The Browns’ longstanding kicking problems — called The Curse of Joe Banner — may finally be over after haunting the club for a decade.
Strike up the band for the playing and singing of the “Hallelujah Chorus.”
But the Browns’ quarterback problems — we’ll call it The Curse of Deshaun Watson — may just be beginning.
Like two ships passing in the night, they — rookie kicker Cade York and veteran journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett —intersected in Charlotte on Sunday in the regular-season opener. They pretty much canceled each other out, but York had the ball at the end and made the most of it, booming a 58-yard field goal — one of the longest kicks in team history — as time expired to allow the Browns to squeak past the Carolina Panthers 26-24 in spite of themselves, and especially Brissett.
Making the first of what is expected to be 11 straight starts while Watson serves his NFL suspension, Brissett was terrible right from the start and never got any better. He made Paul McDonald look like Brian Sipe in comparison. Everybody knew it was going to be bad, but not many may have guessed it would be to the level that it was.
Could it have been any worse with backup Josh Dobbs? I don’t think so.
Brissett’s struggles and his inability to be even a mediocre passing threat are part of what caused the Browns to blow a 20-7 second-half lead. The offense couldn’t make plays when it had to, allowing former Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Panthers to rally for a 24-23 lead with just over a minute left.
The other reason for the late collapse was a Browns defense that played well, as advertised, for three quarters and then became a sieve.
But York, a fourth-round NFL Draft choice, was as good as advertised throughout, kicking the last of his four field goals to help the Browns, who have won on opening day in the expansion era about as often as Hailey’s Comet appearances, avert disaster and keep from losing to a bad Panthers team.
But when the euphoria of the win subsides, the Browns have to sober up and fix the passing game — it can’t get any worse — and also take a good long look at the defense, which must remember that there are four quarters in a game, not three.
Steve King
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