IT’S A LONG SEASON, GUYS

By STEVE KING

Today’s young adults are great. They really, truly are.

I’m an old guy, but I am a big believer in them.

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However, every age group has negatives – it’s just the way it is – and one of this group’s biggest weaknesses is that its members believe everything in life is short and quick, like a 30-minute situation comedy on TV.

I get that – I really do — but the fact of the matter is that the NFL season is anything but that. It’s not just a “normal” 26.2-mile marathon, but rather one of those 100-mile ironman deals involving swimming and bicycling along with running. They – the ironman events and the NFL season — are the ultimate tests of endurance, perseverance, dedication, hard work and focus.

Ah, yes, focus.

The young, building Browns learned that hard lesson on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

They came into their game against the Los Angeles Chargers, a very good team, still celebrating their 12-9 win in overtime over the Baltimore Ravens, another very good team, last Sunday. They were getting drunk on all the plaudits and praise they were receiving all week in having raised their mark to 2-2-1, a mediocre record by most standards but a great one by recent Browns levels.

Try as he might – he kept insisting the Browns had done absolutely nothing and there was still a long, long way to go – head coach Hue Jackson could not stop the party. It took the Chargers, a focused group that was not satisfied at all to be 3-2, to stop it – emphatically so – with a big punch to the mouth, and then another and another and another.

The result was that the Browns got drunk again. Only this time, they were punch-drunk, absorbing a 38-14 knockout of a defeat that wasn’t even that close. It was like one of those varsity-against-the-freshmen games that the Browns played almost exclusively the previous two seasons.

Fortunately – and thankfully – the Browns hadn’t played any of those type of games before Sunday. In fact, they had five consecutive close ones. They could have easily been 5-0 – or 0-5 – entering Sunday.

No matter. It’s OK. One stinker is not going to ruin the Browns’ season. A bunch of them will, though.

I don’t think it will happen, because the Browns certainly had to have earned their lesson on Sunday, didn’t they? Well, didn’t they?

The season is 16 games, not one, two or even five. The teams that understand this are the most consistent, and consistency is a winning formula in the NFL.

The Browns aren’t there yet – not even close, really. They proved it on Sunday.

So it’s back to work – this time with no grand illusions and much more focus.

 

NOTE: Written 10-13-18

SOMETHING TO REALLY TALK ABOUT WITH THESE BROWNS

By STEVE KING

A little bit of this and a little bit of that as the Browns get ready to play a second straight good team at FirstEnergy Stadium, this time the Los Angeles Chargers, on Sunday:

*TALKING POINTS: Baker Mayfield is walking the walk in playing very well so far, but the Browns rookie quarterback is also talking the talk. When you hear him speak, he sounds like a seasoned veteran, and a leader. He understands the game, he understands that it is his job, as quarterback, to win the game, he understands that his teammates, particularly his line, have a lot to say about his success, and he understands that, just like head coach Hue Jackson says, the Browns, while having already won one more than they have in the last two seasons combined, haven’t really done much of anything yet. In that regard, then, in being able to act like a good quarterback both on and off the field, the Browns haven’t had a quarterback like this since … some guy named Bernie Kosar. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Now, this is not to say that Mayfield will turn out to be another Kosar – not anytime soon, at least – but it is to say that he has, by far, the best chance to do it among the long list of quarterbacks who have played for the club in the expansion era.

*LIKE A GAME OF H-O-R-S-E: When you play that basketball shooting contest, you have to prove your winning shot by making it again. So, then, the Browns, after edging the Baltimore Ravens 12-9 in overtime last Sunday at home, will have to do it once more by beating the Chargers. The Browns moved up a little – but not much – in most of the NFL power rankings, and as such, it’s still clear that they’re not thought of with anything close to the same respect yet as most other teams in the league, particularly those in the AFC North – the Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. A win over the Chargers would really get the attention of people and help move the Browns up the rankings more than what occurred following last week’s victory.

*SPEAKING OF THE DIVISION…: Along with the Browns’ game against the Chargers, who are 3-2 and in second place in the AFC West, there are two other big contests involving teams in the North on Sunday. The Steelers, who are 2-2-1 and tied with the Browns for third place, and the first-place Bengals (4-1) play at Cincinnati, while Baltimore (3-2) travels to meet the Tennessee Titans (3-2 and tied for first in the AFC South) of first-year head coach – and Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit High School ad Ohio State product – Mike Vrabel. Depending on what happens – I’m going with Tennessee and Pittsburgh – the division could look a lot different by Sunday night.

*BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BROWNS? The Chargers have a lot of offensive firepower. I think, though, that the talented and productive defense will do enough against that group to keep the Browns in the game, but the Chargers will still score a decent amount of points. They’re just too good not to do so. And I’m not sure that the Cleveland offense can do its part and score enough points to keep up with Los Angeles. So I’m picking the Chargers in a relatively close – and perhaps even a very close — game. Sorry. But I very much hope that I’m wrong.

It’s a long season, Cleveland. This is for you!