Jim Brown: “I don’t know a player that don’t like to party”
December 30, 20152015 WFNY Author Spotlight: Best of Jacob Rosen
December 30, 2015Roger Goodell and the NFL screw up things as much as they fix things. The NFL instituted late-season divisional matchups a few years ago in the hopes of keeping the interest of both fans of teams with the playoffs clinched and those whose playoff hopes were dashed by Halloween. For the most part, it feels they have devalued the divisional games by placing them in a slot where there is often not much on the line for one or both teams. Sometimes the last game of the NFL regular season can mean a whole bunch to both teams, however, as it does for the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers does this year.
Stakes for Week 17
Week 17 of the 2015 NFL season means a ton to both the Browns and Steelers, though for far different reasons.
For the Steelers, a loss to the Baltimore Ravens last week left them needing help to get into the NFL Playoffs despite a 9-6 record. Not only do the Steelers need to beat the Browns on Sunday, but they need Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills to defeat the New York Jets too.
For the Browns, a 3-12 record is tied for the worst record in all of the NFL with the Tennessee Titans. However, the Titans have played a weaker schedule, so they would win the tiebreaker for the first overall pick should both teams lose on Sunday. If the Browns win, then they could stay at the No. 2 selection or could fall as far as the fifth spot. The most likely scenario would have the Browns falling to the fourth overall selection.
So, the Browns are best served by losing to their long-time rival in order to ensure they end up with the second overall selection. With the Titans having just drafted Marcus Mariota as their quarterback in the 2015 NFL Draft, the odds are they would draft Joey Bosa or Laquon Treadwell in order to bolster their team, allowing the University of California wunderkind Jared Goff to fall to the Browns.1
And you know what? I don’t care. Just beat the Steelers.
3-17
Three wins in the last 20 games. Mike Pettine has to live with the record since his 7-4 start as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. It is pathetic. It is horrific.
It has been marked by many things that bad teams tend to do. Too many penalties and turnovers. Poor blocking, dropped passes, and miscommunication on offense. Poor tackling, bad angles, and miscommunication on defense. Poor blocking and blocked kicks on special teams. High-round draft picks failing to provide any impact on the field (Justin Gilbert, Johnny Manziel, Danny Shelton, Cameron Erving, Barkevious Mingo, etc.), crazy roster and playing time decisions (Darius Jennings with more snaps than Travis Benjamin last week? Pryor active one week, Bowe active — and captaining! — the next), a ton of off field shenanigans, and fans needing to be creative to rationalize the time they spend on the team.
There have been strings of blowout losses. There have been strings of agonizing last-minute defeats. There have been games when the offense hasn’t been able to help a good defensive effort. There have been games when the defense hasn’t been able to help a good offensive effort. And there was the Ravens game, when special teams failed at the worst possible time in the worst possible way.
The 2015 Cleveland Browns are a bad football team with too many flaws, injuries, and overall issues to think otherwise.
And you know what? I don’t care. Just beat the Steelers.
Manziel Mania
How many electrons have been killed creating words to describe Johnny Manziel and everything accompanying him since he burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M?
Some people are dazzled by the magic he can create with his impromptu dances behind the line of scrimmage before rifling off a pass. Sometimes the pass finds a like jersey for an unlikely gain, inspiring loud cheers from the crowd and boosting confidence in Manziel, the team, and the fans that the unlikely can continue to happen. Sometimes, it does.
Others scoff at the non-traditional style of quarterbacking from a non-traditional sized quarterback who comes from a non-traditional offense. Having a tall, strong quarterback who can stick in the pocket, make reads, and fire accurate passes is still the most common route to success in the NFL.
And just about everyone is frustrated and fed up that talk about Manziel is far too often covering the events away from the field rather than his successes and failures on the field.
Beating Pittsburgh this week could legitimize an attempt to give Manziel another season. Or, it could just lead to more open-ended questions. A complete failure, combined with any other off-field incidents, could give the Browns the impetus they need to cut bait with their first-round pick and continue the elusive search for a consistent starting quarterback — perhaps that Jared Goff kid we’ve heard so much about.2
And you know what? I don’t care. Just beat the Steelers.
Regime change?
Some think the current mess is a personnel issue. The high-round draft pick failures are the product of a GM in over his head who says crazy things such as receivers are not valuable enough to take high, while also passing on Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, and Odell Beckham, Jr. (and that was just the 2014 draft). Injuries have been an issue, but the complete lack of depth behind them is also a product of Farmer’s failures to build this team (and he had a hand in the Banner/Lombardi years too).
Some think the current mess is a coaching issue. Those penalties and miscommunications mentioned earlier are not the responsibility of the front office. Are those high draft picks complete busts due to unreasonable expectations by the coaches? Justin Gilbert being inactive while Johnson Bademosi is left to cover Larry Fitzgerald and Antonio Brown is, well, something. And, even if Pettine is kept, can the defensive staff really return?
Any time a team is in the running for the worst overall record in the NFL, there are at least going to be conversations about changing regimes. There will be talk about reporting structures (should a new GM hire his own HC?) and gossip about possible choices (keep walking, Chip Kelly). Hope might be an eternal flame, but she can be quite fickle as to where she camps out. Change lends itself to a less certain future, which people are quite adept at filling with hope, especially in Cleveland. Stability seems to lend itself to more of the same, whether or not it is true.
So, gear up for a potentially loud and boisterous Black Monday following the Steelers game, win or lose, as the employment fates of many in Berea are decided. Lots of debate and discussions to be had.
And you know what? I don’t care. Just beat the Steelers.
Boiling over
Yes, I’m frustrated by yet another season of Browns failures. I am sure most Browns fans are. So, let’s channel that frustration for one week directly at our counterparts in the ugliest uniforms in professional sports who happen to be traveling to FirstEnergy Stadium this week.
Whether you prefer an Oorah, Rebel Yell, Barritus, Deus Vult, Banzai, or even Uukhai, warm up your vocal chords for one last screaming Sunday before NFL games are gone for another eight full months.
We’ll fill those months with speculation, debate, analysis, and rants, but for now? How ’bout we just beat the Steelers.
- I love Goff’s game and think he can be a true franchise quarterback without the constant off field negativity of our current player at the position. [↩]
- This is my column, I will not talk about Paxton Lynch being on the same level as Goff. *sticks tongue out at you for even mentioning it* [↩]
11 Comments
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It would be a very Brownsian thing to win this last one and lose out in the draft position.
I like Goff a ton too, but there is no easy rhyme for tanking and picking. F off for Goff?
Turn and cough for Goff?
Scoff for Goff has been the standard I have seen, but I like Greg’s better.
Welp we are still due for our annual: “We won that game? WTF we had no business winning that…” game.
Anyone know the over/under on Browns receivers concussed in this game? I am pegging it at two.
Flaccid for Jarid?
Abandon Hoth for Goff?
Steelers are fighting for a playoff spot. Manziel is going through concussion protocol. I’d be surprised if this game is closer than 10 points.
right where we want them.
Sounds more like a rejected Subway slogan.