I Used To Cheer on the Cleveland Browns as Underdogs. After Thursday Night, I’m Rooting Against Them.
I used to be one of the guys cheering on the Cleveland Browns after looking like they were on the up after going from 0–16 in 2017 to a 7–8–1 record in 2018. I liked the swagger of Baker Mayfield, and we all knew that Odell Beckham Jr. was talented. And with wide receiver Jarvis Landry, defensive end Miles Garrett, and runningbacks Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, the Browns looked like a playoff contender everyone wanted to see succeed.
However, after the Cleveland Browns played against the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Thursday night, I’ve decided to jump off of the bandwagon and be one of the naysayers of the Browns. They don’t deserve to succeed.
The Browns Have Absolutely No Discipline Whatsoever
All season, the Cleveland Browns have been one of the most penalized teams of the league (#3 at the time of this article’s publishing). Many of these penalties have been drive killers, driven them out of field goal range, put them out of the red zone, and made them have third and longs all year. The same penalties often cost them games or make it impossible for them to stay within them.
At Times, they Resort to Dirty Playing on Defense
The biggest display of dirty play that I’d seen by the Browns was against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers lost many players in the game, including runningback James Conner and wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster. However, the hit, or should I say sandwich, on Juju was perfectly legal, although it was a very hard hit.
However, the hit on Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson by Browns safety Damarious Randall was the final straw for me supporting such a bad team.
I mean, look at that. Damarious Randall didn’t even try to use his hands. He led with his helmet and smacked Diontae Johnson right in the dome to the point he was bleeding. I’d be more than surprised if Johnson didn’t get a concussion from this hit. This was absolutely brutal, and Randall deserved to get ejected. (Also, Myles Garrett swung at Mason Rudolph with his own helmet! Yikes!)
Now, I know this might be overreacting, but the Browns started to play desperate defense within the third quarter, getting penalty after penalty that kept the Steelers drive going and eventually giving their offense their first touchdown of the game. (The way Mason Rudolph was playing, the Browns should have shut out the Steelers).
OBJ Trying too Hard to “Flex” Instead of Play
I get that Odell Beckham Jr. is probably bored being in Cleveland and he isn’t getting much action this season. Going from New York City to the most known for the Cavaliers during Lebron’s time there and the “Rock and Roll” Hall of Fame must be a real big change.
But really, dude? Showing off your $200,000 watch in the season opener and getting smoked by the Titans? You and Jarvis Landry trying to show off your Nike shoes against the Broncos (who you lost to against a QB starting his first NFL game ever, by the way)?
Listen, OBJ. I know you said that you “can’t get the ball to save your life”. But the world doesn’t need to see you being cocky when you’re 4–6, underperforming with a loaded roster, sucking ass against bad teams, and not getting the ball. Flex on your own time. When you’re on the field, you’re out there to play. Talk to Baker Mayfield. Tell him to throw the ball to you and throw it accurately.
Baker Mayfield Just Needs to Put Up and Shut Up
Now I’ve harped in private about Colin Cowherd being so brutally critical on Baker Mayfield. (It’s mostly because he speaks about Sam Darnold in the same way he does about Kyler Murray or Lamar Jackson when Darnold is statistically worse than Mayfield.) But…I have to admit, he’s right.
The problem I have with Baker Mayfield is he seems to blame everyone else for the issues of the Browns. First it was the refs. Then it was just bad miscommunication. Then recently after a win against the Bills at home, he chastises the Browns faithful about keeping quiet when the offense is on the field. Really?
I personally like his brutal honesty. But it’s one thing to be brutally honest, and it’s another thing just to deflect blame because it’s easier. He needs to take responsibility for his playing, especially in the first half of the season.
Freddie Kitchens is a Pushover
I really believe that the Achilles’ heel to this team is the first-year head coach, Freddie Kitchens. I know that Baker Mayfield is comfortable with him and he knows the guy, but he hasn’t ever run a team as a head coach before. They should have made Gregg Williams the official head coach and made Kitchens the offensive coordinator.
With Williams, the team finished with a 7–8–1 record, winning 5–3 with him at the helm. With Kitchens, they are 4–6, lost very winnable games due to penalties and ineptitude, and there is no discipline whatsoever. There is a lot of noise in Cleveland, and it’s not the good stuff.
The Cleveland Browns Deserve Everything They Are Getting From Haters
When you run your mouth about being so good because the media hypes you, and you refuse to acknowledge that you’re playing abysmal football with a playoff-caliber team, you deserve the criticism you receive. The display of thuggery in the most recent game against the Steelers both throughout and second from the game’s ending shows there is little to no standard of humility, drive to win, or decency in the Browns locker room.
When Baker Mayfield, the loudest guy on the team, becomes the voice of reason after a slugfest on the field involving your most talented defensive player Myles Garrett swinging QB Mason’s Rudolph’s own helmet at him, that’s a sign that things in Cleveland are not on the up-and-up like most would expect.
This team deserves all the hate they get after Thursday night’s game against the Steelers. They played poorly, got penalized time after time, and they lost their cool. They were only lucky they got to play against a horrible Mason Rudolph and not Ben Roethlisberger.
