An Impressive Start For The Wine And Gold

We said all summer long that Cavaliers’ president of basketball operations Koby Altman’s instance on not making any roster changes, thus putting all the blame for what went wrong last season on J. B. Bickerstaff was misguided.

After the first seven games of this NBA season, we are eating a big fat excrement burger.

New coach Kenny Atkinson’s edition of the wine and gold is off to a tremendous start, winning every single one of the seven games they have played.

The Cavs opened with three non-contenders in Toronto, Detroit, and Washington, but then went to Madison Square Garden to beat the Knicks and then handled the Lakers and short-handed Orlando Magic easily, before heading back on the road to beat Milwaukee.

Last season, Cleveland scored 112.6 points per game, ranking 20th in the league in scoring. So far, although it is early, the Cavaliers are second behind Boston, scoring 122.4 points.

What’s even more impressive is they haven’t sacrificed defense in doing that. They were 7th in points allowed and 6th in defensive efficiency in 2023-24. This year, they are 5th in points allowed and 4th in defensive efficiency.

They are knocking down 40.6% of their three-point shots, up from 36% a year ago, and they are taking about the same number of shots from distance. And the only players shooting a seemingly ridiculous percentage was Caris LeVert (11 of 21) and Ty Jerome (6 of 12).

Atkinson has gotten more players involved, playing at least 10 players in each game, with no one averaging 30 minutes per game. Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell lead the team at 29.6 per night.

The most surprising contributor early on has been Jerome, who played just two games last season due to an ankle injury. We liked the signing a year ago because Jerome has point guard skills and has size at 6’5″.

He is averaging 9.9 points and 3.1 assists per contest but has a calm presence about him and doesn’t try to be spectacular, he just makes the right play more often than not.

The great start is excellent, but unfortunately for this group, the real test for these Cavs will not come until April and May, meaning the playoffs.

Barring injuries, we know this is a playoff squad, so can this style win in the post-season. The questions will be there until proven otherwise: Can the Donovan Mitchell/Darius Garland backcourt win in the playoffs and can Jarrett Allen and Mobley be on the floor together and provide an effective offensive system.

On the other hand, we love the more diversified offense, not as reliant on the pick-and-roll, while not losing the defensive focus. We also always thought Allen and Mobley can both be active on the offensive end and Atkinson has given them the ball at the free throw line and let either find open shooters.

Again, we will stress it is very early in the season. And that the Cavs brought back the same team is huge early in the season, while other squads are working in new players, Cleveland has an advantage in that they’ve all played together.

The Cavs’ best start in their history? They went 8-0 to start the 1976-77 campaign, the year after the “Miracle of Richfield”, when the NBA/ABA merger took place, and many teams had major roster shifts.

The wine and gold did not and won 16 of their first 20. Spoiler alert…they finished 43-39. Just so no one gets too carried away.

Looking At Guardians’ Pitching, Especially The Rotation

That the Cleveland Guardians finished third in the American League in ERA this season was impressive considering the state of their starting rotation for much of the year.

At the start of the year, the rotation consisted of Shane Bieber, Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, Carlos Carrasco, and Triston McKenzie. And Carrasco was in there because Gavin Williams was out with a sore elbow.

Because of injury and/or ineffectiveness, only Bibee was still there by the beginning of July, although Williams was coming back soon.

In the playoffs, Cleveland had games started by two pitchers who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues at the time of the July 31st trading deadline in Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb.

The strength of the pitching staff was the bullpen, led by what TBS’ Brian Anderson was calling the “Fearsome Foursome” during the playoffs: Tim Herrin, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and closer Emmanuel Clase.

Unfortunately, as we look ahead to 2025, the bullpen is usually the most volatile part of any baseball team. There is certainly no guarantee the relief corps will be as good as they were this season, particularly with the workload put on them.

All four of the pitchers mentioned were in the top ten in the AL in appearances.

It goes without saying that Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff need to improve the starting rotation going into next season.

We understand that Allen and McKenzie could rebound from very tough ’24 campaigns, but the organization needs to rebuild the depth they had for many seasons.

Bibee and Williams will be starters going into spring training. And they are probably the only sure things, and for a contending team, that’s simply not good enough.

Bieber is a free agent and will likely be out until June or July after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Will he sign a backloaded two-year deal with Cleveland like many pitchers in his situation do, or will he cast his lot with another team?

Boyd and Cobb are also free agents. Boyd could go for perhaps a big pay day this winter, and Cobb would be a back of the rotation arm if he comes back.

So, what can the front office do?

The closest minor league arm to the bigs is 25-year-old lefty Doug Nikhazy, who went 7-4 with a 2.98 ERA between Akron and Columbus, striking out a batter per inning.

We’ve also thought about moving Gaddis back to the rotation. Remember, he went to camp this past spring as a starter and was a starter in the minors before compiling a 1.59 ERA in ’24.

Why Gaddis? First, he’s 6’6″ and 260 pounds. But more importantly, he has a three-pitch mix, a very good fastball, slider and changeup. He wouldn’t be the first pitcher to do well out of the bullpen and become a solid starter either.

The only other alternative would be a trade. There have been several Josh Naylor rumors out there, and although the Guardians’ offense needs to improve, we could see moving him if the return is a proven starter.

Remember, the Guards do have Kyle Manzardo, who should be ready to play every day, so it would be a good, old fashioned baseball trade, not a salary dump.

We aren’t writing off pitchers like Allen and McKenzie, but the Guardians can’t really depend on them either. A team that has made it to the post-season two of the last three years and wants to get back in 2025, can’t afford a lot of questions in their rotation.

Solid QB Play Makes A Huge Difference For The Browns

As we watched the Cleveland Browns win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the thought they kept going through our head was it was comical.

After weeks of telling the media and fans that the team’s best chance to win was playing Deshaun Watson, it was clear during the first half that was complete and utter baloney.

Watson didn’t throw for even 200 yards in the first seven games of the season, and his replacement, Jameis Winston reached that figure midway through the third quarter.

In Watson’s three partial seasons with the franchise, he never reached 300 yards in passing. Winston reached that plateau in his first start. And couple that with the fact that Joe Flacco threw for that many yards in last four starts a year ago, and it is pretty clear Watson’s play was a huge problem for the Cleveland offense.

Oh, and another first for the season. The Browns hadn’t scored 20 points or more in 2024 and that surpassed that in the 29-24 victory.

We have been saying for the last week the Browns need to see what Winston can give them for the rest of the season. On Sunday, he looked decisive. He dropped back and threw downfield, and as we have all seen on various tape reviews on social media, receivers were open.

Winston’s style also showed the offensive line wasn’t as bad as some thought. Watson was being sacked on a ridiculous pace this season, but Winston was sacked just twice.

Yes, Wyatt Teller was back, and Jack Conklin is settling in at right tackle, but the protection seemed much better. Dawand Jones played left tackle for Jedrick Wills and outside of one false start, wasn’t noticed.

As for Wills, he might want to look up a man named Wally Pipp.

The much-maligned receiving corps looked much better with a new passer. Cedric Tillman, written off by many as another third round bust, caught seven balls for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Elijah Moore caught eight passes, and Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku each reeled in five.

The dink and dunk attack was gone, at least for that game.

Granted, the Ravens’ pass defense hasn’t been good this year, but frankly, the Browns’ passing game hasn’t frightened anyone outside of their fan base. Cleveland did just enough on the ground, getting 80 yards, with Nick Chubb getting 52 in his second game back and D’Onta Foreman picking up 26 more.

The defense lost two key players (Denzel Ward and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) during the game and still managed to keep the Ravens from scoring after Cleveland secured the lead.

They had sacks from Owusu-Koramoah, Ogbo Okoronkwo, and Za’Darius Smith, and also got a boost for Mohamoud Diabate, who replaced Devin Bush in the starting lineup and had nine tackles.

And while Ravens’ fans will bemoan Kyle Hamilton’s dropped interception on the last TD drive by the Browns, the Cleveland secondary also dropped a few picks, notably one where Myles Garrett couldn’t find a pass batted in the air by Shelby Harris.

Will Winston look like that every week? Perhaps not, but we would expect professional quarterback play out of him. Does he throw interceptions? His career indicates he will, but Flacco threw eight in the five games he started.

But as we have written in the past, the only quarterback who hasn’t thrived under Kevin Stefanski has been Deshaun Watson. Jameis Winston reminded everyone of that last Sunday.

Browns Don’t Need A Total Rebuild

With the Browns sitting at 1-6 this season, the draftniks are out in full force. In their estimation, the best thing Cleveland can do is basically trade every player who has some value in order to get more picks next spring.

And that includes a great player like Myles Garrett, and very good ones such as TE David Njoku, and perhaps LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. They forget several things.

First, it’s very possible if the Browns make the correct moves, they could be making a playoff push in a couple of years, and perhaps even next season.

The second thing is overcoming a losing culture. Many of these players have experienced a pair of playoff runs. We know it doesn’t look like it, but there is a knowledge of success for a lot of these guys, and the last thing you want to do is start showing everyone in the organization is it is okay to lose.

Because of this, it is also important for the front office and the coaching staff to show everyone that winning is the utmost goal.

There is no problem with GM Andrew Berry going out and getting draft picks for veterans who are on one-year deals and are unlikely to return in 2025. We are talking about players like Za’Darius Smith, Maurice Hurst, Rodney McLeod, etc.

We have already seen Amari Cooper, another player in that category moved for basically a third-round pick.

Avoiding a losing culture is a reason we are very curious about the movement to elevate Dorian Thompson-Robinson to starting quarterback.

We don’t know how the next couple of weeks play out, but if Jameis Winston shows he can move the Browns’ offense better than Deshaun Watson, it would be tough for the front office to trade Winston or bench him.

That would tell the entire locker room that the organization has no interest in winning games. Granted, it would be the long shot of long shots for Cleveland to climb back in the playoff race, but players don’t care about next season, and they certainly don’t care about draft picks.

Yes, we understand the negative salary cap situation the Browns are in. However, the cap will probably go up next season, which should help a little bit. And hopefully, the Browns can draft their next QB in April, and that player would be on a rookie contract.

Trading some of the veterans would allow young players to get some experience and perhaps allow them to flash. We are thinking of guys like DE Isaiah McGuire, DT Mike Hall Jr., CB Cam Mitchell, and even WR Cedric Tillman.

Perhaps with some playing time, they can claim starting positions entering the off-season.

As for Thompson-Robinson, even if Winston buoys the offense and makes it productive again, you can always play the second-year passer in the last two regular season games to see how he performs.

There is no question this has been a very disappointing season, but we aren’t even a year removed from an 11-6 record. There is talent on the roster, a lot of talent. Blowing up the roster wouldn’t be prudent. This hasn’t been a five-to-ten-year span without winning.

It’s been bad, but let’s not advocate for making things worse.

How Can Guards Score More Runs Next Year?

Before the season started, we felt the Guardians would be a .500 baseball team, but they got off to a tremendous start and won the AL Central with a 92-69 record and eventually lost in the Championship Series to the Yankees in five games.

When the 2025 season starts late next March in Kansas City, it will have been 77 years since the franchise has won the World Series. And yes, that’s the longest drought in the sport.

What can the Guardians do to defend their divisional title and also to get better in ’25? Today, we will focus on the offense.

Cleveland ranked 7th in the league in runs scored and the only playoff team that scored less was Detroit. Their team OPS was also 7th right at the league average at 703. They were slightly below average in getting on base and slightly above average in slugging.

All in all, they had an average offense.

By position, the Guardians were only above average at four spots: 1B (Josh Naylor), 3B (Jose Ramirez), LF (Steven Kwan), and DH.

We think the one thing the Guardians can focus on offensively is getting on base more often. The league average was .309 and only four players exceeded that: Kwan (.368), David Fry (.356), Ramirez (.335) and Josh Naylor (.320).

Last season, the Guardians made a concerted effort to hit with more power, and they did, hitting 61 more home runs, but it only raised the slugging percentage by 14 points.

How did that happen? They hit 49 less doubles and 11 less triples than they did in ’23.

Let’s look at Kwan, who people talked about his power increase because he went from five long balls to 14 in 2024.

What if we told you he actually had less extra base hits this season? He had 36 doubles, 7 triples last year. This year, just 16 doubles and three triples. Andres Gimenez dropped from 47 XBH to 32 in 2024.

Our point is the “be aggressive and try to drive the ball” approach worked in terms of hitting home runs, but it didn’t improve the extra base hit ability of the Guardians all that much.

The Yankees led the league in runs scored, but their offense is an anomaly because they have Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. They only had five regulars with OPS over 700, one more than Cleveland.

Baltimore was second in runs scored, and they had eight players over 700. Boston was third and they had seven players over that mark. Houston was next and they also had seven hitters over 700.

Can Lane Thomas provide enough offense to hold down a regular spot in the outfield? His combined OPS of 709 was about average. However, we liked his K rate and walk rate a lot better when he was with the Nationals.

At the very least, Fry and Kyle Manzardo should be fine at the DH spot, although the latter might deserve a shot at being an everyday player as the season progresses.

If Fry’s elbow issue isn’t something that requires surgery, getting him behind the plate more often would be a benefit because Austin Hedges doesn’t really help with a bat in his hands.

The tough decision could come up the middle where at least one of the regulars, Gimenez or Brayan Rocchio must do better offensively. Both were liabilities this year, although Rocchio had a solid post-season.

Simply put, the Guardians need better offense, and the best way would seem to be based on being more selective as hitters. Walks are good, when you walk, you aren’t making an out.

In the minor leagues, two top prospects stand out. Juan Brito walked 88 times (13.5% rate) in AAA last year, while Chase DeLauter also exceeded 10%. Brito could be a candidate to open the season with the big club, while DeLauter, who has battled injuries could arrive during the season.

The best way to add to the run total is to add more solid offensive players, not trading them.

Another Loss And A New QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns’ season just keeps going downhill faster and faster. Last Sunday’s loss started with the Bengals taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and although the defense played pretty well, the Browns fell to 1-6 with a 21-14 loss to Cincinnati.

The other significant event in the game was QB Deshaun Watson apparently tearing his achilles tendon on a non-contact injury in the second quarter thus ending his season. Watson has now been with Cleveland three years and has yet to play in more than seven games in a season.

Inexplicably, that did not give veteran Jameis Winston a shot at playing QB. Winston was demoted to the #3 quarterback, available only if the first two passers were injured. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was designated as the backup and was lackluster at best, completing 11 of 24 throws for a paltry 82 yards.

After the game, we saw a number of media people touting Thompson-Robinson (DTR) as the starter next week, with the opinion that the Browns need to see what they have in him.

We don’t get it. First, he was a fifth-round draft pick, so he was far from highly regarded coming into the NFL. Second, what has he shown when he has been on the field to make anyone think he can be a viable NFL quarterback?

We know he didn’t prepare as a starter last week, but when he comes into the game, he looks like a gimmicky, run first QB. He’s doesn’t seem real accurate, and so far, six of his 136 NFL throws have been picked off.

As a comparison, Watson has had three interceptions in 216 passes this season.

Wouldn’t it be better to see if Winston can have a comeback to his career like Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, or Sam Darnold? And if the losing continues, they can always play DTR in the last couple of games.

Look, more than likely, the Browns are going to draft a QB with their first round pick next spring. Perhaps Winston can be your bridge quarterback to open next season if Watson isn’t ready or another move is made with him.

Anyway, back to the game. There were more mistakes. Motion penalties, illegal shifts, lining up offsides. We know the coaches don’t coach this, but there has to be consequences to habitual offenders. Perhaps the loss of some playing time would allow the message for these players to soak in.

The Browns couldn’t run the ball either, gaining just 77 yards on the ground with 44 of those yards on runs by Thompson-Robinson. The only good thing was seeing Nick Chubb back on the field, getting 22 yards on 11 carries. His longest run was five yards, but still it was great to see him back on the field after his terrible knee injury last year.

The defense played well mostly, although one of the Bengals’ touchdowns was a pass to Ja’Marr Chase with big play magnet Greg Newsome II in coverage. The defensive back just can’t avoid giving up a big play pretty much every week.

We would guess more players who were brought in for this season, veterans on one-year deals will be (and should be if possible) moved for draft picks before the trade deadline. We have no problem with that.

However, we don’t want to hear the word tanking. It breeds a losing environment that is tough to get rid of. Browns fans more than anyone else should understand that.

What needs to be done is getting a victory and getting back to the philosophy that worked for the most part over the last four seasons.

It won’t be easy for sure

How Far They Go In The Playoffs Is Really Cavs’ Measuring Stick

The Cleveland Cavaliers open their 2024-25 season Wednesday night in kind of a weird area. They have had regular season success, winning 44, 51, and 48 games the last three seasons, making the playoffs after the last two years.

The Cavs are a good team and have many very good players. Donovan Mitchell is a perennial all-star. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have each played in an all-star game and many people project Evan Mobley to be that caliber of player as well.

Whether or not the wine and gold have a successful season will depend on the success they will have in the playoffs. In the last three seasons, they have gone from losing in the “play in” round, to losing in the first round, to being eliminated in the conference semi-finals to the eventual World Champion Boston Celtics.

Based on the maddening plan of one step at a time taken by the front office, we will guess they will judge it a successful season if the Cavaliers lose in the conference finals in 2025.

After last season, president of basketball operations Koby Altman placed the blame squarely on former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, firing him and replacing him with Kenny Atkinson, former head man in Brooklyn, and most recently an assistant with Golden State.

First, let’s say we like the hire. We thought Atkinson got the most out of his talent with the Nets, and Bickerstaff’s offense was a bit simplistic, depending heavily on the pick and roll.

Unfortunately, the coaching staff was the only area in which the Cavs made changes. Outside of first round draft pick Jaylon Tyson and free agent big man J.T. Thor, the same roster that lost to Boston is back.

Maybe that’s good, but we felt last year’s roster lacked size, and since Thor is the only player over 6’7″ brought in, we still feel that way.

Cleveland still is starting two undersized guards with Garland at 6’1″ and Mitchell at 6’3″ and with Max Strus starting at small forward (6’5″), the wine and gold are one of the sports’ small teams at those three positions.

It is interesting to note with Strus sidelined, Atkinson may go with 6’9″ Dean Wade at the three, giving the starting unit a lot more size.

We like that Atkinson said he is going to have a longer rotation, playing 10 or 11 on most nights, which will save wear and tear on the starters. He has a slew of 6’5″ and 6’6″ players off that bench, like Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Ty Jerome, Georges Niang, and the rookie Tyson, who has an all-around game many of these reverses do not have.

The reserves at the big men spots are concerning. The Cavs will use Wade, a stretch four, who frankly might be best served playing the three, and Thor. We would guess Atkinson will give Thor minutes. Bickerstaff never seemed to develop a legitimate big man back up after the team traded Lauri Markkanen, ending the tri-towers year.

The Cavs should be a good team again this season, and depending on the injury situation, should flirt with or exceed the 50 win mark again this season.

The measuring stick will be the playoffs. Philadelphia added Paul George, the Knicks added Karl-Anthony Towns (although we aren’t sure that makes them better), the Bucks are in year two of the Giannis and Lillard experiment), and Orlando is going to be better because their stars have another year of experience.

Can the wine and gold make a run to the conference finals or beyond? If they don’t, will Altman be the next change to be made?

Guardians Still In This Series, But Need A Win Tonight

Former Browns’ coach Marty Schottenheimer used to say no game was “must win” unless if you lose you are eliminated from playoff consideration. On that basis, today’s game three of the American League Championship Series isn’t that, but it’s pretty darn close.

The Guardians are down two games to none in the series, but it’s a best-of-seven series, so they aren’t dead yet, but you can get out the shovels if they can’t win tonight at home.

The big weaknesses that plagued the regular season, starting pitching and the offensive are again the culprits in dropping the first two games of the series.

In the post-season, the Guardians are 3-0 when they scored four runs or more and 0-4 when they tally three runs or less. They’ve put up just five runs in the first two games of the ALCS.

As for the starters, we knew Steven Vogt would rely heavily on the bullpen throughout the playoffs, but in game one, Alex Cobb pitched just 2.2 innings and Tanner Bibee went just 1.1 in the second game. That has caused the skipper to use guys in higher leverage situations than he wanted too.

That has caused some hiccups. Rookie Joey Cantillo came in game one and threw four wild pitches. For those questioning Vogt for going to Cantillo that early (and we were one of those people) understand he likely would have had to bring Cantillo in at some point. He used his best four relievers to the max in the last two games of the Tigers’ series, and no doubt they needed an extra day off.

And in game two, the bullpen was forced to cover 6.2 frames, and it could’ve been 7.2 if the Guards had taken the lead. He correctly used Cade Smith with the bases loaded trailing by two in the second to get out of the jam, which he did allowing just one more run to score.

The point is if either starter could get through four innings, it’s a much better situation for the bullpen. It’s that simple.

As for the offense, Cleveland has just three players with more than one hit in the two games: Brayan Rocchio, who continues to have a tremendous playoff, Steven Kwan, and Josh Naylor. New York has five.

The Yankees have seven extra base hits, the Guardians have just two, the home runs by Rocchio and Jose Ramirez. Cleveland hitters have struck out 21 times, New York hitters just 16.

The Guardians have problems in right field, where Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan have combined to go 2 for 25 with one walk in the seven games. And at catcher, Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges have combined to go 0 for 23.

We know Bo Naylor is struggling but pinch hitting for him early in a game just means more at bats for Hedges, who is on the roster for defense and leadership, but is a terrible hitter.

It’s not that the offense hasn’t had opportunities, they were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on in game two. Someone, anyone, needs to come through with a big hit.

Let’s be clear. Right now, this series is not over. A win in game three put the Guardians right back in it. There is pressure on Matthew Boyd to provide some innings and with four days off, no doubt, Emmanuel Clase is prepared to get Vogt at least five outs.

The Guards need a spark offensively. Kwan and Rocchio have gotten on base. They need someone to step up and drive them in.

2024 Has Been A Year Of Mistakes For The Browns

The Cleveland Browns seemed poised to at least tie up their game against Philadelphia in the fourth quarter, trailing 20-13 and having a first down and goal at the Eagles’ 8 with four and a half minutes left.

But then the mistakes occurred. A false start on rookie Zak Zinter on 3rd and goal from the three moved Cleveland back. Then as the Browns were going for it on fourth down, Jedrick Wills jumped and push the team back to the 13-yard line.

From there, Kevin Stefanski thought it was too risky to have a fourth and goal from over 10 yards and kicked a field goal, hoping the defense could get the ball back one last time.

It was just another couple of mistakes in not only a season plagued with errors, but an entire off-season of decisions being made that have backfired on the organization.

In their playoff season a year ago when they went 11-6, the Browns ranked 10th in the NFL in offense. But apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the brass, and they replaced Alex Van Pelt, who had been the offensive coordinator since Stefanski was hired, with Ken Dorsey, who worked with “dual threat” quarterbacks at Carolina and Buffalo.

Offensive line coach (and guru) Bill Callahan left because his son Brian was named head coach with the Titans, and the Browns went outside the organization to hire Andy Dickerson, who they interviewed for the OC job.

Why they didn’t go with Scott Peters, Callahan’s assistant is a question that should be answered by the front office. In the name of continuity, it might have been the wiser choice.

They also dismissed long time running backs coach Stump Mitchell and brought in Duce Staley.

The point is there were a lot of changes on the offensive coaching staff considering the offense performed pretty well last season, especially when you factor in the number of different starting quarterbacks the team played.

After Joe Flacco’s very good play down the stretch last season, the Browns could have brought him back to be the backup quarterback, but they feared the fans’ reaction if Deshaun Watson didn’t play well, so they passed on him.

He went to Indianapolis where he has a 102.2 passer rating with seven touchdown throws and just one interception in three games. For a frame of reference, Watson has five TD passes in six contests.

All of these changes were made with the idea of getting Watson to perform as he did when he was with Houston, in 2020. Instead, he is playing worse than he has ever played.

During his partial seasons with the Browns, 2022 due to suspension and 2023 because of injury he wasn’t this bad. In six starts this season, the quarterback has yet to throw for 200 yards in a game.

Even worse, he’s now started 18 games in a Cleveland uniform and has yet to throw for 300 yards. As a frame of reference, Flacco had four such games in the five he started for the Browns last season.

It’s been a year filled with mistakes starting with the front office trying to fix something that didn’t need to be fixed. It’s continued on to the playing field where penalties, dropped passes, and coverage breakdowns are causing the Browns to lose every week.

The players need to play better. The front office needs to admit their mistakes as well.

Guardians Survive And Advance

It had been since 1997 that the Cleveland baseball team won an elimination game when they beat the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the World Series.

But they won two this week. Trailing the Detroit Tigers, two game to one Thursday night, they won 5-4 to force a deciding game five, and then won at home yesterday, 7-3 to advance to the League Championship Series for a sixth time, the third time against the New York Yankees.

They have lost the previous two matchups against the Bronx Bombers, but defeated Seattle in 1995, Baltimore in 1997, and Toronto in 2016.

So many heroes in this series, primarily their big acquisition at the trade deadline, Lane Thomas, who went 6 for 19 in the series, driving in nine runs. His three-run shot in Game 1 got the Guards off on the right foot, and the grand slam in the deciding game was ultimately the deciding blow.

Steven Kwan went back to first half Kwan, going 11 for 21 with two walks. He had a trio of three hit games in the series.

David Fry sent the series back home in game four, with a go ahead two run homer and a squeeze bunt to score an important insurance run.

And of course, as it has been all season long, the bullpen was unbelievable. We said before the series it was likely Cleveland only needed four innings from the starters, and out of 132 outs recorded by the pitching staff, 60 of them came from Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, and of course, Emmanuel Clase.

But there were unsung heroes as well.

Brayan Rocchio had a tremendous series, going 6 for 16, and was sparking with the glove. So much for those wanting others to handle the position in the playoffs.

Andres Gimenez was having a terrible series but started the five-run rally yesterday with a single and then scored an insurance run in the ninth inning.

And what about Eli Morgan. Because Steven Vogt went to the bullpen after two innings, he was running out of relievers. Gaddis was gassed after throwing 32 pitches Thursday and 30 more in the fifth game, so Morgan, who didn’t pitch in high leverage situations often, came in the 7th and got two big strikeouts.

The other three teams in the championship series are Major League Baseball’s dream, coming from the mega-markets of New York and Los Angeles. And then there are the Guardians, whose payroll is less than half of each of the other three franchises in baseball’s final four.

The Yankees are the American League’s highest scoring team at 5.03 runs per contest, over a half a run over the Guardians’ 4.4 figure. Pitching wise, New York is fourth, behind Seattle, Detroit, and Cleveland.

The key for Cleveland pitching will be to handle the dynamic duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. If you can control them, you have a fighting chance. It’s a bit complicated because Giancarlo Stanton got hot in the Division Series, going 6 for 16 with a big home run.

And can the Guardians defeat Gerrit Cole, who looks like he is back to his Cy Young form in the KC series.

But remember, the Yanks won only two more regular season games than the Guardians, and although we are sure at least in the beginning of the series he will limit the usage of his four main relievers to just one inning, that of course means, the starters still only have to give the skipper about 15 outs.

As usual, where will the runs come for the Guards? Can Kwan, Thomas, and Rocchio continue their hot hitting? Can the Naylors provide some pop? And what to do with rightfield?

In a seven-game series, there is a little less pressure in game one. All the Guardians have to do is win four out of seven. If they do, a seventh American League pennant will be flying over Progressive Field.