Browns Stack Another Win With Another Gritty Performance

Before the Browns started this rugged pair of games, media people and fans were saying they were hoping for a split of the contests with the Ravens and Steelers. At the time, we felt that was the difference between the fan bases between Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Those folks would not accept a split, they would want to take both games.

Fortunately, the players and coaching staff don’t think like the fans because they expected two victories and they got them, winning Sunday on the last second field goal by Dustin Hopkins to beat the Steelers, 13-10, and raise the Browns’ record to 7-3.

The Browns believe they can win every game they play, mostly because of their incredible defense, which outside of Jaylen Warren’s 74 yard run (we know, Butch Davis math), held Pittsburgh to 175 yards, 3 of 14 on third down conversions, and sacked Kenny Pickett three times.

And after a rough second half where Cleveland couldn’t move the football, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson came alive with 1:18 remaining in the game, completing four of five throws to get the Browns into field goal range.

Overall, the rook went 24 of 43 for 165 yards, and he threw that much only because Cleveland’s vaunted running game was stymied after halftime. The Browns were held under 100 yards on the ground for only the third time this season, getting just 96 on 29 attempts.

Once again, the defense was dominant, forcing nine punts, and getting the ball back for DTR after Cleveland had to punt it away themselves with under two minutes to go.

They should have recorded safeties on Pittsburgh’s first two offensive plays, but because of the league officials’ reticence in calling the two point defensive score, neither were called. It was also the fourth game this season, Cleveland allowed less than 100 net yards passing.

In today’s NFL, that’s incredible.

It was the Browns’ fourth win by three points or less this season, but those wins are against San Francisco (7-3), Baltimore (7-3), Pittsburgh (6-4) and Indianapolis (5-5). They also have three victories by more than 20 points this season, the same as the Ravens and 49ers.

As a comparison, Kansas City has one, Miami has two, and Philadelphia, with the league’s best record, has none. So, it is not as though Cleveland is doing it with smoke and mirrors.

Apparently, the Browns will be signing veteran Joe Flacco as insurance for the rest of the season, but unless Thompson-Robinson starts to turn the ball over, our guess is he’s the starter going forward. Flacco is just there to provide professional quarterback play should something happen to DTR.

Kevin Stefanski wanted his rookie to take care of the football and for the most part, he did just that, and he put together a drive at the end to get the team in position for a game-winning field goal.

Why wouldn’t you keep him in there?

We have been a fan of the Browns for a long time, but this team has renewed our love for the team. This team plays with heart, they are physical, and they don’t make excuses. They treat each game as its own entity and views it as an opportunity to go 1-0 as their coach says.

After watching the opening win against Cincinnati and the way the defense played, we felt this team would be in every game.

It’s right there for the 2023 Cleveland Browns. They will look to go 1-0 next week at Denver.

Browns Rewrite History With Sunday’s Win

Boy, did the Cleveland Browns take care of a lot of history Sunday night in their wild card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They took care of the last playoff appearance since 2002 with the win in week 17 over the Steelers at First Energy Stadium, getting into the post-season tournament. Check.

Last playoff win was 1994 when the Bill Belichick led Browns beat New England in the wild card round to advance to the divisional round against guess who? The Steelers. Check.

The last time they won a road playoff game was in 1969, when they routed the Dallas Cowboys and Blanton Collier, the last Browns coach to win the NFL Championship, was still at the helm. Consider that taken care of as well.

This edition of the Browns should bring pride to the city because they let nothing stand in their way and they make no excuses. That comes from Kevin Stefanski, who downplayed his absence due to COVID-19 in media calls all week.

That instills confidence in everyone throughout the organization that they can get things done. This team doesn’t talk about who isn’t there, simply that they can succeed with the folks who are there.

We have said this before. Leaders don’t have to tell people they are leaders. But it’s obvious that the players view Stefanski as their guy. It is telling that Jarvis Landry facetimed the coach as soon as the game was over. He wanted to share it with him.

Cleveland was missing All Pro LG Joel Bitonio, but Michael Dunn stepped in and the offensive line didn’t miss a beat. Another All Pro, RT Jack Conklin, left the game with a hamstring injury in the second quarter, and after Kendall Lamm, who replaced him, was hit with a holding penalty on his first play, did a solid job.

Dunn left in the second half, and the Browns finished the game with Blake Hance, who Baker Mayfield introduced himself to before the game, and Stefanski still hasn’t met in person, at guard.

Talk about the “next man up” philosophy. The one constant need for success is Wyatt Teller. Cleveland is now 11-2 this season when he is on the field.

On offense, the Browns stars stepped up. Nick Chubb had 145 yards rushing and receiving, and his touchdown off a screen pass basically clinched the contest for the visitors. Kareem Hunt rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns, and Landry caught five passes for 92 yards including a TD on his first reception.

And are there still people who don’t think Baker Mayfield can play? In his first playoff game, the former first overall pick completed 21 of 34 throws for 263 yards and three touchdowns. And no interceptions, in contrast to his opponent at QB, Ben Roethlisberger, who threw four to Cleveland players.

The defense is still a work in progress to be sure, and missing probably their second best defensive player in CB Denzel Ward, didn’t help their performance. But they forced five turnovers, and ultimately, that was the difference in the game. The Cleveland defense took the ball away, the Pittsburgh defense could not.

Ward was missing, but defensive coordinator got big plays out of guys like Sheldrick Redwine, Vincent Taylor, Porter Gustin, and M. J. Stewart.

You need players to step up when other guys are out, and the Browns certainly have that culture. It also helps when GM Andrew Berry and the scouting department bring in men who can contribute.

So, now it’s on to another daunting task in the divisional round against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The odds are against them again, the Chiefs being installed as a ten point favorite.

However, this Browns team believes in their coach, his staff, and each other. We doubt that no matter the result next Sunday, that will not change.

It’s The Steelers Again This Sunday.

It dawned on us last night that the Browns’ last two playoff games have come against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, this will be Cleveland’s third straight post-season contest against our neighbors just a couple of hours away.

After beating New England in 1994, Bill Belichick’s squad was bounced by the Steelers for the third time that season, 29-9 at Three Rivers Stadium. The most memorable thing to us in that game was QB Vinny Testaverde getting called for intentional grounding…on a fourth down play.

In 2002, the brown and orange’s most recent playoff appearance, Cleveland was again beaten twice in the regular season, and then lost at Heinz Field, 36-33, in a contest where the Browns had a 24-7 lead early in the third quarter.

This year, the two AFC North rivals split their two meetings, and have to play in consecutive weeks. That same scenario occurred in 1988, when the Browns had to beat the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) 28-23 at old Municipal Stadium with Don Strock at quarterback to get in the playoffs.

The following week, Mike Pagel was at the helm on the lakefront, as Bernie Kosar was hurt, but the Browns dropped a 24-23 decision. That was also Marty Schottenheimer’s last game as head coach of the team.

While some may be disappointed in Sunday’s 24-22 victory which put Kevin Stefanski’s squad into the playoffs because the Steelers sat several regulars, including QB Ben Roethlisberger, it still was a win, and it was the 11th of the season.

We understand the special feeling we have in northeast Ohio for Pittsburgh backup QB Mason Rudolph, but he did play very well Sunday (22 of 39, 315 yards and two touchdowns), and the starting wide receivers for Mike Tomlin played as well.

Don’t forget. The AFC was stacked this season with eight teams getting 10 or more wins, including Miami, which didn’t make the post-season tournament.

The Browns didn’t back their way in to the playoffs. They won 11 games, the franchise’s most since that 1994 squad.

And while the Steelers are the Steelers, which means they are always tough, and they have a great head coach and a future Hall of Fame quarterback, remember they started 11-0, and finished 12-4, so they haven’t played their best football since Thanksgiving Day.

The biggest question for the Browns is since the game will be played Sunday night, what will be Denzel Ward’s status? Ward is on the COVID-19 list, and depending on several things in the protocol, could be ready to go for the playoff game.

His presence would be much needed since DE Olivier Vernon, who played tremendously in the second half of the season, tore his Achilles tendon in the last game of the season, and obviously will not play.

That means most of the burden to get to Roethlisberger falls on Myles Garrett, who no doubt will be double and triple teamed by the black and gold.

We expect next Sunday’s game to really have no resemblance to the season finale. We are sure both coaches will have some wrinkles to use. Stefanski was pretty vanilla with his offense on Sunday, so could we see Jarvis Landry limbering up his throwing arm again?

And on the Pittsburgh side, can Roethlisberger make the downfield throws Rudolph made? Remember, the Steelers had three completions over 40 yards downfield.

It’s nice to talk about playoff football once again, and we have a hunch, this isn’t a one year deal for the Browns. The organization is set up for sustained success, and the defense is far from what anyone would call a finished product.

It’s a fun time to be a Browns fan. Finally.

Rooting For A Playoff Spot Today

Week 16 of the NFL season starts today and at the beginning of the season, we believe every Cleveland Browns fan would have taken being in the playoff discussion as play started on Christmas Day.

Instead, the Browns have the highest wild card seed (#5) with an 10-4 record with a road game today in New Jersey against the Jets, and a home date a week from today vs. Pittsburgh.

There was a bunch of permutations of how Kevin Stefanski’s group can clinch a spot in the post-season tournament today, but to put it in the most simplest terms, if the Browns win and either the Colts (who play Pittsburgh), Dolphins, or Ravens lose, Cleveland will have its first playoff spot since 2002.

Of course, if not for the Raiders stealing defeat from the jaws of victory last night, the Browns would already be in.

Which brings up the discussion that has made the rounds on sportstalk radio this week. If the Colts beat the Steelers, and the Browns win, the game next Sunday at First Energy Stadium is for the AFC North title, and a home playoff game.

On the other hand, should that scenario occur, and Cleveland loses to the Steelers and Indianapolis, Miami, and Baltimore all win out, the Browns would wind up 11-5 on the season, and be on the outside looking in.

We would rather have this scenario. The Browns win today, the Steelers beat Indianapolis, and the brown and orange will be playing on either January 9th or 10th, albeit on the road, in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

We get wanting the whole enchilada, a division title, the first since 1989 (9-6-1 record) would be sweet, as would the first post-season game on the lakefront since the Wild Card win over New England in 1994.

However, this team has gone through so much, and the fan base has done the same, heck, just get into the post-season.

Don’t forget this is a very young football team, and it has very little playoff experience. If you were drafted by the Browns, you don’t have any, that’s for sure.

Even a long tenured veteran like Jarvis Landry, who in many ways is the heart and soul of this team, hasn’t played beyond week 17.

The playoff experience would be invaluable for this group, which was pointed out a couple of weeks ago during a game, has no starters on offense who have reached their 30th birthday.

It would be tremendous for Baker Mayfield to play in the post-season, and it may quiet his critics, both locally and nationally for him to take a team into the playoffs.

Stefanski has experienced playoff football and the preparation that goes into it as an assistant in Minnesota, but we would now have the chance to do it as a head coach.

This is an organization that is built for the long haul, and they haven’t received fortunate breaks to achieve the 10-4 record in 2020. We don’t know what will happen in the years to come, and certainly injuries are a key in any NFL season, but this Browns’ team has the look of a group who will be in the mix for the next few seasons.

Getting into the playoffs, even as a wild card, would be huge for the organization. Bigger than getting to the last game in a win or go home situation and not coming through.

The just get in crowd has it right. Let’s play in a post-season game.

One Statement Win, But More Are Needed For Browns

Without a doubt, the Cleveland Browns answered a lot of questions Sunday in their 41-35 win over the Tennessee Titans, but they haven’t passed the course just yet.

Most critics felt Kevin Stefanski’s squad had simply defeated a bunch of mediocre teams to have a winning record before Sunday (apparently the Colts don’t count even though they are 8-4), and many felt Cleveland would get their comeuppance against the Titans, who lost the AFC Championship Game a year ago and came into the contest at 8-3.

We guess their 8-3 was more legitimate than the Browns’.

Instead, the Browns put on a clinic in the first half, scoring on each possession and building a 38-7 halftime lead. It was the most points ever scored by the Browns in a half. Not just since 1999, but in the history of the franchise, and many younger fans don’t realize how good this team was from 1946-1971.

Cleveland put up 34 or more points for the fifth time this season. They can score points, and they did so early and often against Tennessee, enough that they made the Titans’ biggest offensive weapon, running back Derrick Henry, an afterthought after halftime.

It’s a winning season for the Browns, their first since 2007 when they went 10-6 and missed the playoffs, and it’s only their third winning season since they returned to the NFL in 1999 (2002, 2007).

And they still have four games to play, including one with the winless Jets in the penultimate regular season game in New Jersey.

On the other hand, although this was an impressive victory, the Browns play in the AFC North, and many national media types will still view the brown and orange with a jaundiced eye until they can beat the traditional division powers, the Steelers and Ravens.

It’s understandable since Cleveland lost the first matchups between each foe earlier this season by a combined score of 76-13. The Browns did beat the Ravens a year ago in Baltimore, their most impressive win of 2019 by far, but the win over the Steelers last year came with Ben Roethlisburger on the sidelines.

So, the Browns have another chance to send a message next Monday night at First Energy Stadium as the Ravens visit. Assuming Baltimore can win tonight against Dallas, they will be 7-5 coming into the contest and a Cleveland win would have the double positive effect of putting the Browns in great shape while crippling the Ravens’ chance at a playoff spot.

And with Pittsburgh’s loss to Washington last night, the last game of the season could have division title implications. Take a deep breath and think about that for a minute.

So, while the Browns passed a great test yesterday, and we didn’t mention no one is questioning the quarterback’s play this week, we understand that a victory against Baltimore and/or Pittsburgh will be the only things that eliminate questions for some fans and media alike.

However, the Browns are going to have a winning season, and more than likely are going to play a playoff game. The last time they won ten or more and went to the post-season? Try 1994 with Bill Belichick at the helm.

Why Is Daddy Still Sad, Even Though The Browns Won?

Several years ago, there was a coloring book made up to be funny (we think) called Why Is Daddy Sad On Sundays? It was meant to make light of the lack of success the Cleveland Browns have had since returning to the NFL in 1999.

For the first time since they came back, the Browns are sitting at 8-3 on the season and right now have the top wild card spot in the AFC. The eight victories clinch the first non-losing season since 2007, when Romeo Crennel’s squad went 10-6 and just missed a playoff spot.

However, despite this record, which was preceded by several years of not mediocre football, it was downright putrid. Since ’99, Cleveland has had 16 seasons of 10 losses or more.

Even worse, 10 of those years have resulted in 12 or more losses, including a three year span (2015-17) in which the Browns went 4-44. You would think everyone would be celebrating the success this team has had.

You’d be wrong. Most of the criticism each week is pointed at quarterback Baker Mayfield, who with Sunday’s win raised his record as a starter to 20-20. He’s at .500, and we just showed you how dismal the recent history of the franchise has been.

If the Browns were coming off a Super Bowl season or several consecutive playoff appearances then we could understand a concern about “style points”, which the team didn’t achieve against the 1-10 Jaguars, winning by just 27-25.

We subscribe to the Bill Parcells’ theory of “you are what your record says you are”. We understand that two of the Cleveland losses were blowouts against division rivals, and that apparently stirs up some dissatisfaction among some people, but both losses were on the road, and Kevin Stefanski’s group gets another shot against each at First Energy Stadium.

It is very rare that any good professional football team goes through a season without a close call. And despite the final margin against Jacksonville, didn’t it feel like the Browns were in control of the game all day?

The Steelers are currently sitting at 10-0, but defeated the Giants on opening day by just a 26-16 score and just recently beat Dallas on the road with former Brown Garrett Gilbert at QB, 24-19. Not exactly impressive wins, but the Pittsburgh players and coaches don’t care. It’s a win.

The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs won a week two match up against the Chargers in overtime, and just a few weeks ago beat another non-playoff team in Carolina by just two points, the same margin as the Browns win on Sunday.

We checked in on the 2007 New England Patriots, who finished 16-0 in the regular season and found a three point win over an 8-8 Eagles squad, and another three point win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens finished 5-11 that season.

The 1972 Dolphins, which finished without a loss and won the Super Bowl, had a two point win over a 7-7 Minnesota Vikings squad and a one point victory over a 4-9-1 Buffalo team.

We certainly aren’t comparing the Browns to any of those teams, Stefanski’s crew certainly has room to improve and hasn’t proven themselves yet in either the playoffs or a game against one of the league’s elite teams.

However, we are saying there are a lot of close games every year that don’t make sense considering the records of the teams in question. The NFL has used the “Any Given Sunday” slogan for years, signifying that any team in the league can beat anyone else.

In the meantime, be happy the Browns are 8-3. They have a chance to show they are good against the Tennessee Titans, who went to the AFC title game a year ago. And even if they lose, it’s not the end of the world.

This is a team that will likely be playing in January. It’s been a long time since a Browns fan could celebrate that.

Blame Baker? What Is The Alternative?

The Cleveland Browns were no match for the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, as they fell to 4-2 on the season after the 38-7 beat down.

After six games, we can make this conclusion about the Browns. They aren’t in the same class as the Steelers and Ravens, both of whom put a wallop on the brown and orange, over 30 point defeats.

That isn’t meant to be catastrophic news. Both of these things can be true. Cleveland is a much improved football team. They won four straight after an opening loss to Baltimore, and it would not be a surprise to see both Dallas (weak division) and Indianapolis in the post-season.

However, the three best teams in the AFC might just be the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens, and the Steelers, although Tennessee might have something to say about that.

As usual when the Browns lose, the questions surrounding quarterback Baker Mayfield start. Our guess is if you didn’t want then GM John Dorsey to take the former Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, you feel he isn’t the guy long term at QB, so your ire is focused on Mayfield.

If you watched that game on Sunday and determined the reason Cleveland lost by 31 points is Baker Mayfield, then we question your football acumen.

Look, we aren’t saying Mayfield played a good game. His first quarter pick six on the first drive of the game was a terrible throw, and good QBs can’t and don’t make that pass. But the Browns were dominated on both lines of scrimmage.

The offensive line, which has been so good in the four game win streak, was simply out muscled by Pittsburgh’s front seven. And you can blame Wyatt Teller being out, but rookie Jedrick Wills, Joel Bitonio and J.C. Tretter struggled too.

What is the alternative to Mayfield? It certainly isn’t veteran Case Keenum, who replaced the starter in the third quarter and completed 5 of 9 throws for 46 yards, 24 of them coming on his first pass, a busted coverage throw to Jarvis Landry.

We know what Keenum is, he’s a serviceable starter, but mostly a backup QB. He’s not going to become a top 10 signal caller at this stage of his career.

And the Browns have improved enough so they will not be picking in the top five of the draft, barring injuries. Add to this we have seen the quarterbacks coming out of college in the past few years, and most of them don’t look as good in the professional game.

We don’t want to make excuses for any professional athlete, but Mayfield has played 36 games in the NFL and has had four head coaches, and four offensive coordinators. Before we make any judgment on him, we want to see how he grows with Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt, who most certainly will be back in Berea in 2021.

That’s only fair.

By the way, Mayfield has a 16-19 record in his 35 starts. Before he came to the team, they won just four of their previous 48 games. Now, Mayfield isn’t the sole reason for this, but it does tell you the kind of ditch the Browns are digging their way out of.

We will also learn a lot about Stefanski and his staff in the coming weeks. The Browns have games against the Ravens and Steelers at home and it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments his staff will make in the second go round.

Based on what we’ve seen, Cleveland will be much better prepared in the second meeting with each of these teams. A good test will come this week in Cincinnati, when the Browns and Bengals match up for a second time.

What have we learned thus far? The Browns are much better, but they aren’t at the Super Bowl contender level. Sometimes teams have to take steps. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the steps are upward.

Winning Is Habit Browns Have To Develop

The bye week is over and the Cleveland Browns return to the gridiron rested and ready to go this Sunday.

That’s the good news. The bad news is they play the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, who also happen to be undefeated this season.

The narrative surrounding the Browns seems to change every week, and since they were off last Sunday, the discussion is how can Freddie Kitchens’ team dare compete with the Baltimore Ravens, who sit atop the AFC North standings at 5-2.

After all, the Ravens beat Seattle on the road, a Seahawks team that came into the game at 5-1 after beating the Browns in Cleveland the week before.

Apparently, people have forgotten the Browns’ 40-25 beating of the Ravens in Baltimore just a few weeks before. We guess the Ravens improved by leaps and bounds in that three week span.

We aren’t taking away anything from Baltimore’s win in Seattle, it was damn impressive. However, not overreact to that contest either.

NOTE: We understand because football is played just once per week, there is a natural overemotional reaction to every game.

We were thinking though, what would the Browns’ record be if they had played the schedule Baltimore has played to date?

The Ravens opened up with the Dolphins and Cardinals, the latter in Kyler Murray’s second professional start. It’s easy to project wins in both games for either Baltimore or Cleveland.

Baltimore’s next two games were against the Chiefs and the Browns, so there is one loss in there, and those were followed by division games vs. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Since the Steelers were using their third string QB and the Bengals are bad, it’s not a reach to think that’s two wins for the Browns.

And again, credit to the Ravens for beating Seattle, which the Browns couldn’t do, even at First Energy Stadium.

So, the Browns would be 4-3 at least if they had played Baltimore’s schedule.

However, the biggest thing the fast start did for Baltimore is provide confidence. Winning early in the season breeds confidence. You saw that in the second half of the game in Seattle this past Sunday.

In the same vein, the Browns’ 2-4 start has the players and coaching staff questioning themselves a bit. That plays in close games late.

Remember how the team (and the fans, for that matter) felt last season after Hue Jackson was fired and they started to win. Suddenly, the big plays are made when they are needed.

And no doubt, it helps the Ravens that John Harbaugh is one of the five best coaches in the NFL. That is no slight on Freddie Kitchens.

Yes, the Ravens’ schedule gets tougher. Four of their next five games are against the Patriots, Texans, Rams, and 49ers.

After this Sunday, the Browns will have played three of those teams already, and they don’t have Houston on the slate.

But let’s say Cleveland loses this week to fall to 2-5 (which isn’t a stretch). Yes, they play Denver on the road, which is a winnable game, but it would be coming off a three game losing streak.

That means it will not be easy. It’s more difficult for teams to break losing streaks, particular for a group of players that hasn’t won together, or a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since 2007.

So, let’s not pencil in a bunch of wins in the second half just yet.

Winning is a learned skill. The early schedule, and the early performance have not helped the Browns education.

Unlike Other Browns’ Teams, This One Didn’t Quit After Early Deficit.

At halftime, it looked very much like the same ol’ Cleveland Browns.

They were dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers especially defensively and trailed 27-3 after 30 minutes.

Brian Hoyer didn’t play well in the first half, but the chief culprit for the deficit was a defense appeared to be butter compared to the Pittsburgh hot knife.

But whatever happened during the intermission may have turned around the entire season, and gave Browns’ fans everywhere hope that this season may be indeed different.

This football team didn’t lay down, and didn’t say woe is us. They came out of the locker room determined to get back in the game and that’s exactly what they did.

They scored 24 unanswered points to tie the game before giving up a last second field goal by Shaun Suisham from 41 yards away to drop yet another season opener, 30-27.

They did it by going to a hurry up offense and by running the football to set up the pass, exactly the way the Browns need to play to be successful in 2014.

The Browns rolled up 183 yards rushing despite losing Ben Tate to an injury in the first half, as rookie Terrence West showed he was worth a higt pick by gaining 100 yards on 16 carries, and another rookie Isaiah Crowell showed his performance in the last pre-season game was no fluke, getting 32 yards in five attempts, scoring two touchdowns.

Hoyer wasn’t spectacular, but he was efficient, completing 19 of 31 throws for 230 yards with a touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin.

The running game was so solid in the second half, we would have run it one more time in the fourth quarter.

The Browns had a first down on the Pittsburgh 35 with 5:20 remaining and the Steelers clearly back on their heels. Unfortunately, Cleveland tried three passes, one completed to Miles Austin for three yards, and never gave the ball to West and/or Crowell.

They were forced to punt, and after an exchange of defensive stops, the Steelers got the ball back on their own 43, and moved the ball enough for the winning field goal after a pass to Markus Wheaton when CB Justin Gilbert, who had a rough debut, fell down.

The biggest problem for the offense all day was converting third downs, making just two first downs in 11 opportunities. The Cleveland defense did much better than last year in the opener, stopping Pittsburgh eight times in 12 tries.

Defensively, newcomers Donte Whitner had 12 tackles and Karlos Dansby had the Browns only turnover, a second quarter interception of Ben Roethlisberger, that the offense, struggling at the time, could do nothing with.

After halftime, the defense improved and wound up sacking Roethlisberger four times, with Paul Kruger doing the honors twice.

However, they had problems all day dealing with screen passes, and as we said before, Gilbert struggled in the NFL debut, which is understandable.

The unit got better when it appeared they put veteran Buster Skrine on the outside.

That’s another thing that is encouraging about this game regardless of the result. How many times lately has a Browns’ team failed to make any adjustments to what the opposition was doing.

That didn’t happen today.

One thing that was painfully evident on offense though, is the team really misses Josh Gordon, because they have no one on the outside that can make plays. Andrew Hawkins was the leading receiver with 8 catches for 87 yards, but he plays mostly in the slot.

One of the other receivers simply has to step up to make it easier for Hoyer to throw downfield and to keep the running game effective.

Whatever happened in the second half has to continue next week against New Orleans, because starting 0-2 is something the Browns have to avoid.

As former coach Pat Shurmur once said, progress with victories isn’t progress.

Steelers Drive Nail Into Browns’ Season

Some things are inevitable. The winter is cold, water is wet, and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers are struggling through a disappointing season, but they still managed to come to First Energy Stadium and paste the Browns, 27-11, ending the home team’s playoffs chances in more way than one.

The black and yellow squad also knocked out QB Jason Campbell with a head injury, meaning it’s back to Brandon Weeden, which is just another reason Rob Chudzinski’s team will once again not advance past 16 games.

At the bye week, several media people (and we agreed) said the Browns’ front office needed to bring in a running back and another quarterback seeing the alternative if something did happen to Campbell was Weeden. They failed to do either move, and now will watch Weeden once again prove to everyone he is not an NFL starting quarterback, probably for the next couple of games.

Pittsburgh had one of the league’s worst rushing defenses, yet the Browns could not exploit it, gaining only 55 yards rushing in 16 attempts.

The coaching staff will say the score dictated the passing game, but Cleveland came out and ran only five times in the first quarter (gaining 17 yards) on a cold and blustery day downtown.

When Chris Ogbonnaya ran for 10 yards on his first carry of the second quarter (the Browns’ first play of the quarter), it gave him two carries for 15 yards. He was given the ball just twice the rest of the game.

Of course, it didn’t help that on his next carry, he gained eight yards and moved into Steelers’ territory, but coughed up the ball for the second consecutive week. Pittsburgh turned the turnover into three points and a 13-3 lead going into the half.

Starting the second half, the Browns’ held on the 4th and 1, and starting marching into Pittsburgh territory to get back in the game, but that’s when Campbell was knocked out with a blow to the head (no penalty, either thanks to the great NFL officiating crew), resulting in a fumble and a return to the Browns’ four yard line, where the visitors promptly scored and ended the game for all intent and purposes.

From then on, it was a Chudzinski/Turner passing show, with Weeden throwing 29 times in the last quarter and a half, completing only 13 and throwing in a pick six by William Gay to top off another dismal performance.

The game story going in was the pressure the Browns’ defense had been putting on quarterbacks, but they registered no sack on Ben Roethlisberger today, while Cleveland passers were sacked five times and one was knocked out of the game.

Still, with 17 of the Steelers’ points coming as a result of turnovers by the offense, it is tough to blame Ray Horton’s unit. They actually pitched a shutout in the second half.

The defeat wasted a record-setting performance by WR Josh Gordon, who caught 14 throws for a team record 237 yards and a touchdown. Gordon continues to impress, despite people who want to constantly bring up any negative they can find about the second year wideout.

Over the years, we have maintained to be successful in the NFL, you have to run the ball, and you have to stop the run. The Cleveland Browns have mastered the latter, but they will continue to struggle until to do the former. And to do that, they must make a commitment to the running game, even though it’s a passing league.

Today’s defeat means it is time to start looking at 2014. However, if Brandon Weeden has to start most of the games remaining. Even the evaluation process will be difficult.