Playoff Hopes Slim, But These Browns Have A Lot To Play For.

After defeating the Denver Broncos last Saturday night, nothing went the way the Cleveland Browns wanted them on Sunday.

Most notably, the Steelers defeated the Patriots, meaning the Browns already slim chance to make the playoffs are down to a very convoluted results, which would need Indianapolis and Houston to tie on the last weekend of the season.

That said, there are still plenty of things for the Browns to play for during these last two games, the home finale this week vs. Cincinnati, and at Baltimore the weekend before New Year’s Day.

First is a chance to finish over .500 for the first time since 2007, and only the second time since they returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. The even crazier stat is since 1989, 29 years ago, the Browns have been over the break even mark just three times (1994, 2002, and 2007).

That’s unbelievable.

They also have a chance to win four divisional games in one season. That hasn’t happened since Bill Belichick was in charge here, and that was 1994. Back then, the Houston Oilers were still in existence and were in the AFC Central with the Browns, Steelers, and Bengals.

So, success has been a seldom occurrence for this football team, which we think everyone has realized this season.

It’s been so rare, some fans don’t know how to handle it. We have heard a few people saying since the last two games don’t really make a difference for the Browns, Baker Mayfield and some other key players should sit them out to avoid injuries.

First, athletes (and include leaders and coaches) don’t think that way.

Second, the only reasons to do that is to rest players for a possible playoff game or to sit a veteran player out in order to look at younger guys. In Cleveland’s case, Mayfield and the others are the young players.

Sitting them out is a loser mentality, living in your own fear. Besides, would you want to be the person to tell Mayfield he isn’t playing the last two contests?

Nick Chubb, who didn’t play much in the first quarter of the season, needs to average 70 yards per game in the last two weeks to reach the 1,000 yard plateau. Now, a 1,000 yard season doesn’t have the cache it used to have, but it still would be a great accomplishment for the rookie.

With three more sacks this season, Myles Garrett would rank in the top ten all time for the franchise in career sacks, tying Kennard Lang and Jamir Miller. Reminder, he’s playing in just his second year.

We said this when he was drafted, but we’ve been watching Browns’ football for more than 50 years and they have never had a pass rusher like Garrett.

And then you have the coaching situation. There is no doubt that Gregg Williams has a better case to keep the job if the Browns go 6-2 in the last eight games rather than 5-3 or 4-4.

Also, Freddie Kitchens’ reputation would be more enhanced the more Cleveland racks up victories. If he isn’t the offensive coordinator here next season, we will have that job somewhere in 2019.

While the playoff hopes are minuscule, there is still a lot to play for if you are part of this Browns’ organization. That’s why they will treat these last two games like they have any of the contests since Gregg Williams took over.

Is Garoppolo The Guy Browns Should Want?

It would be an understatement to say many in the media who cover the Browns are obsessed with the quarterback position.

It is literally all some of them talk about.

We feel the Browns will address the position this off-season, either through the draft, using one of their four choices in the first and second rounds, or by trading for a veteran currently a back up on another team.

Most of the speculation on the latter centers around New England’s Jimmy Garoppolo or Cincinnati’s A.J. McCarron.

Should the Browns go after either of these passers, who both will be free agents at the end of the 2017 season?

We liked Garoppolo coming out of the draft in 2014, but the Browns went in another direction.

It has been reported that the Patriots want the same price as the Eagles got for veteran Sam Bradford, that being a first and fourth round pick.

The difference is that Bradford had 64 NFL starts under his belt, while Garoppolo has just two. So, the first thing would be for Bill Belichick and Nick Caserio to get back to reality and set their sights a little lower.

Of course, they may say if they can’t get that price, they will go ahead and keep Jimmy G. and continue to groom him as Tom Brady’s replacement.

Garoppolo came into the NFL as a guy with a good arm and a very quick release, which would be a sharp contrast from the quarterbacks the Browns used in 2016, who seemed to hold the ball forever.

In his two starts with the Patriots this season, he completed 42 of his 59 throws for 496 yards and four touchdowns. Keep in mind, he has Patriots machine, the best franchise in pro football over the last 15 years, behind him.

So the question is how much would you give up for a little used young quarterback who has been around the league for three years.

The difference between Garoppolo and the others in the Tom Brady back up club (Matt Cassell, Brian Hoyer, and Ryan Mallett) is that he is the highest draft choice of the quartet.

Cassell wasn’t a starter at USC, Hoyer was a free agent from Michigan State and Mallett was a third rounder, and had a bad senior season. Garoppolo was a second round choice, and probably would have gone in the first round had he played for a major college program.

So when people say to be wary of trading for a Brady backup, be advised that Garoppolo is a cut above the rest.

However, that doesn’t mean the Browns should give up the 12th overall pick for a guy who has started just two NFL games.

On the other hand, why not move the first pick in the second round?

As we wrote earlier, the Browns are likely to address quarterback with one of the picks they have in the first or second round, and if you are going to draft one, you might as well trade for someone who has two more NFL starts than anyone you will draft.

And if you aren’t going to draft a QB this year, then surely you would use a high pick on a passer in 2018.

The best option might just be Jimmy Garoppolo, especially if DeShaun Watson is gone before the 12th selection based on his performance in last night’s title game.

Why not deal for a guy with at least a slight track record of success in the NFL?

#32’s Return Doesn’t Mean Much for Browns

One of the most overblown stories of the week is Jim Brown’s return to the Cleveland Browns as a special adviser.

While we would agree that Brown is the greatest football player of all time, in the grand scheme of things, this is just a nice public relations move, that is all.

Brown will have little impact on the field, outside of talking to players about the importance of being a Brown, sharing the rich tradition of the franchise, even though that heritage seemingly ends with the decade of the 1980’s, the last time Cleveland’s franchise was relevant in the NFL.

Look, it is better to have the team’s greatest player on the side of the current ownership and administration than it is to have him on the outside, but let’s face it, Brown is somewhat of a loose canyon, and that’s what he wants to be.

However, it is hard to forget Brown showing up with Art Modell when the Ravens, at that time just recently moved to Baltimore, went to their first Super Bowl. He also counts Bill Belichick as a “friend”, and talked to the Patriots on the coach’s behalf during one of their visits to the Super Bowl.

Don’t forget, he also defended LeBron James’ departure when the superstar turned his back on the franchise and went to Miami.

Brown may say he respects and loves the fans of Cleveland, but he is certainly not one of us. He has turned his back on the Cleveland fan base time and again.

Brown will defend himself by saying he is his own man, always was and always will be. But his actions make it difficult for the fan base of the brown and orange to embrace him fully.

He even snubbed his nose at the fans when he decided to let his feelings toward former team president Mike Holmgren get in the way of attending the unveiling of the Browns’ “Ring of Honor”.

That’s right, the greatest Brown of them all decided to skip the event because he was mad at a front office guy.

The event was staged to allow the fans to honor and remember the rich heritage that is the Cleveland Browns’ franchise. At one point, a very long time ago (1950’s and 60’s), the Browns were the hallmark franchise of the NFL, winning league titles in 1950, 1954, 1955, and 1964, and making the playoffs 15 times from 1950 through 1972.

Brown didn’t care about that, he had his own personal agenda, which didn’t include the football fans in this city. He will say it is principle, we say it was a slap in the face to the fans.

#32 will no doubt be active in the community, and he has a great history of helping youths in gangs and in the inner city. That cannot be considered anything but a good thing.

Still, Brown will have minimal effect on the product on the field, and after decades of losing seasons, that is what is important to supporters of the Browns.

The legend, #32, the greatest running back in the history of the league, is back with the Cleveland Browns. Excuse us for not thinking it is a big deal.

Why Pan Browns’ Draft Now?

Nothing brings out so called experts like the NFL Draft. Everyone has their “individual draft boards”, which is usually based on what people in the media tell them.

For the most part, these fans haven’t ever seen the players they are rating highly, and even if they have seen them play, they don’t know if the skill set they saw during a college game will translate to the professional level.

In Cleveland, there is an affinity for the famous player or anyone from Ohio State. Either one of these guys will no doubt become a superstar.

You also have the people who will go back and criticize a team for not taking a player in a later round who wound up being a potential Hall of Famer. To be sure, if every team would have known Tom Brady would become one of the all time greats, they would have taken them in the first round, including New England and Bill Belichick.

Sometimes you don’t have a good book on a player until you get the opportunity to work with them on an everyday basis.

Remember, all of these people giving the Browns bad grades are not working in the personnel departments of any NFL teams. Mostly, they are media people with an opinion. And if you don’t agree with their ranking of players, then that team receives a bad grade.

This isn’t to say that Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi had the best draft since the Steelers in 1974 (they drafted Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, and Mike Webster) either. We are simply saying it is way too early to tell.

And trading the picks wasn’t a bad idea either. Apparently, the Browns didn’t see anyone there who could make an immediate impact with this year’s team, so they dealt them for a better choice in next year’s selection meeting. Why would that be a problem?

Also, ludicrous is the bashing Banner and Lombardi are taking for dealing with the Steelers, especially those saying you can’t deal in your division. If Pittsburgh wanted to deal Ben Roethlisberger, you’d have to be an idiot to turn them down because you don’t want to trade with a team in your division.

Look, we get that Banner and Lombardi aren’t likeable guys, at least in their public persona’s, and it is easy to take issue with their moves. But they have earned a chance, and they should get to fail a couple of times before they are written off as morons.

They are also getting heat for not trading down in the first round and picking up another second round selection. Yet, many of those people saying the Browns should have done just that, still complain about trading down in 2011 and giving up the right to pick Julio Jones.

Will we really hear from any of those people in Barkevious Mingo turns out to be the next defensive impact player in the NFL? Of course not.

The point is, the front office liked Mingo and they took him. He appears to be a superior athlete, but that doesn’t make him a great player, it simply gives him the ability to be one if he has the drive to succeed.

It is sure that the Browns’ executives interviewed the former LSU standout and talked to his coaches about those factors. It is part of the due diligence that organizations have to go through.

We won’t know how the Browns did until at least halfway through the 2013 season. Until then, you can’t condemn anyone for this rookie class. It’s simply way too soon.