BROWNS WIN WITHOUT PLAYING A GAME

By STEVE KING

It’s hard for a football team to get a victory when it doesn’t play a game, but that’s exactly what the Browns did – in essence, at least – on Monday.

It occurred when linebacker Mack Wilson and cornerbacks Greedy Williams and Kevin Johnson, all starters in the team’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme,  finally got off the injury list and returned to practice as the Browns began getting ready for next Sunday’s visit by the newly-named Washington Football Team to FirstEnergy Stadium.

'Warrior' mentality powered @5mackwilson1 through recovery from scary knee injury

📰 » https://t.co/d7mdaNABsQ pic.twitter.com/EildWHNhr8

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 21, 2020

Will any of them play against Washington? It’s a good bet that all three will, but really, it’s hard to say for sure. We’ll just have to wait and see.

But regardless, in the meantime, the mere fact they are out there physically in uniform and working, is a huge – HUGE! – emotional and mental lift to a defense that, in all honesty, could really use it. The defense was handicapped by the turnovers-plagued offense in the 38-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the opener, but played much, much better – at least for most of the time — in last Thursday night’s 35-30 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Still, this defense has a long, long way to go before it becomes the kind of group the Browns need to complement an offense that perhaps may be ready to explode.

Right now, the Browns have to win games by outscoring teams. While that sounds cool – there are a lot of points scored on both sides of the ball, and today’s fans like to see points, which means the games are exciting – it’s not a good plan going forward, especially for a team that thinks it can snare a playoff berth this season. For even though no defenses are really dominating anymore, they at least must be able to slow teams down. The Browns aren’t there yet, but getting Mack Wilson, Greedy Williams and Kevin Johnson will sure help the effort.

More: Monday Night Football born in Cleveland 50 years ago