A Great Night On The Lakefront. Playoff Spot Clinched.

Before the 2023 NFL season, we speculated this was a make-or-break year for the Cleveland Browns. And that much of their success would depend on QB Deshaun Watson.

We felt if Watson was good, the Browns would win and Kevin Stefanski would be the coach next season, and if he didn’t play well, Cleveland would be 7-10 and likely looking for a new coach for 2024.

We batted .500, we guess.

Although Watson did okay in the six games he started, the best quarterback play Cleveland received this year came from veteran Joe Flacco, who is now the toast of the town.

Flacco, who famously was out of the league six weeks ago, has a 90.2 quarterback rating (Watson’s was 84.3) and has put up 143 points in his five starts, an average of 28.6 per contest. Overall, Cleveland averages 23.9 points per game.

However, there is no longer any conversation about who will be guiding the Browns next season. An 11-5 record, a second playoff spot in four years, and an overall record of 37-29 means Stefanski will likely get a contract extension, and could win the NFL’s coach of the year for a second time.

The Browns locked up their spot in the playoffs Thursday night with an incredible offensive display in the first half and beat the Jets 37-20. New York hadn’t allowed a 300-yard passing performance in 33 games coming into the contest, but Flacco threw for over 290 in the first half alone, connecting on three touchdown passes.

Think about this, it was accomplished without Amari Cooper, who missed the game with a heel issue.

And in the first quarter, David Njoku, who has blossomed into one of the best tight ends in the league, shredded the defense with his running ability after catches, having over 100 yards in the first quarter alone, and finishing with 134 for the game.

The former first round pick’s career high in receptions was 58, but now has 81 for 822 yards. He seems to have tremendous chemistry with Flacco.

And the running game returned for Cleveland too. The last time the Browns ran for over 100 yards was the loss to Denver, but they rushed for 127 with Jerome Ford rushing for 64 on 12 carries. Ford also caught two touchdown passes, including a 50-yarder off a Flacco scramble.

We praise Stefanski for holding things together despite all the injuries, but his partner, GM Andrew Berry should also get his props.

He signed Flacco, of course, and he and the scouting staff also found rookie free agent Ronnie Hickman, who intercepted a pass and took it to the house in the game. With the injuries to Grant Delpit and Juan Thornhill, Hickman and another undrafted free agent, second year player D’Anthony Bell have stepped in and performed very well.

One thing that needs to be cleared up are the turnovers. The Browns had three more Thursday and have committed a league leading 35 on the year. They have had only one game, the win over Arizona, without giving the ball to the other team.

That is not usually the profile of a playoff team, and no doubt, once the playoffs start, holding on to the football will be of utmost importance.

After today’s Ravens-Dolphins game, the Browns will have a good idea of how to approach the season finale. A Baltimore win locks Cleveland into the #5 spot in the conference, so many of the players who are gutting out injuries can sit this one out.

If Miami wins, the Browns are still in play for winning the AFC North, which would mean a home playoff game. So, fans can watch Sunday’s games with a purpose.

It was a great night for Browns’ football Thursday. Let’s hope there a better ones to come.

Make No Mistake, The Browns Are One Tough Football Team

The Cleveland Browns showed unbelievable toughness and patience in a huge road win at Baltimore Sunday, defeating the Ravens 33-31 to move to 6-3 on the season.

The toughness was evident in running for 178 yards against the league’s second-best defense. Led by Jerome Ford’s 107 yards on 17 carries, the running backs and offensive line set a tone in the trenches, and it was a huge factor in the game.

The patience is from the coaching staff. Cleveland trailed 14-0, 17-3, 24-9, and 31-17 in this game, and Kevin Stefanski stuck with the game plan, continuing to mix the run and the pass, and it paid off with a win.

We think Stefanski in the past would have gone pass happy being down two touchdowns, even in the first half, but perhaps with his experience, he has learned it is a long game. Maybe that sort of thing happens when you keep a head coach for more than two years.

For many years, we have been envious of Pittsburgh and Baltimore and the winning culture developed by both teams over time. Well, it looks like the Browns are starting to develop a culture, a style of play.

Many fans and media rhapsodized about Deshaun Watson directing a wide-open offense, with five receivers spread out, and the team throwing the ball all over the field. But that’s not what this team is about.

The 2023 Browns are a physical power running team even without Nick Chubb. Cleveland has run for 150 or more yards in six of the nine games this season, while only one opponent (Indianapolis) has been over that mark.

It’s an old football adage that you can’t win in the NFL unless you can run the ball and stop the run. Right now, the Browns are doing both pretty well.

In the passing game, Cleveland is getting the ball to their playmakers. Amari Cooper had another fine game with six catches for 98 yards, and TE David Njoku shook off an early drop to grab six passes for 58 yards, including a play on the final drive where he carried a Baltimore defender for at least 10 yards.

Defensively, it was another solid performance by the #1 unit in the league statistically. The scoreboard shows Cleveland allowed 31 points, but seven came off the pick six on the game’s second play, and another touchdown came after James Proche fumbled a punt on the Browns’ 11 yard line.

And in that latter situation, the Ravens were stopped twice only to see a couple of “ticky tack” calls give them more opportunities. It was like an 11 play drive to get those 11 yards.

Both teams had a defensive score, as Greg Newsome took his first NFL interception to the house, and Jim Schwartz’ unit held the Ravens to 306 yards and sacked the elusive Lamar Jackson three times.

And of course, they had a key stop in the fourth quarter to get the ball back for the game winning drive.

It’s the second time this season the Browns have defeated “the best team in the league”, having defeated the 49ers earlier, and the Ravens were getting that label before this week.

Next Sunday is another opportunity to avenge a defeat with Pittsburgh coming to town. A look at the conference standings shows only Kansas City with less losses than the Browns.

This is tough football team, northeast Ohio, just like you always wanted. And there is no reason to think the Browns won’t be in the thick of the playoff chase as the calendar turns to December.

Workmanlike Win, Big Week Ahead For Browns

Workmanlike. Professional. Those are the words we are using to describe the Browns domination of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Cleveland won 27-0 and moved to 5-3 on the season.

The Cardinals came into the game with a 1-7 record and were starting a rookie, Clayton Tune at quarterback. So, the Browns did what should have been expected by every fan going into the contest. They totally controlled the game.

Still, Arizona is in the NFL but the Cleveland defense held them to 58 yards of total offense and sacked Tune seven times. We didn’t get excited about the performance, but it was still satisfying, if that makes sense.

We wanted Deshaun Watson to play in this game in order to get the rust off before a couple of big divisional games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and he did just that, completing 19 of 30 throws for 219 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

He also ran three times for 22 yards, but there were a couple of plays early when he could have run and instead dumped short passes to Jerome Ford. We thought that was good thinking on his part and something the coaches reminded him of before the game.

However, even with Watson, Kevin Stefanski ran the ball a lot, 40 times to be exact, although that includes the three carries by Watson. Certainly, having Watson available is much better than playing P.J. Walker, but we couldn’t help thinking the Browns are a power run team, even though Nick Chubb isn’t playing.

Cleveland has run for 150 yards or more in five of their eight games and has only been below 100 yards twice, the first two games after Chubb was injured.

Stefanski is still using a lot of not only two or three tight end sets, but he is using offensive lineman Nick Harris at fullback to add another blocker to help the running game. Right now, that’s the Browns’ offensive identity.

Also, this was the first game all year where the brown and orange did not turn the ball over. It was only the second time they won the turnover battle (the Colts’ game was the other) and they are 2-0 in those contests.

That trend will need to continue in the next two games against the Ravens and Steelers. Baltimore allows just 262.5 yards per game defensively, second to Cleveland’s 234.8. It shapes up as a rugged defensive battle.

Remember the Browns started Dorian Thompson-Robinson the first time these two teams met, and Cleveland turned it over three times, gaining just 166 yards for the game. And the 131 yards rushing Baltimore gained was exceeded only by Indianapolis’ 168 in the 39-38 win on the road.

Jim Schwartz knows Baltimore will want to establish the run, as the Ravens are the #1 running team in the NFL and making the job more complicated is having to keep Lamar Jackson in the pocket.

And it would also be nice if TE Mark Andrews was kept in check, he has killed the Cleveland defense so many times in his career, it borders on ridiculousness.

There are now only three teams in the AFC and five overall with less losses than the Browns are we are now into November. The next two weeks should serve as a measuring stick as to where this team, and both its offense and defense are as the holiday season commences.

We are still confident this is a playoff team. Here’s hoping next Sunday doesn’t shake that feeling.

No Chubb, No Watson, No Offense, No Surprise?

When the Cleveland Browns lost Nick Chubb a couple of weeks ago, we said Deshaun Watson had to take more of the offensive burden for the team.

With Watson out last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the offense was without both of their foundations, and the result was a 28-3 loss at home to their division rivals, dropping them to 2-2 on the season.

When GM Andrew Berry traded Josh Dobbs to Arizona before the regular season started, it left the Browns without an experienced back up. It was a gamble, and one that many people would have made, but it came back to bite them against the Ravens.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a rookie fifth-round draft pick, and he played like a…rookie fifth round draft pick, hitting 19 of 36 passes for just 121 yards.

The rook hit a couple of throws early, and then started missing targets resulting in an interception which set the Ravens up for their first touchdown. And with Cleveland in Baltimore territory, tried an ill-advised lateral that went out of bounds and was ruled an illegal forward pass.

We would have considered going to P.J. Walker in the second half had the score remained 14-3 after the second quarter. Someone who has played in the NFL before.

The Kevin Stefanski play calling critics are out again and strangely they only come out when the Browns lose. Weird how that works out, isn’t it?

Here’s what we think happened. The Ravens, knowing Cleveland was starting a QB who hadn’t completed a pass in an NFL game, loaded the box to shut down the run. Stefanski saw this and tried to give Thompson-Robinson some easy throw to keep him out of third and long situations.

The coach tried to do the same thing when Baker Mayfield was at the helm. He doesn’t want to be in third and long. By the way, do you know any coaches who like to be in that situation?

Besides the first offensive play, a 25-yard run by Jerome Ford canceled because of a dubious holding call on Amari Cooper, the Browns couldn’t run the ball before Pierre Strong Jr. ripped off a decent run in garbage time.

Ford had 9 carries for 26 yards, gaining 10 on one carry. Kareem Hunt? Five carries for 12 yards.

And we are pretty sure the coach didn’t tell Elijah Moore to run 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage on a jet sweep.

Perhaps the offensive line isn’t as good as advertised. The Browns have played two games without Chubb and have had trouble running in both games. And you know what happens if you can’t run the ball and stop the run.

You don’t win.

The defense sprung a leak for one quarter in the loss, allowing Baltimore to gain 206 of their 296 yards in the second quarter, resulting in two touchdowns. The good news? They adjusted in the second half, allowing just 42 yards after halftime.

They are entitled to have a bad quarter every once in a while.

If Watson is healthy enough to play the rest of the season, this is just a blip on the radar.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t things the coaching staff and front office need to figure out. Should they bring in another quarterback? The offensive line has to get better.

The defense is just fine though.

Another tough test comes after the bye week when San Francisco comes to town. If Watson is back, it will serve as a measuring stick to see how good this Browns team is.

We remain optimistic.