Buckeyes remain No. 2 in both AP, Coaches polls
September 26, 2016Kyrie Irving (finally) feels validated following The Shot
September 26, 2016It’s hard to be mad about the Cleveland Browns dropping an overtime game on the road against the Miami Dolphins, 30-24. This is a difficult thing to talk about without coming off like a complete and total loser, but we have to try. We’ve had many conversations about the 2016 Browns already, and once you acknowledge that all the tank talk and rebuilding talk has already taken place, it’s much easier. You can’t divorce the 2016 Browns from their widely understood expectations. You especially can’t do it on a Sunday when the Browns couldn’t win a game solely due to a street free agent kicker1 who missed three field goals in the close game, including what should have been the game-winner.
It’s rare to look at a tight-margin football game involving 60 minutes of action involving approximately 100 players on two teams and pin a loss down to just one guy. Sunday’s Browns vs. Dolphins matchup is about as close as you can possibly come to it being one dude’s failure. That’s really the thing that I couldn’t let go of as I sat thinking about the Browns loss. Despite everything else, I was thinking about Dolphins fans trying to forget Ryan Tannehill failing to capitalize on mistakes and pretty much handing the Browns the game with his late strip-sack in regulation. I felt at that time that regardless of outcome, it was almost worse for the Dolphins than the Browns. I still feel that way a day later.
The Dolphins are trying really hard right now to be a real NFL team. They have a young head coach, and they’ve spent millions on what they hope will be a formidable defense. They’re starting a quarterback in Tannehill who is supposed to be mature in his NFL career. The 28-year-old is supposedly leading the Dolphins in what I would call a “culmination” type of year. It’s a year like the Browns had in 2008 after narrowly missing the playoffs. The Dolphins sputtered to 6-10 in 2015, but they thought they were close. They’ve got huge commitments of guaranteed money to Ndamakong Suh, Tannehill, Byron Maxwell, and Mike Pouncey through the 2021 seasons. They’re not paying all those guys and keeping them around to nearly lose to the Browns before saying they salvaged something of a season by leaving the day with a 1-2 record.
The Cleveland Browns have a lot to prove and trashing the Dolphins doesn’t make that any better, but you have to give Hue Jackson and the young bucks some credit. The Browns only have Corey Coleman signed until 2021, and that’s because he’s a rookie. Coleman is an especially good example for this conversation because he wasn’t even available for the game. Neither was Joe Haden who is under contract until 2020, and that’s a separate issue for the Browns on its own, but the point stands. The Browns are trying to win every week with the guys they have, but they intentionally came to this season young and unproven in order to build. They did so with a coach that had no business keeping a comically banged up roster in a road game against a far superior roster as he did this past Sunday.
The Browns lost the game, but I just don’t feel like these guys are losers. Alright, well that kicker guy lost the game, even though Hue Jackson wouldn’t blame him.
“He didn’t lose the game,” said Jackson. “I will say that again. Everybody who says he lost the game can look right at me. This has nothing to do with the players and them. This is on me, and I take full responsibility for it all.”
Good on you Hue, but no way. Even the questionable decision to kick after winning the overtime toss proved not to hurt the Browns. The defense did their jobs, forced a punt, and got the ball back. They just didn’t have enough with Cody Kessler’s first start plus all the injuries to get a win, except they kind of did. You don’t win the game without winning and I don’t believe in moral victories, but you can’t think anyone in the Browns locker room actually thinks they didn’t do enough to win the game. They did. This young team played a damn good game under really difficult circumstances and in a lot of ways should feel better than the Dolphins today.
The Dolphins are obviously a lot closer to something than the Browns, but it’s most likely a .500 record and not much more. There might be a lot of relief in eight wins for a Browns fan these days. But, if that record is the culmination of a finished roster meant to compete, you can leave me out. If that’s the ceiling, then it’s a room I don’t care to build on my house.
Part of the Browns narrative for 2016 is rebuilding and looking toward the future. You know the Browns are aiming for much higher than what the Dolphins are today, and spending all of their available resources to try and win six instead of three games is a waste of effort. Sunday showed me a lot about these young Browns. It showed me where they are, and we all know where they want to get to. They’re almost up to the Dolphins’ level, and that says more bad things about Tannehill, Suh and the crew than it does the Browns.
- Said kicker shall not be named ever again. [↩]
10 Comments
Creativity shown on offense – effort shown on defense. Developing new talents. That’s about all we can ask this year.
i completely enjoyed watching this game. I don’t even know half the players but they play with effort and they seem to want to be there.
It’s going to be maddening, however, when they rally for 4 wins at the end of the season, and notch themselves the 4 pick.
hi SAGGY … i enjoyed it as well. to me , it looks like the players wanna fight for Hue & they are actually proud to be Browns.
i saw a lot of empty seats yesterday … and the fans were awfully quiet.for most of the game.
I almost started tweeting about how lucky the Browns were to dodge drafting Tannehill…but then we suck anyway, so does it matter?
I am just glad I don’t have to be a fan of his.
I also really enjoyed myself watching the game. Terrelle Pryor was a man on fire. The defense played above their billing.
I watched the game with a friend who is a huge Dolphins fan, and it was funny hearing both of us say the exact same things at different times. “Watch, there’s plenty of time left, we’re going to blow it”, “this game isn’t over yet”, “this lead isn’t safe”, etc. But as Craig pointed out, they are taking their shot at a championship. They spent big money on Suh, Williams, Wake, Tannehill, etc. When the game was over, I told my friend that I actually felt somewhat glad that the Dolphins won since wins and losses don’t matter for us this year.
home opener too.
However, the side shown on TV was in the sun and I wonder if the wise STH get seats in the shade, to avoid the high temps.
I want to respond to the “From Wentz He Came…” agonistas.
Wentz looks and plays like the real thing. He is balling hard right now. But many QB plays well for the first 3-4 games before hitting the wall. DCs figure you out. The early returns are good, but watch out, the Eagles always screw it up at the end anyway.
Next year, we’ll pick Kizer or someone else with a big body, big arm and hopefully some Wentz-like (or Kessler-like?) decision making skills. Look out for the Wentz vs [new guy] conversations that Sports Radio can handle!! I’m already salivating.
Also, Kessler looked average, but how a noodle arm like his has no INTs is pretty impressive. I don’t understand that, except that he must instinctively know and play within his limitations. I can see how a reasonably decisive QB, with a better arm, and maybe an actual set of decent receivers could start winning some games for God’s Most Perfect Creation On Earth The Cleveland Browns.
GMPCOETCB.
Truly, the Browns lost but the Dolphins are screwed.