The Cleveland Browns have secured a winning record for the first time in 13 years with their win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
The Cleveland Browns are officially a winning football team. Not only did the Browns spank the Titans in a game where the final score lied like a Matthew Stafford box score, but the Browns did so by sweeping the entire AFC South. The Browns defeated the Colts, Texans, Jaguars, and Titans now, meaning that not only are the Browns questing to be the Kings of the North but have conquered the south as well.
Now the Browns are in the catbird seat and are calling their shots. While it’s wise to take each game as they come, the Browns have a deflated and limping Ravens next week, followed by the Giants, Jets, and then a Steelers team in Week 17 that may have all of their starters resting. Don’t tell us that 13-3 isn’t possible.
The Browns should note, however, that there were many issues in this game that needs to be addressed. Some of the more minor ones include Jedrick Wills again being a source of penalties on the offensive line. J.C. Tretter snuffing a snap to Baker Mayfield which nearly cost the team the ball. The defensive secondary and their inability to cover anyone that isn’t strapped down to a bed. Also, it needs to be mentioned, Kevin Stefanski’s conservative play calling allowed the Titans to get back into the game.
The Browns defense isn’t good, so the best way to minimize their exposure is by keeping them off the field. Mayfield only threw eight times in the second half, and most of them were designed short throws to keep the clock ticking.
Just one more touchdown would’ve broken the backs of the Titans. That’s not what happened and the Titans mounted a valiant last stand. So let’s look at the good and bad from this game.
The Good
Baker Mayfield
Baker-Baker-Touchdown-Maker. Baker Mayfield now has 21 touchdowns on the year to only seven interceptions. He completed 76% of his passes, a number that would have been closer to 80% but his receivers again had huge, easy drops. The two most glaring being from Donovan Peoples-Jones on a gimme-touchdown play, and another involving Jarvis Landry which would have been for first down. Mayfield played his most complete game of the season and did so with a largely makeshift receiver corp.
The offensive line
Yes, J.C. Tretter and Jedrick Wills made some goofy errors, but at the end of the day, there are only three questions that matter. Did they protect Mayfield? Yes. Did they make it easy for their running backs to get yards? Eh, kinda. Yeah. Did they win? Yes. Sure, you’d of liked to see the running game, especially in the second half, look better but at the end of the day you won. Plus, it’s not the O-line’s fault that Kareem Hunt has developed this terrible habit of stopping his feet while he’s running, only to then hop into a defender. What is that? It’s bad, that’s what it is.
The first half
They were golden, slicing and dicing through the Titans like they were melted butter on a 100-degree day.
The Bad
The second half
Then they were cold, like slicing through frozen butter when it’s -72 below zero and all you have is a plastic spoon. Kevin Stefanski’s desire to get conservative nearly cost this team a victory. Plus, since when does the ground count when a fumble occurs? That’s just dumb. He’s a better coach than this, and whether it was because he didn’t want to run up the score or what have you, he needs to realize this isn’t college or high school. There can be no mercy.
The corners
Yikes. Talk about terrible play. The team was severely hampered by the loss of Denzel Ward, as the corners couldn’t contain anyone once Ryan Tannehill was given the green light to throw. The Titans put up 28 points in the second half alone, and most of it was thanks to the inability for the corners to actually make plays. The safeties played great, however, with Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo making plays all over the field, but corners have proven time and time again this season that they are not worth keeping heading into 2021. Besides Ward, obviously.
The linebackers
UGH, these linebackers are so bad. Kudos to Malcolm Smith who had a huge game, but besides one big stick from Mack Wilson, what else did he, B.J. Goodson, or Sione Takitaki do? Especially Goodson and Takitaki. Takitaki is constantly shallow in his coverage duties, allowing for quarterbacks to drop a ball three yards behind him almost constantly. Goodson is just falling backward when someone hits him and Wilson has not played any better with his knee brace off than he did with it on. It’s almost like someone was screaming like a mad-man for months, begging for GM Andrew Berry to make improvements. It’s like this was predicted…
The Conclusion
The Browns have done everything that has been asked of them, save for two weeks. Let’s be honest, the Raider’s loss was a fluke. The Browns were moving the ball but the receivers dropped something like five or six passes that day. Then the defense couldn’t get off the field, and let’s not even talk about the weather that day. The Browns shouldn’t have lost that game. As for the Ravens game, yeah, the Browns got beat up. Mostly because they were facing a team that was mostly intact from the proceeding year and was in the same system. The Browns had new pieces and new systems to implement. Sure, it isn’t hard to see why they got spanked.
The Steelers game was the biggest handicap in the history of the season. The Browns went in with their best running back down, their best offensive linemen down, and Baker Mayfield had such severely bruised ribs that not only did he have issues throwing but he couldn’t even sleep due to the pain. Ask anyone who’s ever gone days without much sleep, and they’ll tell you how hard it is to function.
That’s it, those are the three losses the Browns have dealt with in 2020, huge, handicapped, typed games. They’ve won the other nine, however. Not just won, but they’ve won each game differently, learning how to win no matter the circumstance. The rematch with the Ravens will be one that most critics won’t see coming, but if you’re a Browns fan, you know the Ravens are primed for a beating.