The OBJ Dilemma

You would think the center of the drama world might be in New York City or Hollywood, CA, but they have nothing on what goes on weekly in the Cleveland suburb of Berea, OH, the home of the Cleveland Browns.

Yes, the Browns won Sunday to move their record to 6-7 and keep their flickering playoff hopes alive, but after the contest, all everyone could focus on was the continuing saga of Odell Beckham Jr. and the comments about the medical staff by QB Baker Mayfield.

Beckham seems to love this. There is always some kind of issue swirling around him, whether it be a visor tinted too dark, or what kind of shoes he is wearing, or now, is he injured, and if so, what is the extent of the problem?

The big question is does it affect the rest of the roster?

Look, we don’t want to come off as “get off my lawn” guy. Quite frankly, if Beckham were playing at a level that made him one of the best wide receivers in the NFL he could play barefoot with a crown on his head.

Unfortunately, probably due to the injury, he’s not. He’s not even the best player at his position on the team, that would be Jarvis Landry, who seems likely to set a career high in receiving yards in 2019.

We haven’t forgotten the rumor about him telling Browns’ opponents to come after him in the off-season either. We hope that’s all it is, a rumor. Because there is no way GM John Dorsey is going to recoup what he spent on Beckham during the off-season.

We could argue the organization has bent over backwards to make OBJ happy, from changing an offense that worked in the second half last season, to Mayfield trying his best to make him part of that offense. And we definitely feel the quarterback is forcing the ball to him.

There is no question Beckham is gifted. He has the talent to be the best in the sport, and a bust in Canton to go along with it. We question whether or not that’s what he wants.

As former Cavalier Jarrett Jack once said, some players love the game, others love the lifestyle. Which is Beckham?

This isn’t to say Beckham is a bad teammate. He’s a willing downfield blocker on running plays, and hasn’t complained about his role until the comments came out this past weekend. His average yards per game is at a career low.

Again, that could be due to the injury.

His teammates like him as well, much like they did in New York.

If Beckham wants to be here in 2020, we would like to see a renewed emphasis on football. That means more appearances at the off-season programs, not all of them, but enough build a rapport with Mayfield.

It also means running routes with more precision, something his QB prefers to a free lance approach.

We’d also like him to take more of a leadership role, although that may not be in his makeup.

If he can’t or won’t do that, maybe it is better for the Browns to move on from this noble experiment. It was noted earlier in the year that perhaps it was too soon for the Browns to take on a player like Odell Beckham Jr.

We believe you need to have a culture of winning in place before taking on a “diva wide receiver”. That’s something Cleveland is still working on.

Kitchens Starts Instilling Discipline On Browns

One thing about doing something for the first time is you plan it out in your head, but sometimes the results don’t turn out the way you envisioned.

We believe this is what happened to Browns’ coach Freddie Kitchens.

When the long time assistant got his first head coaching job, he probably figured he’d be like the young college graduate who gets his first teaching job. He’ll be the cool new guy, allowing the students freedom of choice in terms of doing their homework, taking tests, classroom behavior, etc.

Sometimes, the students (depending on where you teach) have enough self discipline to handle this. They understand their job to get their assignments done, and they want to please the cool new teacher. They want him to be their friend and their teacher.

Other times, the students take advantage of the laissez faire attitude of the head of the class, and then the teacher has a choice. Does he continue with his original plan, and get run over by his classroom, or does he put his foot down.

Kitchens got the head coaching gig in Cleveland because of his relationship with quarterback Baker Mayfield and the way the Browns’ offense performed in the second half of last year.

He figured he could lead the entire team the way he related to Mayfield, and everything we be fine.

Unfortunately, not all players have the internal drive to succeed that Mayfield has, so when Kitchens gave them freedom, and the Browns started 2-6, and did so while committing stupid penalties, and doing questionable things like wearing very expensive watches during games, and taking unnecessary risks with the football.

After the New England game, Kitchens had enough. Three early turnovers took his team out of the contest early, and after the game, he said things had to change. The penalties and turnovers had to end.

The penalties stopped against Denver the following week, but the Browns lost anyway, falling to 2-6 despite the Broncos playing a QB that hadn’t taken a meaningful snap in years.

In that game, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. wore cleats in violation of NFL league rules. Kitchens claimed he didn’t notice, but we guess he did and wasn’t happy.

Before the next home game, WR Antonio Callaway showed up late. Kitchens told him he would not dress. A few days later, it was revealed Callaway failed another drug test, and was released.

Then, news came out yesterday that S Damarious Randall missed a practice, and so the coaching staff left him in Cleveland for today’s game.

Fans were upset by this news, but they were the same folks who complained about the lack of a firm hand by the coach. You can’t have it both ways.

Whether this change came from on top or it was Freddie Kitchens realizing being a “players’ coach” wasn’t working, we agree that it was needed.

And kudos to the staff and/or organization for figuring out that the original plan wasn’t working.

Being a leader involves making some tough decisions, and Kitchens figured it out. That’s why unless there is a total collapse by the team, we think Freddie Kitchens will be on the sidelines when the Browns open the 2020 season.

It took a little while, but the toughness we thought we would be getting from Kitchens finally appeared.

What Browns Need To Do Tonight. Besides Win

Tonight is another big test for the Cleveland Browns, as they take on Pittsburgh in a nationally televised tilt.

When you start out 2-6, virtually every game is a big test, unless you want your flickering playoff hopes extinguished.

There is no question the Browns’ playoff hopes are slim, but in our opinion, the last team in the post-season in the AFC will likely have a 9-7 record, so if Freddie Kitchens’ squad can go 6-1 here on out, and the schedule is favorable, although it is minimal, Cleveland still has life.

How do they do it?

The simple answer is to continue to play turnover free football, and that depends a lot on Baker Mayfield, who over the past three games has hit on 73 of 111 passes (65.8%) with four TD throws and just one interception.

By the quarterback rating system, two of Mayfield’s three best games have come in the last two weeks. That’s why the growing criticism of the second year pro is puzzling to us.

The Steelers live on turnovers. They rank second in the NFL to New England is causing them, and if you remember when the Browns played the Patriots, the Cleveland turnovers early (three in the first quarter) dug a trench the brown and orange could not get out of.

Pittsburgh ranks 11th in total defense, 10th against the pass and 14th vs. the run. The Browns rank 15th in rushing offense, but second in average yards per attempt, so starting the game showing you can run the ball would be beneficial to Cleveland.

However, what that statistic means is Kitchens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken have been reticent to running the ball, which is another problem altogether, particularly now with both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt available.

Offensively, the Steelers are challenged without their two time Super Bowl winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They are 6th from the bottom of the NFL in passing yards and 14th in running the ball.

They rank right around the middle in the league in turning the ball over, but the Browns have been woeful in that category ranking fifth worst in the NFL with just nine in the first nine games.

They intercepted just four passes for the season.

Pittsburgh is an opportunistic football team, so not to be redundant, the Browns must limit their opportunities, and that means being careful with the football, which could be difficult on a frigid night.

Unfortunately, these Browns haven’t been the most patient of teams in terms of taking what defenses give them, although they have improved over the past two games.

Mayfield is aggressive by nature, and Kitchens seems to like using exotic motions and plays at seemingly the wrong time. Both tendencies need to be stifled this week, as the conservative approach is needed.

The Steelers are 3rd in the NFL in sacking the QB, and we know the Browns offensive line isn’t the most solid unit on the team. So, a good strategy might be the throw on early downs and set up shorter yardage situations on second and third down.

The good news for the Browns is although the Steelmen have a very good defense, Cleveland has already faced five defense statistically better in New England (1st in total yardage), San Francisco (2nd), Buffalo (3rd), Denver (4th), and the Rams (10th).

That’s right. The Browns have faced the top four defenses in the NFL through the first nine games.

There can be no patting themselves on the back after last Sunday’s win over the Bills. This will be another tough affair for Freddie Kitchens and his football team.

Holding onto the ball and not allowing big plays could be the determining factor tonight.

Browns Need To Eliminate Distractions

At 2-6, the Cleveland Browns need to pull in the reins a bit on the free speech that goes on in Berea.

Freddie Kitchens needs to send a message to his team. It doesn’t have to be given harshly and it doesn’t have to be given through the media, but he needs to make sure every single player on the roster has one thing in mind: Winning!

Let’s stop discussions about getting the ball to Odell Beckham Jr., and what shoes he is wearing and getting fined by the wardrobe police.

No more talk about Baker Mayfield’s facial hair and how many times per day he shaves.

Can the discussions about who is calling the plays and who will call the plays going forward.

Kitchens likes to say if you don’t wear orange and brown, you don’t matter. Well, you know what else doesn’t matter? Any of this crap.

Someone needs to step up and tell everyone not to feed into the media’s obsession with some of this stuff.

When Beckham speaks during the week and is asked about his targets? He should reply with touches don’t matter unless a victory comes with it. The same for Jarvis Landry.

Mayfield needs to have the same mantra. Tell the reporters that he doesn’t care if he throws five passes in the game as long as they win.

And any questions about anything else should be met with the response of “I’m here to talk about football”.

We have a new appreciation for Bill Belichick and his “we’re on the Cincinnati” speak. There is too much talking about the previous week and other topics that have nothing to do with winning.

Notice the media doesn’t talk to Nick Chubb a lot, and the running back is probably the best player on the offensive side of the ball.

Why don’t they talk to him? Because he doesn’t say anything.

We think about the movie Bull Durham when Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) talks to Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) about his fungused shower shoes. Davis tells him when you have shoes like that and win 20 games in the major leagues you are colorful. In the minors, it’s just gross.

If the Browns were 6-2 right now, Mayfield’s facial hair would be fun, Beckham’s uniform violations would be rebellious, and no one would be questioning who should be calling the plays.

But they are 2-6, so maybe, just maybe it’s time for everyone to just shut up, play football, and win some games.

When John Dorsey took over as GM, one thing he wanted to do was keep things in house, meaning no more leaks to the national media. Kitchens should do the same with the locker room.

With the record they have, the Browns need to get back to basics. Think about how many exotic fakes and motion packages they used last week in Denver.

Defensively, they seemed unwilling to blitz at QB playing in his first NFL game.

We have said in the past that sometimes the obvious thing to do is also the right thing to do.

For the Cleveland Browns, everybody should be on the same page and they clearly are not. Winning cures a lot of evils. That’s what every single person in the Browns’ organization should be focusing on from here on out.

Browns Need To Return To ’18 Formula

Penalties and turnovers. That’s the mantra of Browns’ coach Freddie Kitchens in terms of what needs to improve if Cleveland wants to start winning football games again.

We certainly feel the number of pre-snap penalties has to be eliminated, you simply cannot have two players in motion, jumping offsides, and we will add the inordinate amount of illegal linemen downfield and expect to win in the NFL.

We spoke a couple of weeks ago about “zero defects”, and that’s what the Browns should be striving for.

The turnovers are quite a contrast to 2018, though. Last year, Cleveland won the turnover battle on the season at +7, causing 31 turnovers, almost two per game.

This year, it’s just the opposite, with the Browns being a minus nine. That’s a 16 turnover swing, and a good reason the team is struggling at 2-5.

Moreover, the offense just looks different, and we would have to question the hiring of Todd Monken as offensive coordinator because in our opinion, his “system” doesn’t fit the skill set of the personnel, particular Baker Mayfield.

When he was the OC at Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers had the most interceptions in the NFL a year ago, and ranked 20th and 27th in his other two seasons.

Perhaps his offense is high risk, high reward?

We found something else interesting about the passing game between 2018 and 2019, and that is the number of receivers being involved.

Last season, the Browns had five receivers that averaged 2.5 catches per game: Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, Rashard Higgins, Duke Johnson, and Antonio Callaway.

This season, that number has dropped to three: Odell Beckham Jr., Landry, and Nick Chubb. Part of what made Mayfield special in his rookie season was his ability to spread the ball around.

That doesn’t seem to be the case in 2019. Perhaps he feels obligated to get the ball to the All Pro Beckham as some have suggested. Or maybe the coaching staff is telling Mayfield to make a concerted effort to get the ball to the playmakers.

Either way, we would just like to see a return to a year ago.

The closest performance to the offense run last season with Kitchens as the coordinator was the Baltimore game, and surprise, surprise, the Browns put up 40 points, 30% of their season total.

That day, Mayfield hit seven different receivers, and completed 20 of 30 passes for 342 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Five different receivers caught two or more throws, led by Landry’s eight for 167 yards.

It is by far Mayfield’s best game of the year, finishing with a 102.4 passer rating (a stat we hate, by the way). His next best game was vs. the Jets (83.6 rating).

Another thing we have noticed in the former Heisman Trophy winner’s game this year is his reluctance to pull the ball down and run. While he’s never going to be Lamar Jackson, last year Mayfield had 39 carries in his 14 games.

This year? Just 9 runs in the 7 games. Sometimes, it’s better to step up in the pocket and gain 2-3 yards than to take a sack or throw the ball away.

Last season, Mayfield looked very decisive, this year, he looks confused. Perhaps it’s a new system, maybe not.

Whatever the reason, it’s time to get back to basics and it starts this Sunday in Denver.

The Browns should treat this as a new beginning.

Questioning Baker? Way Too Soon.

There is no question Baker Mayfield hasn’t played to the level he finished last season at.

His completion percentage has dropped from 63.8% to 56.6% and his interception rate has increased from 2.9% to 5.6%, almost double of his rookie season.

However, talk that he isn’t the answer to the Browns’ decade long quarterback issues is way too premature.

First, last season’s number were compiled over 14 games, 13 of them starts. This year, he has played just six games. So, there is a decent chance some of his numbers can improve over the next eight games.

This isn’t to say Mayfield has been blameless in the Browns’ difficulties in the early going. His interception just before halftime vs. Seattle was reckless considering the situation.

And yes, we know Jarvis Landry got a hand on the throw, but their were three defenders in the area, and considering the score at the time (Browns were leading 20-12), the better decision would have been to throw the ball in the seats and live to play another down.

On the other hand, Dontrell Hilliard and Antonio Callaway should have held on to passes each of the last two weeks, instead of popping them up into hands of defenders.

Quite frankly, it’s way too soon to jump off the bandwagon.

Mayfield’s biggest issue in our opinion is he is too aggressive at times. That’s a good thing in most football circumstances, but when he learns when to pull back on the throttle at times, we feel everyone will see a much more efficient (and better) player.

Some guys never get this, so we aren’t saying it will happen for sure.

What we do know is in the last seven games in 2018, Mayfield was sacked three times. Total. This year, in six games, he has been tackled for loss 16 times. That’s a huge difference, and most definitely could be a reason for diminished stats.

How many times have you heard opposing coaches say a quarterback can’t hurt them if he’s laying flat on his back.

How did the Giants beat the Patriots in two Super Bowls? The put pressure on Tom Brady. And as former Browns’ executive Ernie Accorsi has said, the two most important positions on the field are the QB and a guy who can get to the opposing QB.

No coincidence that when the Browns had the first overall picks in both 2017 and 2018 they took Myles Garrett and Mayfield.

What we don’t see, and this leads us to believe this is a blip on the radar, is a passer not being able to throw guys open, or missing wide open receivers.

Mayfield has had two games where he has hit over 65% of his throws this season (vs. Houston and vs. Baltimore).

And he’s not dinking and dunking either. The former Heisman Trophy winner ranks third in the league in average yards per completion at 13.4, behind only Patrick Mahomes and Jameis Winston.

Also, of the 10 worst pass defenses statistically, the Browns have faced one, Baltimore.

Conversely, they’ve faced two of the top 10 squads: San Francisco and Tennessee. So, Mayfield has seen more real good defenses than real bad ones.

Browns Have Plenty To Fix During Week Off.

Back in the late 1960’s, when the Browns were heading into a playoff game, the late sports editor of The Plain Dealer, Hal Lebovitz used to talk about “zero defects”, meaning the football team needed to stay away from mistakes in these big games.

We thought about that as we watched Sunday afternoon, when the Browns squandered a 20-6 lead and fell to 2-4 after a 32-28 loss to Seattle.

Freddie Kitchens’ squad is second in the NFL in turnovers on the season with 14, sandwiched in between the New York Giants and Tampa Bay, two teams who didn’t come into the season with big playoff aspirations.

And the Browns also are tied for the league lead in penalties (with Atlanta), and they have accumulated the most yards penalized to date.

You put those two things together, and it is amazing the Browns have won two games.

It is difficult for a coach to tell his team not to commit turnovers and still have them be aggressive, but in the past two games, interceptions before halftime have hurt the Browns badly.

This past Sunday, Baker Mayfield’s pick with a 20-12 lead and under two minutes to go was a terrible decision. The intended receiver, Jarvis Landry, was surrounded by defenders. With the score in his favor, the quarterback should throw the ball in Lake Erie instead of trying to fit one in.

At the very least, Cleveland should’ve went into the half with a 23-12 lead.

Now, it wasn’t Mayfield’s fault the defense let Seattle go 88 yards to cut the lead to 20-18 before intermission.

After a promising start to the season, the defense has been bad the past three weeks, allowing at least 175 yards rushing in each contest.

Here is a current list of the worst teams in the NFL against the run:

Cincinnati (0-6)
Miami (0-5)
Kansas City (4-2)
Cleveland (2-4)
Washington (1-5)

Another old adage for football teams is if you can’t run the ball and stop the run, it’s tough to win, and that holds true even in today’s pass happy NFL.

You can see from this list, you have to have an overwhelming offense to overcome not being able to stop teams from running the ball, and the Chiefs have lost two straight because their opponents have controlled the clock and played keep away.

Kitchens said during training camp the defensive front might be the strength of the team, but right now it looks far from that, and as for the pass rush, the Browns rank 4th, but it seems like if it isn’t Myles Garrett (9) applying the pressure, it simply isn’t there.

Cleveland is only in the middle of the pack in terms of quarterback pressures.

We understand it’s a pretty simplistic viewpoint, but it’s clear these are the two areas to clean up during the bye week.

The defense has to be better against the ground game. They cannot let opponents control the line of scrimmage and gash them for big yardage.

Offensively, they have to hold on to the ball, you cannot continue to turn it over at this rate and win football games.

It has been a brutal schedule to be sure. Cleveland has played two of the best five teams in the NFL thus far (San Francisco and Seattle) and will play another one (New England) in their next game.

The team currently leading the division, Baltimore, has to play the 49ers and Seahawks, as well as the Rams.

So, the division is still in play.

But the Browns have to get into “zero defects” mode. If they can, this season will still have a long way to go.

Browns Offensive Plan Seems Inconsistent.

There has been no NFL team more schizophrenic than the Cleveland Browns in 2019, and because they are still a very inexperienced group, we should have expected that.

It seems like every week Freddie Kitchens and his coaching staff are trying to reinvent themselves, and that’s why we are seeing results that resemble a roller coaster.

For example, the Browns were very successful in their win vs. Baltimore running the ball and throwing quick hitting short passes, for the most part. Yet, against San Francisco, a team with a very good front four, they decided to throw the ball downfield early.

After the pass by Odell Beckham Jr. on the game’s first play, three of Baker Mayfield’s next four passes were considered “deep throws” according to the play by play on NFL.com.

None were completed, one was intercepted, and Cleveland was lucky the turnover didn’t turn into points.

It seemed like a curious game plan to say the least.

We thought going into the game the Browns might be better off calling some short passes on early downs to gain the down and distance advantage since the 49ers are very good up front.

Get into 2nd and 4 or 3rd and 3 situations instead of long distance situations where the San Francisco pass rush can pin their ears.

Keep with manageable down and distances. However, here are the first few distances the Browns had to cover on third down on Monday night:

3rd & 13: Deep pass to Ricky Seals-Jones (incomplete)
3rd & 7: Baker Mayfield sacked
3rd & 3: Mayfield fumbled (no short pass options open)
3rd & 6: 12 yard pass to Jarvis Landry for a first down.
3rd & 12: incomplete pass

Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter said he thought the Browns were trying to run their offense to keep people happy. It appeared they were forcing the ball to Antonio Callaway, just returning from suspension.

Mayfield’s first interception was intended for the second year receiver.

And the first quarter seemed to be more about getting Beckham involved. The first play was a pass from Beckham to Landry, and the second was an incomplete pass to OBJ.

Later in the first quarter was another long throw to Beckham and a reverse for him too.

It certainly seems like the coaching staff was trying to feature the former Giant after he caught just two passes last week. Was he complaining about not getting the ball? No one has reported anything like that.

Mayfield doesn’t seem to have a ton of confidence in the offensive line’s pass blocking, so why not run some short passes early and run the ball to take the pressure off of them. Putting them in long yardage situations just exacerbates the problem.

The weird thing is the inconsistency in the play calling from week to week. The Browns had a lot of success the week before using short, quick passes and then went away from that against San Francisco.

Did the 49ers take it away from them? It’s doubtful that early in the game, because they didn’t seem to try any of those plays.

And the longer passes seem to play against the weakness of the offensive line, longer developing plays seem to put more pressure on that group.

Right now, the Browns need someone to say this is how we are going to play and then implement that plan on a weekly basis. It’s called having an identity.

Hopefully they will start to develop one.

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.

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.