GREAT STORY IN CLEVELAND NOT TOLD ON DAY AFTER BIG WIN
By STEVE KING
The Browns won their game on Sunday, right?
They beat the Philadelphia Eagles 22-17 at FirstEnergy Stadium, right?
OK, good. I’m glad to hear that. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t dream it, that it actually happened, because after listening to the still-pretty-new ESPN Radio morning show crew on Monday, I was really starting to wonder.
The guys spent a good portion of the show talking about, and breaking down, … the Eagles and their quarterback, former-up-and-comer-who-is-now-an-interception-machine Carson Werntz. The Eagles, who are now 3-6-1, and their quarterback, who is to blame for almost all of it since, as we always say here, the quarterback’s one and only job is to win the game, are a going-nowhere-fast team in a going-nowhere-fast division, the NFC (L)East. Since winning the Super Bowl following the 2017 session, they are a pedestrian 22-23-1.
OK, ESPN, I know y’all got the East Coast bias thing going — that was clearly evident years ago, and it is what it is — but you missed a great story, again, on Monday in not talking about the team that beat the Eagles on Sunday. The Browns, located in flyover country in Cleveland, are 7-3 for the first time since Bill Belichick, Nick Saban and Kirk Ferentz were all on the same coaching staff in 1994, with Ozzie Newsome as the pro personnel assistant. Kevin Stefanski might well be the NFL Coach of the Year right now. It’s a great story in Cleveland.
So, ESPN, wean yourself off the Eagles and the six listeners nationally who are still interested in them and their fortunes, and start paying attention to a team that might well get to the AFC playoffs for the first time in 18 years.
That you did anything but that on Monday morning, and then followed up your diatribe about the Eagles with a love fest about the Indianapolis Colts, another team the Browns beat this season, and its coach, Frank Reich, touting him as a Coach of the Year candidate, is incredibly stupid and ignorant. It is insulting.
I’ll listen to the Christmas music station from here on out.
Sorry, guys, you had your chance to keep my attention, and you blew it, just like the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cleveland Browns:
- “Browns Step Up Without Garrett, Down Eagles In Steady Rain” (AP) – “With Myles Garrett not available, the Browns needed others to step up and make plays. Kareem Hunt went above and beyond.”
- Check out The RunDown with BDD Weekly
- “Olivier Vernon fills Myles Garrett’s shoes with sack hat trick, safety” (92.3 The Fan) – “The loss of Myles Garrett to the reserve/COVID-19 list could’ve been catastrophic Sunday against the Eagles.”
- “Browns Unlock Key To Offense Consistency In 1st Down Play-Action” (OBR) – “They used a mesh of boot schemes off wide zone and their power/counter play-action that pulls the backside guard to really sell the run action.”
- “Browns won again, but what do we really know about them, other than that 7-3 thing?” (cleveland.com) – “Great, another week without learning much about this Cleveland Browns football team. A win, sure, whatever, but there have been seven of those this season.”
- “PFF ReFocused: Cleveland Browns 22, Philadelphia Eagles 17” (PFF) – “The elements all but eliminated the passing game as a viable form of consistently moving the ball, which played right into the Cleveland Browns‘ hands.”
