Browns are getting better
DON’T LOOK NOW, BUT THE BROWNS ARE GETTING BETTER
By STEVE KING
The Browns looked good in their 35-17 rout of the Detroit Lions on Thursday night at Ford Field in the preseason finale.
They looked very good, in fact, so much so that the win, though by “just” 18 points, can safely be called what I called it, a rout. It was a beatdown – a smashing, a clobbering, whatever you want to term it. The Browns dominated from start to finish. If you don’t think so, then you should read and hear what Detroit media members think about the game. I can tell you that it isn’t pretty.
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OK, I get it that this was not just the preseason, which really doesn’t count for anything important, but rather the preseason finale, which is at the very bottom of the food chain.
But with that, then, what would you rather I be saying about the victory, or the 3-1 preseason overall, that the Browns were terrible, are terrible? Very good is a whole heckuva lot better than terrible no matter what the degree of difficulty.
Look at it this way: Despite what some of you may be thinking, the Browns are getting better. They are much better than they were a year ago at this time, when the team was a total mess, even if we didn’t really grasp just how bad it was. And with those memories, you’re reluctant to put yourself – and your heart – out there yet again to have the audacity of hope and believe that the Browns are improved. That heart of yours has been broken way, way too many times in this nightmarish expansion era. I get it.
But the Lions are considered a legitimate playoff contender this season, probably not as the NFC North champions, because that will almost certainly go to either the Green Bay Packers or Minnesota Vikings, but certainly as a wild card.
That the Browns’ substitutes – the subs from a team that didn’t win a game last season and has won only one in the last two years — beat the living daylights out of the subs from a decent club means that, at least in terms of depth, that the Browns have made big strides.
Because of that, these cutdowns are going to be tough for the Browns. These are going to be releasing players who might have been starters here the last two years, and will certainly find employment elsewhere in the NFL.
So, yes, the Browns looked really good against the Lions, they had a good preseason and they are building some quality depth. That’s where they stand at this moment in time.
Great, glad you agree, even if it’s begrudgingly.
Now, let’s – together — hold our breath, cross our fingers, light candles at church and see what happens from here, OK?
