More Embarrassing, The Browns’ Play Or The Taunting Down By 21?

Obviously, we don’t know Todd Monken, but we do think as a coach, he will have a lot of teaching points after Sunday’s 27-6 beatdown of the Cleveland Browns by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The first lesson? The Browns aren’t as good as they think they are. There was a lot of good feelings after another comeback win over a bad Tennessee Titans team the week before, and certain players on the defense started running their mouths now that the Browns came into this game with a 5-2 record.

The most embarrassing thing that occurred in a game where Monken’s team was outgained on the ground 200-34 might have been two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for taunting with the Steelers up by three touchdowns. That will likely irritate the head coach the most.

Deshaun Watson played much like he did with the Texans in 2020. He put up a ton of yardage, throwing for over 300 yards for the second straight week, but in a loss. Watson led the NFL in passing yards in that season, but his team was 4-12.

He was also sacked eight more times and continues to lead the league with 33. Yes, the offensive line struggled (again 34 yards rushing), but there is no question he either runs himself into sacks or doesn’t throw the ball away to avoid a loss of yardage.

Besides, he’s not putting up a great deal of points. Ignoring the game against the terrible Titans’ defense, the Browns have scored 12 (vs. the Jets), 13, and 6 points in their last three games. Not much of a change from last season.

Perhaps the only Cleveland player who had a good game was TE Harold Fannin, who hauled in 10 passes for 154 yards, but even he committed a turnover, fumbling in the first quarter. The two rookie wideouts, Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion both contributed just 37 yards each. Something has to be done to get each of them the ball on a regular basis.

As for the defense, the old adage is you have to be able to stop the run to be effective and the Browns have allowed more than 130 yards on the ground in three of the last four games. Coordinator Mike Rutenberg did a good job fixing things after the hammering on opening day against Jacksonville, and he has a new project. He has to figure out stopping the run.

That adage also says if you can’t run the ball, you can’t be a good team and the Browns continue to have difficulties. After 183 yards rushing last week, to get only 34 isn’t good and it’s the second time under 50 this season.

Quinshon Judkins had only 25 yards on 11 carries, and for the season, is at just 3.4 yards per carry. Of course, last year, he had just 3.6 per attempt. Monken has to get more production out of the ground attack.

So, the coaching staff has a lot of ammunition to discuss this week before heading to New Orleans to play a Saints’ team coming off a bye week. The biggest thing to fix is stopping the run, but being able to put points on the board is going to be a must because the Saints can put points up.

Hopefully, after that whooping, the staff will have the full attention of the players.

How? We Don’t Know, But Browns Keep Winning Games

It’s complimentary football, we guess. The Cleveland Browns’ defense didn’t play well on Sunday, giving up 322 yards of total offense to one of the worst attacks in the NFL. The Tennessee Titans had a season high in total yards and scored more than 20 points for only the third time this season.

It didn’t matter, because Browns’ offense went wild, tying their season high with 27 points and rolling up almost 500 yards in total offense (491) in a 27-24 win over the Titans.

Todd Monken’s squad is now 5-2 and although no one gave a second thought about the next week’s visit to Pittsburgh at the beginning of the season, the contest is now a showdown for first place in the AFC North.

Let that sink in for a minute.

In his 26th start with the Browns, spanning five seasons, Deshawn Watson finally had his first 300-yard passing game, completed 25 of 36 throws for 308 yards and running three times for 19 yards, including a TD run.

He was aided greatly by a ground game which totaled 183 yards on the ground, led by Quinshon Judkins 96. Dylan Sampson returned from the injured list to add 45 more on six carries and caught three more throws for 32 yards.

Rookie receiver KC Concepcion had his best game yet, catching 8 passes for 129 yards, and TE Harold Fannin caught 6 throws for 91 yards, including a 36-yard catch and run which set up Andre Szmyt’s game winning field goal.

Give credit where it is due, it was clearly Watson’s best game as a Brown. But the announcers being quick to absolve him from blame for his first quarter interception was crazy. Did Denzel Boston allow the defensive back to undercut the route? Yes, but if you see a defender there, you don’t have to throw the pass.

The defense gave up a game opening touchdown drive again, and that is something we are sure coordinator Mike Rutenberg isn’t happy with and will be looking to fix. However, we do have to credit the unit for the goal line stand in the 2nd quarter and with winning the turnover game, with an interception by Denzel Ward and a fumble caused by Tyson Campbell and recovered by Ronnie Hickman.

The question that keep being asked regarding the Browns is “is this sustainable?” It’s probably not, but who cares, they are winning. And not to get ahead of anything, but with ten games left, if they split them, they would finish at 10-7, which will likely land them a playoff spot.

They have been helped by having the division match up with the mediocre NFC South, but everyone in the AFC North has feasted on that. The latter has a 7-1 record against the South, the only loss being to the Saints by the Baltimore Ravens.

Of course, nothing guarantees that trend will continue, but…

We are sure only the most optimistic of Browns’ fans would have thought next Sunday’s contest in Pittsburgh would be for first place in the division. After all, Sunday’s win matched the win total for all of last season at five.

But here we are, a very important regular season game at a venue where Cleveland teams historically have had little success. With their defense, the Browns can very much win, especially if the running game can come close to performing like it did vs. Tennessee.

Looking At Browns. Don’t See A Lot Of Wins

The joke around northeast Ohio is that the day before Labor Day would be the last Sunday the Cleveland Browns would not ruin for sports fans for almost five months. Yes, it’s a joke but you know the old saying about there is a bit of truth in every one liner.

The Browns open their 2026 season this Sunday with the first of two games in Florida, the first against the Jacksonville Jaguars. They have a new coach in Todd Monken, who is guiding his own professional team for the first time at age 60. But they also have the same problem they have had for pretty much every year since 1999.

They have an issue at quarterback.

We all know the Browns have cast their lot with the player they traded three first round picks for in 2022, and then gave a huge, guaranteed contract in Deshaun Watson. Sunday will mark Watson’s 20th start with Cleveland and perhaps he will throw for 300 yards or more, which would mark the first time he has done so in the orange and brown.

GM Andrew Berry used high draft capital to bring in two wide receivers, KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, and both look very promising, but with a word of caution. Both will be playing in games that count for real this week.

We liked Boston because the Browns have needed a big wide receiver for years, after choosing a bunch of guys who are small but fast and hoping they could make big plays. The rookie from the University of Washington provides someone who can shield off opposing defensive backs to make plays.

Cleveland has some weapons in the two wideouts, and second year players TE Harold Fannin and RB Quinshon Judkins, but they are also starting a brand-new offensive line and there isn’t a lot of depth on the roster.

So, the keys will be how quickly the line gels and what kind of production they get out of the quarterback position, be it Watson, Shedeur Sanders, or even Dillon Gabriel (when he is back) or rookie Taylen Green. They need someone to provide solid play if they want to be competitive.

The defense is another question, again due to the seeming lack of depth, and of course, because they traded the best defensive player in the history of the franchise, and according to NFL Network, the best player in the entire league in Myles Garrett.

We believe the front office treats this as a rebuilding year, part of their “Free Beer Tomorrow” plan the sell their fans on every year. Unfortunately, hiring a guy like Monken, who no doubt wants to win in his first opportunity, flies in the face of that.

Can Monken run an offense that puts points on the board? We used to joke that the reason Cleveland scored 17 points per game the last couple of years under Kevin Stefanski, was that was it was designed to do.

With the defense probably not being the dominant unit it was the past few years, if more points can’t be generated, it could get ugly quick. The other question will be if Watson does not return to being the player he was in Houston, when will Monken pull the trigger?

Remember, what other QB in the history of the NFL come back from a long period of inactivity and returned to form after six years? We guess you can make a case for Jim Plunkett (look him up), but we can’t think of anyone else.

So, even with an easier schedule, playing the NFC South makes it easier, it is difficult to see more than five wins there for this year’s Cleveland Browns.

Get ready for quarterback draft talk by the end of September?

No Real Surprises On Browns’ Cuts Would Indicate Lack Of Depth

After watching the football games that didn’t count, the fact the Cleveland Browns were boat raced in the second half of each of the first two games indicated to us that depth might be a problem. That fear was confirmed when the team pared down the roster to 53 and there really wasn’t any big surprises.

Offensive lineman KT Levenson was a bit of an eyebrow raiser, but only because new offensive line coach George Warhop moved him to guard early in camp and reportedly was impressed. But Levenson struggled all last year when pressed into duty so it’s not as though they were cutting a starting player. And he was added to the practice squad.

We believe everyone was rooting for WR Luke Floreia, from Mentor, after his preseason performance, and his situation was a little complicated for us. We don’t see a world in which Jerry Jeudy will be happy being fourth on the depth chart behind rookies KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, and second year player Isaiah Bond.

The Browns don’t need headaches in their locker room, so we would have seen what we could have gotten for him on the trade market.

The big news was the back injury for Dillon Gabriel that put him on injured reverse for four weeks and make rookie Taylen Green the third QB. We realize Green is raw, but after the way he played in the last exhibition game, the Browns had to keep him. He’s just that good of an athlete and we have no doubt a good NFL organization would have found a way to use him.

In fact, the Browns should figure out a way to use him in certain situations.

He may never be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but when you are downtrodden franchise, his talent is something they can’t pass up.

Speaking of the quarterbacks, a friend commented after the New England game that of the four QBs who played, Deshaun Watson played the worst. Of course, that’s why he was named the starter for the opener.

While the initial cuts were not surprising, we figured the Browns would be active in picking up players cut by other teams in order to build some of that depth. However, they only claimed one player, Toriano Pride, a cornerback who was the Bills 7th round pick in April.

This comes after they picked up Mekhi Blackmon from Indianapolis last week.

We are anxious to see the defense under new coordinator Mike Rutenberg with all the parts playing. We didn’t see much if any of the unit’s best players, DE Jared Verse, LB Carson Schwesinger, and CBs Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell.

That the front office picked up two corners in the last couple of weeks should tell you their replacements didn’t flash in the preseason. On the other hand, in today’s NFL, you can never have too many cornerbacks.

There is still almost two weeks until the season opener at Jacksonville, and we would anticipate Andrew Berry, and his staff will be looking for players who can help. They would seem to need a lot of that.

Thoughts About A Meaningless Browns’ Loss

We are sure many fans are saying “same ol’ Browns” after Saturday’s 34-10 beating at the hands of the Chicago Bears. But you know what? It doesn’t count. One thing we don’t know about these games is who is trying to win and who isn’t.

We would assume Todd Monken wants to win because it is his first year as a head coach, but it may not matter to him. And as we say every year, in the second half, which Chicago outscored Cleveland 24-0, featured a bunch of players, a majority probably, who will never play a minute in an NFL regular season game.

Everyone focuses on the starting QB battle, and of course, we will start by saying we don’t understand why there is a competition because it makes no sense to start Deshaun Watson. But Watson did go 11 of 15 for 126 yards, 43 of those on a short pass to RB Dylan Sampson who took it for 43 yards. Without that play, Watson was a pedestrian 10 of 14 for 83 yards.

He also lost a fumble. Look, he did okay. We aren’t ready to say he’s back to his 2020 form with Houston.

Shedeur Sanders did throw an interception, but the six passes he completed went for 79 yards, completing one for 35 yards and another for 24 yards. He also had two throws knocked down at the line of scrimmage.

We should also inform everyone we are not some sort of crazed Shedeur fan. We simply don’t see the upside in playing a QB who hasn’t played well in six years and whose contract ends after this season.

To argue about it now seems like a moot point because from his comments after the game, the coach seems ready to name Watson the starter, probably with a push from the front office, because, you know, the Browns have a dysfunctional organization.

As for the other individual performances, it looks like the Browns might have some talent at wide receiver. Rookies KC Concepcion returned a kickoff 31 yards and scored the only touchdown on a jet sweep. And Denzel Boston is simply a big target, something this franchise has needed for a long time.

Monken has already named the second-round pick as a starter.

First round pick Spencer Fano also played well, but we don’t know how many snaps the Bears’ starters played and we would also guess the defensive scheme they played was very vanilla.

Let us reiterate again, the game doesn’t count. It wasn’t too long ago that the Browns went 4-0 in exhibition play and then went 1-15 in the regular season.

Probably the best indication of anything prior to the opening of the regular season will be the joint practice with the Buffalo Bills this week. That will likely show more than any of the preseason contests.

A poll was put out before the game asking what people were thinking about Monken’s first game as head coach of the Browns. We will let you know just prior to September 13th, because that’s his first game. These games are glorified scrimmages that the NFL owners make fans pay to see.

Hopefully, Sanders plays well in his opportunity to get this ridiculous notion about starting Watson reconsidered.

On Paper, The Browns’ Draft Leaves Little To Complain About.

The Cleveland Browns participated in the NFL Draft over the weekend and this year there was no weirdness like drafting two quarterbacks or two running backs. It seemed to be a sound sensible draft and if you believe the draft pundits, GM Andrew Berry had a real good weekend.

It was a given going in the Browns were going to look for a left tackle early in the selection process and after a trade down with Kansas City, they took Spencer Fano out of Utah, and coach Todd Monken said he will play the position. Fano played right tackle the past couple of years in college but did play on the left side during his freshman season.

We will say this with all of the picks, that no one knows for sure until these guys take the field, but Fano seems like a guy who can be an NFL starter. He was highly rated by the “draftniks”, with the only negative being his arms were short.

With their second pick in the first round, they went with KC Concepcion from Texas A & M. We would have preferred a bigger wide receiver, since the majority of the wideouts the Browns have are smaller. And the rap on Concepcion is he has questionable hands.

The Browns have a type. They love receivers who struggle catching the football, which would seem to be the prerequisite for the job. We understand he’s dynamic in the open field, but if you don’t hang on to the ball…

They remedied that on the second round, taking Denzel Boston, listed a 6’4″ and 209 pounds. You have to wonder with Concepcion and Boston now on the roster, how that affects Jerry Jeudy. We don’t see Jeudy being happy with his role if he’s suddenly the third or fourth wide receiver in the pecking order.

Cleveland also added S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren from Toledo in the third round (58th overall). We saw several draft experts projecting him as a late first round pick, so the value is there. With Grant Delpit being a potential free agent after the year and Ronnie Hickman on a one-year tender, this selection makes a lot of sense.

They built depth with the rest of the draft, especially on the offensive line and at tight end, with after the last couple of years, having extra players at those spots, that is definitely needed. The Browns have had to play linemen just signed or activated off the practice squad over the last couple of seasons.

We know we asked the Browns not to take a QB, but really, Taylen Green is the perfect 6th round pick, a ton of upside and an elite athlete. Now, we would still move one of the three quarterbacks currently on the roster, but not the one the team will choose, we are sure. At least having him on the field will make the exhibition games worth watching.

Pretty much everything about the draft made sense and Berry picked a lot of players ranked highly by the draft experts. That’s the reason they received high marks.

The truth of the matter is no one will really know until these players take the field against a different team. But there isn’t a lot to complain about right now.