Monday, January 1, 2018

Victory slips through Browns hands in Pittsburgh.0-16 arrives

Photo Credit:Joshua Gunter Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Cleveland Browns looked to have a chance to avoid the scar of 0-16 as the Browns reached the Pittsburgh Steelers 27 yard line for a 4th and two with under two minutes to play.
DeShone Kizer made a great play avoiding the Steeler rush and had an opening that he may have been able to run for the first down through, but quarterbacks aren't paid to run, they are paid to throw and Kizer did just that to Corey Coleman, who was wide open and the ball was thrown right to him.
Or should I say-right through him as in right through his hands ending the hopes of the Browns and sending Cleveland to 0-16 with a 28-24 loss to the Steelers.
DeShone Kizer threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns, one of those to Josh Gordon, who finished with over 100 receiving yards on the day.
No word on who the Browns will open with in September,but they are on the clock for the draft in April...

Brownie Bits

1) Corey Coleman was reported to be distraught in the locker room as he sat by his locker in uniform for 40 minutes with his head in his hands and it was "good" I guess to see that he cared that much.
Still, you have to catch that ball and if you want the most damning indictment of Sashi Brown and his stat-driven drafting style, look at what Michael Thomas ( one of those Buckeyes that the Browns are so averse to drafting) has done in two years in New Orleans compared to Coleman after being drafted a round after him...

2) DeShone Kizer played pretty well, I thought with the exception of the one bad pass in the fourth quarter that was his only interception of the day.
It's funny for the rookie from Notre Dame that his first game against the Steelers and his last game against the Steelers were among his better games in the debut season.
It was the games in between that were much of the problem.

3) The Browns also hopefully saw another highlight of some future stardom as Myles Garrett shed a block, stripped Landry Jones of the football and allowed Caleb Brantley to pluck the ball from mid-air.
Garrett finished the season with seven sacks and never seemed to be truly playing at full tilt.
Next year, Myles Garrett is going to show this league exactly what he is really all about.

4) Jabrill Peppers made his first interception as a pro in the first half.
I've been less than impressed with Peppers this season, although as a safety, that may be more due to Gregg Williams playing him out of position than his talents (at least I hope anyway or he is going to be a real bust), but Peppers has been a real disappointment returning punts.
For a player drafted with "Electric ball skills", Peppers spent more time calling for fair catches than trying to break big plays.

5) Looks like the Steelers have another good one in Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster, who returned a kickoff for a score and caught nine passes for 143 yards and another touchdown.
Why don't the Browns find these guys and the Steelers find the Smith-Schuster's (round two) and the Antonio Brown (Late Rounder) types?
Because the Steelers look for tough guys that can make the tough catches and play with a chip on their shoulder and the Browns like these diva types.
Until the Browns start getting some guys into town that don't mind getting dirty and playing dirty when they have to, things won't change.
John Dorsey has to see this.

6) It was nice to see Rashard Higgins grab his first two pro touchdown passes in the game, one of them a 56 yard score.
Higgins has always been the receiver out of the 2016 draft class that I have thought could be of value even if it's just as a third receiver over time given a chance.
I've always liked Higgins (and not just because he's the only Brown that follows me on Twitter) and I think as the Browns add talent at receiver, Higgins could be more productive in a role as third or fourth receiver.

7)  I'll be writing later in the week with a season in review and I have a podcast in the works with Scott Dryden on the season, but the big story is the unbelievable return of Hue Jackson.
Going 1-31 in two years and 0-16 this season and coming back in just beyond stupid and will set this team back.
John Dorsey deserves the chance to hire his coach and this is how I see this playing out-anything short of a 3-3 first six games, will see Hue Jackson either fired or resigned and the 2018 season wasted.
Jimmy Haslam continues to set this franchise back time and time again.

8) I admit two years that I thought Hue Jackson was a good hire and I will also say that if I had to choose which to keep between Sashi Brown and Hue Jackson, I would have chosen Hue Jackson.
All of that on the table- any normal franchise would remove Hue Jackson and I believe that it still could happen despite Jimmy Haslam's press conference after the game in Pittsburgh to the contrary.
I don't think it's likely that Jackson would go, but the Browns are even more of a laughing stock than normal anyway and keeping Jackson is a HUGE smack in the face to a fan base that needs to be massaged more than slapped.
There is a slim chance that with enough uproar Haslam's mind could be changed.

9) As far as this stupid parade goes, I'd like to see the whole thing canceled.
It started as an idea to give money to the Cleveland food bank, let's just give them the money and not draw any more attention to this disaster than there has to be.
It makes Browns fans look bad and makes light of a bad situation.

10) The Browns will have four of the first 35 picks in the draft as they hold the Texans first and second picks.
The injury to DeShaun Watson sent the Houston season down the drain and for once the Browns caught a break.
The Browns will have the first and fourth picks in round one and the first (33rd ) and third (35th) picks in the second round.
Cleveland also has the Eagles second-round pick, but that slot will not be determined until the Eagles lose in their playoff season...

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