Despite excellent defensive play Browns find a way to lose
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN FOR THE BROWNS
By STEVE KING
The struggling, rebuilding Browns wanted to establish some consistency under John Dorsey, in his first full season as general manager.
They are doing exactly that, but not in the way they want, or had intended.
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They are still not winning. They are 0-1-1 this season and 0-18-1 in their last 19 games dating back to the 2016 finale.
They are still playing marvelously on defense. I know this is a small sample set with just two games played, but this is easily – easily! – the best the Browns have performed defensively in the expansion era. Hats off to defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and his guys – again!
They are still not doing nearly enough offensively to contribute to a winning effort. Yes, the offense improved a little bit – just a little bit — in the second game, but it has a long, long, long way to go before it gets just average, let alone good. Excellent? Ha! Get a pair of binoculars and you can see excellent way off in the distance, almost beyond the horizon.
And their special teams aren’t just bad, and they aren’t not just the worst in the NFL thus far in this young season. They are arguably the worst in team history. Zane Gonzalez makes Dave Jacobs – Google him – look like Lou Groza or Phil Dawson.
The result of all that on Sunday was that the Browns, for the second consecutive time, failed to win a game that, for all intents and purposes, they should have won, this time by 21-18 to the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome.
Yes, they should have beaten the Saints, who went into the season as one of the teams expected to seriously contend to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, and also the Pittsburgh Steelers, who went into the season as one of the teams expected to seriously contend to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Yes, of course, certainly it’s maddening. But that’s what happens when, ever since the expansion era began in 1999, you’ve done just about everything wrong. And the Browns have.
And one more thing: Just like a tie, such as that 21-21 twisty knot in the opener with Pittsburgh last week, isn’t a win, or comforting, neither is coming close and giving it the ol’ college try, which is what happened on Sunday.
This is about winning. That’s all that matters. Period. End of statement. This isn’t horseshoes or hand grenades, when almost hitting the target gets you something.
The Browns have gotten nothing, and thy deserve it. They have only themselves to blame.
And if you don’t believe that, then ask the Browns. They’ll tell you that – that is, if they’re being honest, which I think most of them would be, and will be this week.
IT WAS MOVE-OUT, MOVE-IN MONDAY
It was a busy day in Berea on Monday with several players coming and going at Browns headquarters.
There were few surprises.
As expected, wide receiver Josh Gordon was officially jettisoned after the Browns announced on Saturday evening that they were going to get rid of him. They were able to trade him to Bill Belichick and the severely wide receiver-challenged New England Patriots for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Good for the Patriots. They are getting an amazingly talented pass-catcher. He is a physical freak.
Good for Gordon. He is going to a place with a great structure, which is exactly what he needs. If he behaves himself, then he might be able to win a Super Bowl championship.
And good for the Browns. General Manager John Dorsey is trying to change the culture and build a winning one. Gordon, who is troubled, undisciplined, immature, selfish, ignorant in some respects and nothing but a tease because of his incredible ability mixed with his incredible inability to take advantage of it, was a major stumbling block to Dorsey ever getting that done. The Browns have done everything they could to get Gordon onto the field and keep him there, but they’ve simply run out of patience. As good as he is – as good as he can be – it’s just not worth it anymore.
I’m so glad Dorsey did it. I knew it was coming. We all knew several years ago that it was coming. Gordon was never going to make it here. He was going to crash and burn eventually, and that late-night promotional photo shoot was the last straw.
Gordon had better understand that Belichick won’t be nearly as kind, coddling and forgiving as the Browns. Belichick will tell him what the deal is – what’s expected of him and every other Patriot – and if he doesn’t toe the line, then they’ll release him so quickly that it will make his head spin. They’re all about winning in New England. They don’t have time to mess around with foolishness. They’re not running a halfway house, but rather a football team.
That’s also the way the Browns are now being run by Dorsey. It’s just going to take a while for him to weed out all the remaining knuckleheads. But he and the club have taken a big step by moving Gordon.
The Browns have replaced Gordon with some wideout named Rob Streater. He could be a convicted felon and not cause the Browns half as many headaches as Josh Gordon did.
In addition, Zane Gonzalez, who kicked his way off the club through the first two weeks of the season, missing enough important kicks, including two potential game-winning field goals, to choke an elephant, was, as everybody knew would happen, officially kicked out the door as well. His replacement is someone named Greg Joseph.
If Joseph makes his attempts, then he’ll stick around. And if he doesn’t, then he won’t. It’s pretty simple. It’s not hard at all to understand.
One final thought: There could be more major movement soon in Berea. I’ll talk about that in my next post as the Browns continue to get ready for Thursday night’s nationally-televised visit by Sam Darnold and the New York Jets to FirstEnergy Stadium.
