Tag: austin siebert

Hard To Ask A Browns’ Fan For Patience, But…

If you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns, it is hard to be patient. One playoff berth since 1999 isn’t anything to brag about, but patience is exactly what is needed with the new coaching staff.

The NFL schedule makers didn’t do new coach Kevin Stefanski any favors pitting the Browns against the Baltimore Ravens in the lidlifter for both teams. Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champs, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say the Ravens are the next best team in the league.

So, the first argument for patience is the first week opponent. This goes for any team because we don’t know how good the other team is. For example, the Steelers looked good on Monday night, but maybe, the Giants are the worst team in the NFL.

To put it simply, no one knows yet who is good and who is terrible, although based on last year’s 14-2 record, we assume Baltimore is pretty good.

Now, for other things that were obvious to us in watch the blowout loss to the Ravens.

Odell Beckham Jr. continues to be a polarizing figure in Cleveland. His dropped pass late in the second quarter was glaring because not only cost the Browns’ offense a touchdown (the now departed Austin Siebert missed a field goal), it allowed the Ravens to tack on another TD before the end of the half.

We hear the national media telling us what an athletic freak Beckham is, but is he still that? We’ve really seen no evidence since he arrived in town a year and a half ago.

And we have written this before, we don’t think the former Giant is a bad teammate and he isn’t causing problems in the locker room, but for whatever reason, he doesn’t fit here. When he is on the field, both head coaches (to date) and the quarterback seem to make a conscious effort to get him the ball, at the expense of the game plan.

If everyone can’t come to a happy medium, Andrew Berry may have to say this is a situation of addition by subtraction, and get what he can for the wide receiver. And it won’t be anything close to what his predecessor paid to get him.

The other thing that stood out was the defense. Again, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson was the league MVP in 2019, but the Cleveland defense was disappointing. Yes, we know there are a lot of injuries on that side of the ball, but you can’t let a team go 99 yards on one drive, and then convert a touchdown after getting the ball past midfield with less than a minute to go before the half.

Cleveland was 20th in takeaways a year ago, and had just one last Sunday, which occurred in the red zone, otherwise they would have given up 45 points.

The good news is the run defense improved, but again, bringing up the fallacy of the one game sample, it could be because the Ravens found it so easy to pass the ball, they really didn’t spend a lot of time trying the ground game.

We would anticipate seeing plenty of improvement tonight, but part of that could be feeling it couldn’t be any worse. Anyhow, the Cincinnati Bengals also lost their opener, and the odds are they aren’t as good as Baltimore.

However, an 0-2 start and more than a week to talk about doesn’t bode well for the Cleveland Browns. The angry mob could start forming earlier than anyone thought.

MW

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.

MW