So, what do the Browns do now as they prepare for Sunday’s important home game against the Baltimore Ravens?
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Start with taking a deep breath, and then exhaling slowly. In that way, then, they will release all the bad stuff that happened last Sunday in a disappointing 17-12 loss to the New York Jets, and try to latch on to the things that will help them be able to beat the Ravens.
That is the one thing about sports, that you can’t go back and change yesterday. The only thing you can change is today and tomorrow and all the days forward.
Everybody was ready to jump ship when the Browns lost 34–10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the season opener. Then, in the next three weeks, all close wins that were decided at the end of the game, the Browns looked like the new team to beat. Last Sunday came, and in the rain at the Meadowlands, the Browns played like a team that was beaten before they even went out there.
The Browns didn’t look ready to play last Sunday against the Jets. It was as if they had never played a game in wet conditions before in their lives. And for a lot of the game, they reacted to what the Jets did instead of forcing the action. That was especially true on offense.
The Browns must shore up their offensive line if they have any chance at all to beat Baltimore. Of all the things that went wrong against the Jets, the problems upfront were the most paramount. Indeed, if the NFL Draft were held tomorrow, the Browns would do well to use their first two or three or even four picks on the line and they still might not fill all the holes they have up there. The line is better than it was last year, but it’s certainly not good enough yet. They still have a long way to go.
The Browns are back home. It’s where they have won two games in as many tries. If you want to be good in any sport, then you have to be good at home. Really, you have to be excellent at home and then try to split on the road.
This is an AFC North game, so it means twice as much as a game out of the division. The Browns, at 3-2, are in a three-way tie for second with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals, trailing 4-1 Baltimore by one game.
If Browns can beat the Ravens, then they will they come out of Sunday tied for first place. That’s a pretty special week.
The quicker they forget what happened against the Jets, the quicker they will be ready to do those things to get back on top.
Can they do it? Sure, they can. Will they do it? Only if they have a short memory and a lot of belief in themselves that they can work their way back to where they were the previous three weeks when everybody was talking so positively about them.
Things are never as bad as they seem to be, nor are they ever as good as they seem to be. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The Browns have to keep that in mind as they play Baltimore. That is what they can control.
Steve King
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