Can the Browns defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular-season opener at 1 p.m. today at Lincoln Financial Field?
Sure they CAN.
Except for perhaps Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sitting down across from one another and exchanging pleasantries, just about anything can happen in this world. At least the possibility exists.
But that’s not the real question. Rather, it is: WILL the Browns beat Philadelphia this afternoon?
Yes, they will. The Browns will win today.
Whoa!
Breaking news!
Stop the presses!
Call the guys in the white coats!
I’ll repeat it: Yes, the Browns will defeat the Eagles. They will be 1-0 for the first time in 12 years, and for just the second time in this fitful expansion era.
So to say they’re going to win an opener is more than just going out on a limb, if there is such a thing.
Add to that the fact the Browns are beginning a total and complete rebuild, the extensiveness of which they’ve never undertaken in their 70-year history, and that limb gets even thinner, weaker and more precarious.
And did we mention that no one knows for sure if the Browns have a competent quarterback in Robert Griffin III?
Since it’s the most important position in team sports, it’s kind of a necessity to have a quarterback who can play – well, that is.
Then there’s the fact the Browns were just 3-13 and have suffered through eight straight losing seasons. They have posted only two winning records in the first 17 years of the team’s return to the field.
So with all that going for the Browns – now there’s no limb at all as it broke and fell to the ground — it’s easy to see why I’m picking them.
No, really, it is easy to pick the Browns. I mean that.
Why?
Because the Eagles, like the Browns, are certainly not playoff contenders.
Because the Eagles (Doug Pederson), like the Browns (Hue Jackson), have a new head coach.
And because the Eagles, like the Browns, have no idea if they have a competent quarterback in rookie Carson Wentz.
Indeed, the Eagles have just about as many questions as the Browns.
As such, with so much uncertainty on both sides, it’s impossible to figure out what will happen today.
The Eagles are at home, so we’ll give them that advantage, but Philadelphia fans are with their teams only as long as things are going well. And when they aren’t, they aren’t.
So if the Eagles start slowly in a game they are expected to win by almost all “experts,” then things could get ugly quickly.
Let’s just say all those things on both sides cancel out each other, making this otherwise a pick-’em game. Where, then, do the Browns have an advantage – at least one big enough to convince me to pick them?
I’ll tell you one thing: It’s not tangible in any way, shape or form.
To steal a line from a former Browns head coach, it’s just a gut feeling.
But it’s a gut feeling based on the belief that the Browns will rally around all the negativism that’s been thrown their way for months now.
They are supposed to be the 33rd-best team in the NFL, right behind the Alabama Crimson Tide of former Browns defensive coordinator Nick Saban.
And no less of an authority than Brian Billick, the offensive genius whose 2000 Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl in spite of their brutal offense, thinks the Browns will go 0-for-the-season.
Hue Jackson seems like kind of a laid-back guy. And he is. But more than that, he is an extremely competitive guy. He has told us countless times since he was hired in January. He hates to lose, and the Browns went through the four preseason games winless.
But he REALLY hates to be embarrassed, humiliated, demeaned.
And his Browns have been embarrassed, humiliated, demeaned to the nth degree by becoming a laughingstock, a punching bag, the answer to jokes.
He will remind his players of all that before they take the field today. He will appeal to their pride.
He most certainly will.
And speaking of pride, there’s a lot of that on the line beginning today for Jackson and RG3, both of whom are trying to prove themselves after losing their jobs in their first go-around in these same positions with the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins, respectively.
Will the Browns win a lot of games this season?
Likely not.
But they will win today.
Now if we can just get The Donald and Mrs. Clinton to make nice with each other. That would be REALLY incredible, even more so than the Browns winning today, which, I maintain, wouldn’t really be that incredible at all.
