Sometimes things don’t work out as planned.
Take the Browns, the Los Angeles Rams and defensive end Myles Garrett.
Garrett wanted to chase a Super Bowl championship, and because it wasn’t going to happen right away in Cleveland, the Browns traded him to the Rams, who are built to contend for the Lombardi Trophy right now. Indeed, before the season even started, the Rams seemed destined to be the world champions.
Now, three weeks into the regular season, the Rams are the picture of dysfunction at 1–2, the surprising Browns are one of four teams — the others are the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens — in the AFC Notth at 2-1 and Garrett continues to be out with a knee injury that, when it’s all done, could cost him half the year.
Wow, nobody could’ve seen that coming.
This could get real interesting in the North. While the Browns were defeating the Carolina Panthers 21–18 on Sunday, the Bengals were losing 30–27 in Pittsburgh because their offensive line and their defense are both still struggling, and the Ravens, who has perspective, the art of blowing leads, came from behind at the very end to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 34-31 in Rio de Janeiro.
The Browns and Pittsburgh play on Thursday Night Football. It’s always a compelling game when those two teams meet, and now the contest will mean even more as they move to the approximate quarter-pole of the season.
And the Rams? They play the Philadelphia Eagles and then the Buffalo Bills the next two games, so if they don’t get their act together, then this season will turn from a disappointing start to full-blown panic mode.
Steve King
