, not a sprint, has reached the closing kick stage, as the Cleveland Indians have just 15 games remaining.

In fact, when the first place Minnesota Twins come to town Friday night for a big three game series, it will be the beginning of the final home stand of 2019.

Nine more at Progressive Field, and a six game, two city trip to Chicago and Washington, and see if Terry Francona’s squad gets a berth in the post-season tournament.

The Tribe has struggled against both the White Sox and good pitching all season long, so that last week will be a gauntlet to be sure. One thing to hope for is the Nationals might have their playoff spot (they currently hold the top spot in the NL by 2-1/2 games) solidified by the last weekend, putting them in rest/set up their pitching mode for the wild card game.

It would also help if Cleveland can avoid Lucas Giolito for the White Sox series.

As it has been all season, the key for the Indians will be generating enough offense to support the pitching they have had, ranking 2nd in the AL in ERA, just behind Tampa Bay.

We have railed on Jason Kipnis all season long, but no one can doubt the Indians need a strong finish from him, particularly with Jose Ramirez’ injury. The problem is the second baseman has had a 564 OPS vs. teams over .500 compared to 824 against good teams.

Nine of the final 15 games are against the former. They need Kipnis to get hot and stay hot in the final three weeks.

The other player who the Tribe needs to get going is Yasiel Puig. Puig was slugging .475 for Cincinnati (yes, we know about Great American Ballpark) and had an OPS of 777 with the Reds.

He only hit 9 of his 22 National League homers in Cincy.

His OPS for the Indians isn’t far off of that at 759, but instead of driving the ball, he’s been more of an on base guy, at .355 vs. .302 in southern Ohio.

The Indians could use Puig getting hot with the long ball in these last three weeks to help them push runs across the plate.

Puig has 16 RBI in 136 at bats with Cleveland. By contrast, Franmil Reyes, who started slow, has 28 ribbies in 131 at bats. If Puig could start matching Reyes’ production, that would help the lineup immensely.

The other concern is how much gas the bullpen has left.

Brad Hand needs to find the arm slot on his slider, and the sooner, the better. Hitters aren’t swinging at the back foot breaking ball he throws right now, probably because they know it will be a ball.

Hopefully, a few days off will help his tired arm.

Carlos Carrasco was supposed to help and still could, but he’s allowed three HR’s in his five relief appearances since returning to the mound.

The most reliable guys Francona has right now are the two oldest relievers, Tyler Clippard and Oliver Perez.

Clippard, 34, has a 2.25 ERA in the second half, striking out 36 hitters in 32 innings since the All Star Game.

Perez, who just turned 38 recently, has pitched to a 2.57 ERA in 16 innings post All Star break.

The ‘pen needs someone else to be reliable, perhaps Nick Wittgren, a couple of good outings recently, or Nick Goody to get back to where he was in July through mid August.

Or have Carrasco avoid the long ball.

Those are the keys as baseball heads into the stretch run. The Indians are still in the thick of the race, but right now are on the outside looking in.

With a tougher schedule in the last two and a half weeks, Francona needs a few guys to step it up.

Relax, Browns Fans. It’s One Game

To be sure, no one in northeast Ohio thought the Cleveland Browns would lose by 30 points in week one of the 2019 NFL schedule.

After all kinds of optimism, including here, over the weekend, the Tennessee Titans pounded the Browns 43-13 at First Energy Stadium.

We are hearing the squeals of panic from both fans and media alike after the performance, with many focusing on the 20 penalties (two were declined) called on the brown and orange, saying it is a sign of the undisciplined ways of Freddie Kitchens.

We heard Kitchens say pretty much at every halftime during the pre-season complaining about the amount of penalties on his team, so we are pretty sure he doesn’t condone them.

Our thought at the time was that it was reserves committing the fouls, because let’s face it, the Browns didn’t play a lot of starters in the games that don’t count.

And we also doubt Kitchens told Greg Robinson to kick someone or Myles Garrett to slap someone in the face.

On the other hand, if the Browns are penalized 10 or more times next Monday night against the Jets, then an eyebrow should be raised. Until that happens, let’s consider that the flags in the opener were a blip on the radar, or perhaps the result of one of the NFL’s terrible officiating crews.

We are frequent critics of the league’s officials, mostly because they are terribly inconsistent and selective. Perhaps the crew on Sunday interpreted the way the Browns did some things (not the kicking or slapping) as penalties and another crew won’t.

Remember, the same crew ignored a play clock violation for two or three seconds on Titans’ punt. Who knows what they were watching then?

That said, there were definitely some issues with the opening game.

It seemed that Kitchens got caught up in playing with his new toys, and ignored one of the biggest reasons for the Browns’ success in the second half of last season.

Nick Chubb carried the ball just 17 times for 75 yards, but just six times in the first half. Only one of those carries was for negative yards, and two of the totes went for 10 and 9 yards.

The offensive line was a problem too. Cameron Wake ran around RT Chris Hubbard several times, and when Robinson was ejected, it put the offensive line in shambles.

If your offensive line is an issue, doesn’t running the ball successfully take some pressure off the unit?

But let’s not forget this was a 15-13 game with two minutes to go in the third quarter. It’s not like they were blown out from the get go. The screen pass to Derrick Henry for 75 yards after Cleveland made it a two point game was the back breaker.

The Browns got impatient after that. Baker Mayfield forced a couple of throws, both were picked off, and the rout was on. Mayfield could’ve used some patience. There was still a quarter to play and it was just a two score game.

Plenty of time to come back.

We get that there was a lot of anticipation going into the season, and it was a kick in the head (no pun intended, Greg Robinson) for not only the fans, but also for the Browns.

Remember this, when the Browns beat the Steelers 51-0 in the season opener in 1989, the Steelers went 9-7 and made the playoffs.

It’s just one game. Again, if we see the same thing next Monday night against the Jets, then it could be a problem.

A Trip To The Playoffs Starts Today.

Today, the Cleveland Browns kickoff the 2019 season, and for the first time in four years there are expectations to live up to.

Fans expect this football team to make the playoffs, something the team hasn’t done since 2004. Cleveland went 5-2 to end the season a year ago, and the last loss, in the final game of the season, ended with Baker Mayfield through an interception with the Browns driving for a go ahead score.

That was the last time we saw this team in a game that counts.

While the Browns didn’t beat any winning teams in that seven game stretch, they did give several a battle early in the season when Hue Jackson was at the helm.

They tied the Steelers in the season opener last year.

The tied the Saints with a little over a minute to go in New Orleans in week two, and a missed extra point could’ve given them a 19-18 lead. The Saints kicked the winning field goal with 21 seconds left.

They played four overtime games in 2018, going 1-2-1, beating the Ravens, their only win over a winning team.

This is a very young football team. As we said a week ago, there are only five players on this roster over 29 years of age, and two of them are backup quarterback Drew Stanton and long snapper Charlie Hughlett.

The thing about a young football team is it will get better with experience. Baker Mayfield should be better, Nick Chubb should be better, Denzel Ward should be better, and Myles Garrett should be better.

But that wasn’t good enough for GM John Dorsey. He wanted more help for his two franchise cornerstones, first overall picks Garrett and Mayfield.

He accelerated the progress by trading for Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon, an elite wide receiver to help Mayfield and another pass rusher to aid Garrett. He also signed DT Sheldon Richardson as a free agent.

Remember what former Browns GM Ernie Accorsi said were the two most important positions in football. The quarterback and people who can get to the quarterback.

Mayfield and Garrett. Mayfield and Garrett. Mayfield and Garrett.

Dorsey also understands this is a passing league now, and so in addition to the pass rushers, he loves secondary people.

Ward was his first defensive draft pick, and if he can stay healthy (he had two concussions a year ago), he looks like he can be the shutdown cover corner good teams need.

That’s why he took CB Greedy Williams as his first pick (second round) in the 2019 draft. Williams was heralded for his ability to pick off passes in college, and the brass hopes eventually he will team with Ward to have a pair of corners to rival the 80’s duo of Hanford Dixon and Frank Minniefield.

Yes, the Browns have a new coach, and yes, that coach was only a coordinator for seven games last season.

We don’t know how Freddie Kitchens will do in terms of clock management, etc. (the things media and fans focus on), but we do think the players respect him and like playing for him.

He seems like to right guy to lead this football team.

Everyone may be singing a different tune in about a month, but optimism reigns as the Browns take the field this afternoon, and it should.

Barring injuries, the talent is there. Now it’s time to put the talent into use.