PPM

The PPM returns for the conference championships and who punches their ticket to the Super Bowl.

Last Week: 1-3 

Overall: 161-97

AFC
Chiefs over Bengals 34-29

NFC 

Rams over 49ers 24-21

 

PPM

   Divisional Playoff weekend arrives for the PPM as the NFL trims the field from eight to four!

Last Week: 5-1

Overall: 160-94

AFC 

Bills over Chiefs 34-31

Bengals over Titans 27-24

NFC

Packers over 49ers 31-21

Buccaneers over Rams 30-20

PPM

  The PPM moves to the postseason after I for some reason forgot the PPM for the final week of the NFL regular season.

Last Week: 8-4 

Overall: 155-93

NFL Playoffs

AFC

Chiefs over Steelers 37-17

Bills over Patriots 24-20

Bengals over Raiders 31-28

NFC

Buccaneers over Eagles 32-14

Cowboys over 49ers 31-28

Rams over Cardinals 28-21 

Browns beat Bengals 21-16

  D'Ernest Johnson rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown as the offensive star of a game that often lacked offense to lead the Cleveland Browns to a 21-16 win over the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals in Cleveland to wrap up a disappointing season.

Case Keenum threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns to go with one interception at quarterback with Jarvis Landry catching one of the two passing touchdowns and finishing with 76 to lead the receivers.

Cleveland finished 8-9 on the season and will select 13th in April's NFL Draft.

Brownie Bits

1) It's so Browns to win these meaningless end of the season games with nothing on the line but the Browns entered the day with the 13th pick in the first round and they leave it with the 13th pick, so they didn't lose draft position winning a game that is almost forgotten as soon as it concluded.

2) Case Keenum was solid in his spot start and although his interception in the end zone to Cincinnati's Mike Hilton was a bad pass, Keenum was good enough otherwise.

Keenum is considered borderline on returning next season and while he isn't a quarterback that can carry a team to the playoffs (especially in a cold-weather climate for a long run, the unanswered question for the Browns will be this- For a team that carried one of the highest-paid backup quarterbacks in the game for situations with an injured starter, why did the Browns refuse to use him rather than a clearly impaired Baker Mayfield?

3) Speaking of Mr.Mayfield, various NFL outlets were reporting that the Browns had made a decision to "make it work" next season and bring Mayfield back as the starter.

While these sources are wrong as often as they are correct, I do think that this is possible with Mayfield returning.

The cost (18 million) is reasonable for a starter and unless the Browns want to roll the dice for a star, the alternatives aren't any more thrilling than Mayfield.

While I would love to see someone other than Mr.Progressive as the starter next season, I'm not sure many upgrades are available and as of now, all things considered, I might take away all his, his wife's, and his delusional supporter's excuses away and stick a healthy Mayfield in the lineup to see what happens.

4) D'Ernest Johnson continued to show that he is at least a solid number two back with another big performance and create the Browns a dilemma at running back.

Johnson is a restricted free agent and the Browns could place a second-round tender on Johnson to deter someone from poaching him.

5) Kareem Hunt is still under contract for one more season for 6.2 million and while I love Hunt as a runner, I'm starting to wonder with Hunt's issues with staying healthy if the Browns might be better suited to keep Johnson and not Hunt if the team has to make a choice.

6) Jadeveon Clowney finished with two sacks to reach nine for the season and activated a $250,000 bonus clause with the final sack being reviewed to see if the play was a fumble or an incomplete pass.

The $250,000 review might have been the most compelling part of this entire game.

7) The win could possibly be the final game for Jarvis Landry as a Brown but if it is, Landry was the professional that he has been throughout his tenure.

Landry caught six of his eight targets and while Landry's 16.5 million paycheck for 2022 is bloated for a team that will need to add at least two receivers to the lineup for next season if the Browns can make it work, I would welcome him back.

8) Kevin Stefanski stated all season that the idea was to keep Nick Chubb fresh for the postseason and while that plan worked, the part of Chubb being ready for big games didn't work out that way.

Chubb carried nine times with one run of thirty-five yards but with Chubb signed for three more seasons, I liked the decision to not beat up the running back in a game that meant nothing.

That's smart long-term thinking.

9) The Browns got a big game from Jacob Phillips with eight solo tackles, a sack, and two passes defended.

Phillips was being counted on at linebacker before a training camp injury and Phillips with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah should be major parts of the 2022 defense to build around.

10) Austin Hooper's 2022 salary is not guaranteed but the Browns would take a huge cap hit should they decide to go away.

I wonder about paying Hooper so much and getting average production in return when David Njoku will be a free agent with a decision looming for a player with loads of talent but so inconsistent.

I think the Browns keep Hooper but I'm interested in seeing the future of Njoku and if Harrison Bryant begins to eat into Hooper's snap count next season.

11) Where do I go at 13 in the first round?

As of now-Best receiver available.

I plan on a recap sometime soon and my planned article on Baker Mayfield is still in progress so I'm far finished with the Browns and a season that fell short in so many ways. 

Ohio State rallies in Rose Bowl win!

    This was finished late due to some work emergencies, so I decided to rewatch the game in order to do this piece a few days later.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba smashed about every receiving record that one can think as he finished with fifteen catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns and Smith-Njigba was far from the only offensive standout as fellow wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. grabbed three touchdowns passes and C.J. Stroud finished with six touchdown passes and 576 yards as Ohio State rallied past Utah 48-45 to win the Rose Bowl.

Utah led by fourteen at the half but the Ohio State defense tightened in the second half and allowed only ten second-half points.

Ohio State finishes its 2021 season with a record of 11-2 and brings a Rose Bowl trophy to Columbus.

Ohio State will start its 2022 season on September third against Notre Dame.

Olentangy Offerings

1) I know it's the easy thing to say after such a phenomenal performance but Jaxon Smith-Njigba might be the best wide receiver in Ohio State history by the time he is through.

Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are both likely to be first-round picks in the 2022 draft and neither are as good as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who, unless there is a franchise quarterback available, has a chance to be the top overall pick in the 2023 draft- Jaxon Smith-Njigba is that good.

2) And Smith-Njigba's numbers could have been even better as in the second quarter, Smith-Njigba streaked towards the end zone for yet another touchdown but Utah cornerback Clark Phillips (a former Ohio State commit) punched the ball away from Smith-Njigba at the one-yard line with the Ures recovering.

Smith-Njigba wasn't carrying the ball loosely or showboating, he was just caught off guard from behind by a hustling player making an excellent play.

3) Marvin Harrison Jr. is going to have a big season next year.

Harrison's route running brings his father to mind and he runs the fade route to the corner of the end zone like no one's business.

Smooth and effortless, Harrison Jr. is going to be a star.

4) C.J. Stroud not only set bowl records, but he also set total records for Ohio State as Stroud's 573 yards wiped Dwayne Haskins 499 off the slate as the top passing day ever for an Ohio State quarterback.

Stroud's 37 for 46 passing game showed how far he has come since the start of the season and Stroud has to be one of the pre-season Heisman favorites for next season.

5) Ohio State didn't have many chances to run the football as they trailed for most of the game but out of the twenty carries, seventeen of them belonged to TreVeyeon Henderson, who finished with eighty-three yards.

6) Master Teague made a cameo appearance but he didn't touch the ball.

Teague was expected to enter the transfer portal after the Rose Bowl but to my surprise declared for the NFL draft.

I always liked Teague as a runner but I'm not sure he's an NFL level every-down back so he will have to find some other skills to help him stick on the roster.

7) Ohio State had some luck in converting Steele Chambers to linebacker this season and may have found another lucky break as Cade Stover, who played the season at tight end, played the entire game at linebacker in the Rose Bowl and finished with six tackles.

Stover may very well enter the 2022 training camp at linebacker- not at tight end.

8) Another linebacker, Tommy Eichenberg, finished with seventeen tackles for a Buckeye Rose Bowl record.

Browns fail in Pittsburgh-26-14 loss

    The hype around the Cleveland Browns visit to Pittsburgh wasn't about the Browns playoff chances-those were gone when the Bengals won over the Chiefs on Sunday or even the Steelers playoff chances (rated at four percent).

It was about the likely final home game for Ben Rothlisberger, but there is also a chance that it could have been the final game of the Cleveland career for Baker Mayfield, who was simply terrible yet again in a 26-14 Browns loss.

Mayfield did throw two touchdown passes but he was intercepted twice, sacked nine times, and completed well under half his passes ( sixteen of thirty-two) in yet another dreadful defeat in a disappointing Browns season.

Donovan Peoples-Jones led the receivers with 76 yards and Nick Chubb paced the running backs with 58 yards.

The Browns clinched a losing season in the loss at 7-9 and will finish the season at home against the new AFC North champion Bengals.

Brownie Bits

1) Look, Baker Mayfield was terrible.

Completing one of his first ten throws, Mayfield was inaccurate as usual with his arm but even worse on a night that the Steelers seemed to have everyone down to the waterboy putting heat on Mayfield from the pass rush, Mayfield was almost mulish in his stubbornness to not throw the football away.

2) The irony in the above statement is that Mayfield seems to have little problem throwing the football away any other time but I guess the argument there would be that at least Mayfield is trying to hit his receivers for his usual passes into the sideline.

3) Still, it was not all Baker Mayfield's fault as he was sacked nine times and seemed to be hit on every play.

Blame Kevin Stefanski for his stubbornness in refusing to give rookie tackle James Hudson any kind of help at all with T.J. Watt, who sacked Mayfield four times alone.

Stefanski didn't keep a tight end, a fullback, a running back- anyone that could have given Hudson a hand in trying to cope with Watt.

Stefanski not only allowed Mayfield to take a relentless beating, but his decision to leave Hudson alone against Watt might also have destroyed Hudson's confidence to the point of destroying a rookie's psyche to play this game- Watt was that overwhelming!

4) Kevin Stefanski suggested that that the underuse of Nick Chubb was due to injured ribs to explain why Chubb carried the ball only twelve times on the evening with only four in the first half.

I still wonder if that was truly the case as Chubb was on the field for a bit on each of the Browns final two drives, having a Baker Mayfield pass to him wind up in the dirt and Chubb was in the backfield from the one-yard line as a decoy with Mayfield flipping a one-yard pass to Harrison Bryant for the final Cleveland score.

5) Pittsburgh entered the game at the bottom of the league against the run so even if Chubb was dealing with injuries, why not lean on D'Ernest Johnson rather than leaning on Mayfield so often?

6) For the third week in a row, the Browns anemic offense wasted a pretty good defensive performance.

Take away the late game garbage touchdown run by Najee Harris as the Browns had to sell out to stop the final drive and once Harris broke through the line there was no one there to stop him and the Browns defense allowed only one touchdown in the game, a first-quarter drive.

7) The Browns' offensive line was supposed to be the strength of their offense but even if you don't consider the nine sacks allowed, the line still was pushed around physically and committed multiple holding penalties and false starts.

A second-half holding penalty on Wyatt Teller seemed to be the football version of a basketball flop trying to draw a charging foul but otherwise, there seemed to be little to complain about.

8) One criticism of the Browns handling of Baker Mayfield has been the complaint that he has few offensive standouts to throw to.

Most of that is true but the Browns are paying Austin Hooper a lot of money to be the center of a tight end oriented passing game and yet Hooper's yard after catch numbers are next to zero and he drops far too many passes for a what is supposed to be a dependable possession receiver.

I'd rate Hooper as a disappointment thus far and I'd wonder about his future if he wasn't scheduled to receive 13.2 million in each of the next two seasons,w which means if Hooper would be released the Browns would have to eat almost twenty million of dead cap space.

9) The Browns lost both Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams to injury in this game just as they returned Greg Newsome to the lineup.

Newsome had a strong game as did Grant Delpit and one thing to be pleased about this season is the development of a secondary that was loaded with questions entering the season and turned out to have a pretty good season.

10) Dustin Colquitt's twenty-one-yard punt in the fourth quarter handed the Steelers a short field that would result in a Chris Boswell field goal which returned the Steelers' lead to two scores.

Colquitt had punted well since joining the team but his evening against the Steelers should at least make the Browns think about punting challengers in the 2022 training camp.

11) Baker Mayfield said that he will undergo surgery on his left shoulder for a torn labrum and I'd say he's unlikely to play against the Bengals with nothing to play for.

I'd bet that Case Keenum gets the start but I'd like to see the younger Nick Mullens get the nod.

Mullens did well in the loss to the Raiders and I'd like to see another start to see what the Browns think of his chances to stick around for the 2022 season.

12) I have had an article in progress for a few weeks on the Browns situation with Baker Mayfield and I keep having to update it.

I hope to finish it and have a critical post on how a season with high expectations has disappointed Cleveland fans for the second time in three seasons. 

PPM

  The PPM continues with the end to the college bowl season and the run to the playoffs in the NFL.

Last Week: 10-8

Overall: 147-89

Cotton Bowl

Alabama over Cincinnati 33-14

Orange Bowl

Georgia over Michigan 34-10

Outback Bowl

Arkansas over Penn State 29-17

Citrus Bowl

Kentucky over Iowa 27-13

Fiesta Bowl

Oklahoma State over Notre Dame 33-30

Rose Bowl

Ohio State over Utah 28-24

Sugar Bowl

Baylor over Ole Miss 40-35

Texas Bowl

Kansas State over LSU 27-21

Pro

Browns over Steelers 20-17

Saints over Panthers 17-15

Games of the Week

Chiefs over Bengals 37-28

Cowboys over Cardinals 30-24

Browns downed by Packers, playoff hopes alive.

   After Saturday's 24-22 loss by the Cleveland Browns in Green Bay, I vented with an all-Baker Mayfield post with thoughts on number six and decided on a follow-up with other thoughts in a later post.

1)  Chase McLaughlin had been struggling in the kicking game over the last month but his placement on the illness list resulted in a huge loss for the Browns.

It would have been interesting to see how McLaughlin handled Lambeau in light of his problems of the late but at least McLaughlin had some experience in actual games.

2) That left the Browns with untested rookie Chris Naggar from the practice squad to replace McLaughlin.

With the differences in the practice squad requirements in the Covid era, I have thought having a veteran available in the event of a kicking need (especially at kicker) would have made a lot of sense.

Instead, the Browns decided to go with an inexperienced kicker and it bit them with Naggar badly missing the extra point after the Browns first touchdown.

That led to the Browns trying the two-point conversion after their second touchdown, which they failed to convert.

Two points are given away in a game lost by two points. Hmm...

3) Naggar did bounce back in hitting his other extra point and his only field goal attempt from thirty-seven yards away but Naggar's presence was still felt at the end of the game.

On the Browns final drive and needing just a field goal to win, Kevin Stefanski stated that he was playing for a touchdown, not a field goal, and I'd have to think that having Nagger deciding the game rather than McLaughlin was on the mind of Stefanski and how he called the game/

4) In between the Browns loss to the Raiders and their loss in Green Bay, the Browns decided to waive the "Scottish Hammer" Jamie Gillan upon his return from Covid protocol and keep his supposed to be temporary replacement Dustin Colquitt as the regular punter.

Gillan had struggled this season but was quickly signed to Buffalo's practice squad and the unusual thing was that Gillan had won the punting job over Britton Colquitt and lost it to Dustin- Britton's brother.

5)  What I don't understand about this offense?

Yes, the Browns were behind most of the game but never by enough that they had to throw the ball on every down and the running game was unstoppable by the Packer defense.

Nick Chubb finished with 126 yards and a touchdown on seventeen carries and D'Ernest Johnson added fifty-eight more on only seven carries.

SO between Chubb and Johnson, the Browns AVERAGED 7.67 yards per carry and yet you throw the ball thirty-six times with Baker Mayfield?

And considering the lack of big-time targets at wide receiver?

6) Speaking of D'Ernest Johnson, the Browns are going to have a tough decision to make with him.

Johnson has 398 yards on the season on seventy carries which comes out to a 5.7 yards per carry average.

Johnson has made it clear that he is an NFL quality running back but he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year and will be in line for a large raise from his current 850,000 yearly salary.

Can the Browns match an offer to Johnson from a team that may pay him as a number one running back when Cleveland will still have Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt ahead of him?

That will be a very interesting situation to watch over the off-season.

7) Myles Garrett didn't make an impact on the scoresheet as he notched a single tackle and one hit on Aaron Rodgers but consider the man played on one leg in the game.

Garrett's groin injury suffered against Las Vegas would have likely sidelined him for the Green Bay games and possibly the Pittsburgh games this week as well had it occurred earlier in the season and not in the playoff rush, so give Garrett tons of credit for sucking it up and playing through a tremendous amount of pain.

8) M.J. Stewart played much of the game at safety and it was your good news/bad news scenario.

The good news was that Stewart finished with ten tackles.

The bad news is Aaron Rodgers threw to his man eleven times and completed ten of them.

9) The Browns coverages weren't prepared for Davante Adams, who caught ten of the thirteen passes thrown his way for 114 yards and two scores.

On both scores, Adams used favorable coverage matchups to easily break away from overmatched Browns defensive backs, rookie safety Richard LeCounte received no help on the first Adams score, and M.J. Stewart was just plain beaten on the second.

10) Pass rush stats.

Baker Mayfield was sacked five times while Aaron Rodgers wasn't sacked at all.

Tough to be overly critical with Myles Garrett playing on one leg and Jadeveon Clowney out for the game due to Covid protocol.

11) Even still the Browns can control their own destiny if the Bengals lose to the Chiefs and the Ravens lose to the Rams, both very possible.

Should that happen and then the Browns win in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the Sunday finale against the Bengals in Cleveland would be winner take all for the division title and the playoffs as the losing seems unlikely to make the postseason.

Browns lose to Packers-All Baker Mayfield Edition

  Baker Mayfield threw four interceptions, two of them resulting in short-field touchdowns for the Green Bay Packers, and the Cleveland Browns playoff hopes took a severe hit with a 24-22 loss at Lambeau Field to Green Bay.

Mayfield threw two touchdown passes and Nick Chubb finished with 126 rushing yards with 58 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown to lead the Browns.

Cleveland slips to 7-8 with the loss and will attempt to keep their sinking playoff hopes afloat next Monday night in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.

Brownie Bits

1) Baler Mayfield was terrible.

None of his four interceptions were tipped passes and the first and third were just awful throws.

I know the Baker excuse posse is in full excuse mode but there is not a realistic way to excuse such a terrible outing.

2) I know Baker missed time on the practice field due to his Covid status but he didn't have any less time to prepare than Nick Mullens did against the Raiders.

3) A quick look at the four interceptions- the first and third led to Green Bay touchdowns on short field drives, the second was in the red zone that cost the Browns points in a two-point loss, and the final one ended the game. The prosecution rests.

4) I know that Jarvis Landry slipped on the third interception but watch the replay.

Landru slips but Rasul Douglas is sitting on that pass and even if Landry doesn't slip, Douglas is in position for an easy interception.

5) And while I do think that the officials missed the grab of Donovan Peoples-Jones before the second interception by Rasul Douglas that ended the final drive, look at where the ball was thrown.

I'm not sure that Peoples-Jones catches that ball even if he isn't held and best the Browns have a fourth and ten at the fifty-yard line.

6) And why was that drive in a third and ten situation?

Because Mayfield threw a ball to an open David Njoku, who would have gained at least ten to fifteen yards, that had it been thrown by a baseball pitcher would have been described as low and outside.

This is two plays following missing Njoku on a second and six with another terrible toss.

7) It's pretty clear that Kevin Stefanski doesn't trust Mayfield but at the same time, he puts the game in his hands at crunch time.

The Browns had all three timeouts before the final drive started and they finished the final drive with three timeouts after the Mayfield interception, so they could have run the ball more with Nick Chubb, who Green Bay couldn't stop all day.

Instead, the offense was filtered through Mayfield for the final few plays and the reasoning from Stefanski was that they were playing for a touchdown rather than a field goal since the Browns were using a first-time kicker in the league in Chris Naggar.

Naggar had missed an extra point earlier, so I understand the thinking to a degree but your quarterback is still Baker Mayfield.

8) The Browns were mentioned in a recent piece by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer as being a team considering dealing for Deshaun Watson in the offseason.

While Watson carries risk with his off-the-field woes, I'd be okay with the gamble depending on the cost.

Watson would be a massive upgrade over Baker Mayfield but could never play for Cleveland should his legal problems causes a suspension.

Cleveland under Sashi Brown could have drafted Watson with the 12th pick in 2017 but chose to trade down to 25 (selected safety Jabrill Peppers of Michigan ) and for the Texans 2018 first-rounder which they selected Denzel Ward.

Ward is a very good cornerback but in hindsight- a poor trade for the Browns.

I will be back later or tomorrow with other thoughts on the Browns vs Packers that will cover the non-Baker Mayfield topics.

PPM

 The college bowl season continues and the NFL playoff picture continues to play itself out to the homestretch.

Last Week: 9-7 

Overall: 137-81

College

Camellia Bowl

Ball State over Georgia State 23-19

Quick Lane Bowl

Nevada over Western Michigan 34-24

Birmingham Bowl

Houston over Auburn 36-32

First Responder Bowl

                                                                                 Air Force over Louisville 27-25

Liberty Bowl

Mississippi State over Texas Tech 38-24

Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Minnesota over West Virginia 24-19

Pinstripe Bowl

Virginia Tech over Maryland 30-24

Cheez-It Bowl

Iowa State over Clemson 30-26

Alamo Bowl

Oregon over Oklahoma 39-37

Duke's Mayo Bowl

North Carolina over South Carolina 32-23

Music City Bowl

Purdue over Tennessee 28-27

Peach Bowl

Pittsburgh over Michigan State 35-28

Las Vegas Bowl

Wisconsin over Arizona State 27-21

Gator Bowl

Wake Forest over Rutgers 42-17

Pro

Packers over Browns 24-13

Dolphins over Saints 20-10

Games of the Week

Bills over Patriots 24-21

Bengals over Ravens 31-24

Raiders boot Browns 16-14

   The Covid crippled Cleveland Browns were within one first down of stealing a game that they had to have from the Las Vegas Raiders with the Raiders unable to stop the clock.

They couldn't and the Raiders made them pay as Daniel Carlson knocked through a forty-eight-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give visiting Las Vegas a 16-14 win on a Monday afternoon in Cleveland.

Nick Chubb rushed for ninety yards and a touchdown and emergency quarterback Nick Mullens threw for 147 yards and hit Harrison Bryant for the other Cleveland touchdown.

The Browns fall to 7-7 with the loss and will visit Green Bay on Christmas Day.

Brownie Bits

1) You cannot blame backup quarterback Nick Mullens for this defeat. Mullins did exactly what you would hope an emergency quarterback would do in this situation. He kept the Browns in the game, didn’t turn the ball over, and avoided the big mistake.

2) Mullins didn’t get the ball downfield very well as only one completion went for more than 20 yards however that’s not a lot different than how Baker Mayfield has thrown much of this season as the Browns simply don’t have the downfield receivers to throw the ball to.

 Avoiding the big mistake was good enough for the Browns on this day.

3) And it was Mullens who drove the Browns down the field late in the game and actually put them in the lead with a fourth-down bullet to tide in Harrison Bryant for the touchdown.

For a guy that legitimately had only one practice before playing this game, Nick Mullens likely earned himself a job for that for 2020 to whether or not it’s in Cleveland will be the question.

4) The Browns are beginning to discover a problem at placekicker. Chase McLaughlin‘s awful 47 yard missed field goal attempt at the end of the first half would have been the difference in the game had he connected.

It's not that McGlocklin missed- it’s how badly he missed. At a time when the Browns traditionally have needed a kicker to step up, they continue to find kickers that fall down.

It has not been since the days of Phil Dawson has the Browns had a kicker that they can feel good about in late-season situations

5) The Browns seem to be in a good position when Greedy Williams intercepted Derek Carr with around three minutes to 

Instead, an inability to run the clock out is what cost the Browns the game as on third down and the third Nick Chubb carry forced Mike Priester (in for Kevin Stefanski) to make a decision, Go for it or punt.

6) I’m not going to barbecue Priester for deciding to punt bur what I might decide to barbecue Priester for is running Nick Chubb three times in a row.

While I know it’s easy for me to say to throw the ball and take the risk of stopping the clock, I may have done that at least once and it might’ve won the game. 

Imagine a defense shuffle to the middle of the field expecting a Nick Chubb run and perhaps a dump out of the backfield to the fullback or a tight end that might’ve gotten them the yardage they needed to put the game away.

7) and this is where Kevin Stefanski not being there may have hurt the Browns. Stefanski hasn’t had a great season calling plays but I do believe he would’ve gone for it on the short fourth down rather than punt the ball and again a first down wins the game.

Instead, you played not to lose.

8) Myles Garrett didn't have a sack and didn't appear to have an impact on the game until you consider he injured his groin during the game and finished the game.

9) The Browns also lost defensive end, Takk McKinley, for the season with an injured Achilles Tendon.

McKinley's loss removes the top pass rusher from among the reserves and continues to hammer the depth of a team reeling.

10 ) The Nick Mullens touchdown drive in the fourth quarter of eighty yards was the longest of the season in the fourth quarter for the Browns this season.

11) During the first half, a graphic appeared on the screen that the Browns would move into first place and would be in last place with a defeat.

That speaks volumes for the AFC North this season.

12) This loss is a heartbreaker for the Browns, who still have playoff hopes but at a minimum will take wins over the Steelers and Bengals to close the season.

I don't like the chances considering the inconsistency of the Browns this season. 

PPM

  The PPM enters bowl season with plenty of games over the next week.

Last Week; 4-2

Overall: 128-74

College

Boca Raton Bowl

Appalachian State over Western Kentucky 45-37

New Mexico Bowl

Fresno State over UTEP 34-24

Independence Bowl

BYU over UAB 30-21

Lending Tree Bowl

Liberty over Eastern Michigan 40-21

Jimmy Kimmel Bowl

Oregon State over Utah State 31-13

New Orleans Bowl

Louisiana over Marshall 30-24

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Tulsa over Old Dominion 26-21

Potato Bowl

Wyoming over Kent State 28-19

Frisco Bowl

UTSA over San Diego State 40-38

Armed Forces Bowl

Missouri over Army 34-21

Frisco Classic

North Texas over Miami Ohio 35-27

Gasparilla Bowl

UCF over Florida 29-28

Hawaii Bowl

Memphis over Hawaii 27-17

Pro

Raiders over Browns 21-15 (Made since half the Browns team isn't likely to play)

Buccaneers over Saints 35-21

Games of the Week

Packers over Ravens 29-20

Texans over Jaguars 26-24

 

Browns hold off Ravens 24-22

    The Cleveland Browns opened up a 24-6 lead on a Baltimore Ravens team that played most of the game without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson and a 24-9 lead entering the fourth quarter before holding on for dear life in a 24-22 win over Baltimore in Cleveland.

Baker Mayfield threw two touchdowns with an interception and 190 yards passing, one each to Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper but the star play was Myles Garrett's sack, strip, and resulting fifteen-yard fumble recovery and a touchdown in the third quarter for what would prove to be the winning score.

Cleveland improved to 7-6 and will play Saturday games in the next two weeks, hosting Las Vegas before traveling to Green Bay on Christmas Day.

Brownie Bits

1) Myles Garrett's play on Baltimore backup quarterback Tyler Huntley was the type of play that you expect impact players to make and one that only special players make.

Garrett's play was even more difficult than you would think because he had to reach over to hit Huntley's arm and he didn't give Huntley a full pop to cause the fumble.

2) Garretts's sack was his fifteenth of the season and with the sack broke the team record held by Reggie Camp that was set in 1984.

The surprise for me was that it took that long for Garrett to set the record but I think he would have broken it in either 2019 or 20 had goofy things not occurred with 2019 ended with the suspension for whacking Mason Rudolph and 2020 saw him slowed in the second half after contracting Covid-19.

3) I remember Reggie Camp as a Brown defensive end but I have to be honest if you gave me twenty guesses on the single-season Browns sack record holder, I am not sure that I would have said Reggie Camp.

This says two things- One is that Reggie Camp was a better pass rusher than I remembered with thirty-five sacks in his five seasons in Cleveland and the second is that the Browns really haven't had an elite pass rusher over the last thirty to forty seasons.

4)  And another glimpse at what Grant Delpit could be bringing to the secondary as soon as next season as Delpit finished the game with eleven solo tackles and a hit on the QB on a blitz.

This season is essentially Delput's rookie year, so he hasn't been perfect but I think next season Grant Delpit is going to be a Pro Bowl contender.

5) As much as I was wincing at the Raven's late comeback, one thing that I liked was the Browns' refusal to allow the Ravens underneath completions to end with the receiver getting out of bounds to stop the clock.

Poor individual tackling has been a scourage for Cleveland for years and it was refreshing to see the Browns wrapping up and watching the clock run in return for allowing those short passes to show improvement in that area.

6) Could the Lamar Jackson injury have made the difference in this game?

Maybe, but I'm not so sure.

The Browns have handled Jackson better in their first encounter despite losing and while Jackson was four of four in the quarter that he played, the total yardage was only seventeen,

I don't want to say that the Jackson problem is solved but I do think that Cleveland adding Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Grant Delpit to the lineup and patrolling the middle of the field has forced Jackson to perhaps think twice before haunting down the field with big and fast defenders capable on corralling him.

7) Baker Mayfield was okay.

Not great but not awful.

Mayfield's interception to Anthony Averett was a bad throw but while his inaccuracy still remained, it was improved (22 of 32) and the interception was the only ball that you could circle on your card and say "What was he thinking"?

8) The Browns did allow 287 yards, 117 to the noted Browns killer in tight end Mark Andrews but most of that yardage came in desperate comeback time for the Ravens.

I'm not too concerned about the passing yardage but I am concerned about this team's continued ability to ever cover Mark Andrews.

9) I know the analytics numbers etc and I just don't give a damn- If you are in the fourth quarter and you are down by nine-Kick the extra point and make it one possession tie.

Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh went for two and failed, so down by nine points with under nine minutes to play the Ravens are guaranteed to need two possessions rather than one.

Sorry, I believe in numbers as much as the next guy but the biggest numbers were these- Two possessions rather than one.

10) I blame Baker Mayfield a lot for the mediocrity of the Browns offense but I'm starting to be swayed a bit by the argument towards the play calling of Kevin Stefanski.

Stefanski's play-calling was said to be a strength when he was hired by the Browns and for his first season, it appeared to be so.

However, in season two I'm starting to wonder.

While I fully support using the running game, it appears that Stefanski has a tendency to slow things down too quickly and too early, and the things that are working to build a lead are often forgotten in the second half.

11) The Browns finished the second half with only ninety-five total yards and their only score was the defensive touchdown scored by Myles Garrett.

The Browns were so bad as these are their second-half drives: Punt, Chase McLaughlin missed field goal, punt, punt, kneel down.

12) My favorite play was Denzel Ward sticking Rashod Bateman on the final fourth down and taking him down to the turf well short of the first down.

I know I commented on the tackling earlier but hey how many times have we seen broken tackles in the same situation?

13) Finally, the Browns are alive at 7-6, and with the reeling Raiders next at home, the Browns are in a position to likely control their own destiny although that is not one hundred percent guaranteed.

I think it will take at least three wins to get into the playoffs and they need to make the three wins in the three conference games (Raiders and Bengals at home and Steelers on the road) to win some tiebreakers.

PPM

  The PPM continues with the NFL Sunday and the beginning of the college bowl season next Friday.

Last Week: 8-5 

Overall: 124-72

College

Bahamas Bowl

Toledo over Middle Tennessee State 40-28

Tailgater Cure Bowl

Coastal Carolina over Northern Illinois 38-34

NFL
Browns over Ravens 20-17

Saints over Jets 23--18

Games of the Week

Cardinals over Rams 31-24

Buccaneers over Bills 27-21

PPM

 It is conference championship week for the PPM this week and we will be picking the victors in all of the college title games.

Last Week: 11-4

Overall: 116-67

College

Pac 12

Utah over Oregon 35-21

CUSA
UTSA over Western Kentucky 29-21

Big 12

Oklahoma State over Baylor 26-17

MAC

Kent State over Northern Illinois 31-27

Mountain West

San Diego State over Utah State 45-32

Sun Belt

Appalachian State over Louisiana 33-31

SEC

Georgia over Alabama 21-7

American

Cincinnati over Houston 36-28

Big Ten

Michigan over Iowa 17-10

ACC

Wake Forest over Pittsburgh 50-46

Pro

Cowboys over Saints 24-13

Games of the Week

Bills over Patriots 24-21

Chiefs over Broncos 31-21

Browns bounced in Baltimore 16-10

    The Cleveland Browns defense did about all one could ask for in controlling Lamar Jackson (other than allowing one touchdown and one huge gainer when Jackson basically tossed the ball up to avoid a sack) in sacking Jackson twice and intercepting four times but in the end, it didn't matter as the Baker Mayfield-led offense could only manage ten points against the Baltimore defense in a 16-10 defeat in Baltimore.

Baker Mayfield threw for 247 yards and the only Cleveland touchdown to David Njoku, while Jarvis Landry led the receivers with six catches for 111 yards.

Cleveland falls to 6-6 and has this week off before hosting these same Ravens in Cleveland.

Brownie Bits

1) What a wasted defensive performance for a team that has been erratic all season.

Four interceptions of Lamar Jackson, three of them in a two-minute span, and an effective pass rush against a player that has often confounded them.

What a waste.

2) Holding Baltimore to only one touchdown and that score was essentially a fluke as Jackson threw a prayer as he avoided several Browns that found a waiting Mark Andrews in the end zone.

Andrews is another noted Browns killer and the coverage breakdown was understandable as players attempted to keep Jackson from racing upfield

3) Jadeveon Clowney was a player that came to Cleveland with a rap as a player that didn't always bust his hump on every play.

I haven't seen that player in Cleveland as I've seen a guy that doesn't take plays off and some of that could be limiting his use a bit, Clowney has an impact on the pass rush and has done exactly what the Browns could have hoped for with Myles Garrett.

I would be more than fine with another one or even two-year deal with Clowney if it can be afforded.

4) Myles Garrett was another player that seemed to be everywhere with a sack, a batted-down pass that would have been a touchdown as the receiver was open in the end zone, and several near misses on Lamar Jackson.

5) The word was that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was drafted to be the type of versatile defender that could spy on Lamar Jackson and not allow him to run with abandon.

The first game for JOK appeared to be a success as Jackson rushed for 68 yards with a long run of thirteen yards.

Owusu-Koramoah finished with six solo tackles, six assisted tackles, and half a sack, so Owusu-Koramoah seems to be an excellent fit for the job.

6) Onto the offense which was utterly terrible.

Baker Mayfield wasn't as bad as he had been at times this season and he didn't throw an interception for a change but he wasn't accurate and once again failed to complete fifty percent of his passes (18/37).

Don't blame Mayfield completely for the loss but he didn't do very much to help matters either.

7) Kevin Stefanski concerns me with his third week in a row with Jarvis Landry taking snaps at quarterback and taking a big loss as a result.

Stefanski was excellent as a play-caller last season but he has struggled to find his path this season and I'm wondering if the demands of coaching an expected playoff team and calling the plays aren't beginning to wear on him.

8) More Stefanski with a team that is paying big money to both of their guards and has built their team to run the football behind a rugged offensive line to wear teams down late in the game.

Yet with two of the better running backs in the game, Kareem Hunt ran the ball seven times (20 yards) and Nick Chubb only eight (16 yards) and there wasn't an excuse of not being able to run the ball because they were behind in the game.

Why Kevin Stefanski didn't use the one part of his offense that is above average right now more is baffling to me.

9) Off off those four turnovers that the Browns defense provided, the Browns turned those into a grand total of three points.

10) While there was pressure on Baker Mayfield on the final fourth down play that saw Mayfield complete the pass to David Njoku but the pattern didn't have Njoku reaching the sticks and Njoku was tackled short of the first down.

Few things in football frustrate me more than a five-yard pattern when you need seven yards.

11) The Browns have scored 17 points or less in seven of their last nine games.

12) The Browns aren't returning to the playoffs.

At 6-6 with five games to go and placed in twelfth place when seven teams make it AND losing tiebreakers to several teams involved in such a race, I think it's over unless they run the table and win all five remaining games.

Baltimore, Las Vegas, Cincinnati at home, and Pittsburgh and Green Bay on the road is not a very likely run to 5-0 and I'm not even sure that winning them and finishing at 11-6 will be a sure thing considering their lack of tiebreakers against teams that they have to jump.

Ohio State run over in the Snow-Lose to Michigan

     Ohio State had everything they needed to take their rightful place in the Big Ten title game and a step closer to the final four.

Until they didn't.

The Michigan Wolverines pounded the Buckeye defense again and again on the ground, took their first win over Ohio State since 2011, and for the first time over a good Ohio State team since 2003.

C.J. Stroud threw for 394 yards and two touchdowns and both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson caught double-digit passes and finished with over one hundred receiving yards.

The disappointing loss means that Ohio State finished 10-2, 8-1 in the Big Ten which gives them co-champion status with Michigan with the Wolverines winning the head-to-head tiebreaker and the resulting trip to Indianapolis.

Ohio State will likely wind in the Rose Bowl against the winner of the Pac 12 championship game between Oregon and Utah.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Michigan ran for almost three hundred yards (297) and ran for each of their six touchdowns, so it doesn't take very much to circle the key stat in the upset win.

2) Give Jim Harbaugh credit for having his team ready to play and even had a few wrinkles in his fairly staid offense.

Harbaugh had been criticized for not focusing enough on this game and he vowed that this year would be different and for one year- it was.

3) I as almost everyone did, picked Ohio State to win but one thing that I mentioned when asked about the game was my concern about C.J. Stroud.

Despite Stroud's numbers this season, the best team that Ohio State had played on the road in front of a hostile crowd was Minnesota and how would the redshirt freshman react?

4) Stroud didn't throw any interceptions but he resembled another Ohio quarterback a few hours north up I-71 with many missed passes going high.

Stroud didn't play badly but he didn't dazzle in defeat either.

5) One reason that the crowd may have become a factor?

Ohio State didn't take nearly as many deep shots down the field to Chris Olave or Garrett Wilson and as a result, the crossing and curl patterns that the Buckeyes often turn a twelve-yard gain into a sixty-five-yard move were stifled by very few yards after the catch.

Was this on Stroud's being bothered by the Michigan pass rush and wanted to get the ball out fast? Or was Ryan Day being overly safe under the circumstances?

6) The other main worry of mine entering the game was the Michigan defensive ends, Aiden Hutchinson and Ojabo and both were a handful with four sacks, three of those by Hutchinson.

Ohio State has had the dominant pass rushers in this rivalry for years but they didn't have them on Saturday.

7) Is that a long-term issue for the Buckeyes?

I doubt it- remember Ohio State nabbed both of the top two defensive linemen in last year's recruiting in J.T, Tuimoloau, and Jack Sawyer and while neither had huge impacts this season both should take huge jumps next season.

8) The first half touchdown catch by Garrett Wilson was out of this world and while players like Chris Olave and Wilson will be hard to replace the Buckeyes are more than equipped to do so (remember this is a team so deep in wideouts that Jameson Williams transferred to Alabama, of all places, to make the field regularly.

9) I would think both Olave and Wilson will be first-rounders and guarantee that at least one of them will be.

The fact that with three receivers like Ohio State has and does not have a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award is a joke.

10) The Buckeye defense let them down on the biggest stage and makes me wonder what would have happened against a higher-powered offense but there were a few bright spots.

Steele Chambers seemed to be all over the field and Bryson Shaw made a very good interception in the first quarter in the end zone to kill a Michigan scoring drive,

11) The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for Michigan against Ohio State and the first win for Michigan in ten years, since Michigan skipped last year's game due to issues with Covid-19.

12) It wouldn't be Jim Harbaugh, a guy that took seven years to win this game, without being able to be a sore winner as after the game Harbaugh referred to Ryan Day as a guy that "was born on third base and thought he hit a triple".

The observation of Day as a coach that won immediately with a team built by Urban Meyer isn't completely unfair ( the term for that is called pulling a Mike Tomlin) but in typical fashion came off as a smug jackass.

13) As for Ryan Day, the next two games against Michigan could set his legacy at Ohio State after such a stunning loss.

Next year's game will be key in Columbus as in taking their measure for this loss and Jim Harbaugh's smack talk to show it was the rare win in the series and not allow Michigan to set the narrative that the tide had turned.

14) However, even with a 2022 win for the Buckeyes in Columbus, the pressure will not truly be relieved until a 2023 win in Ann Arbor for a second win in a row and a road win.

That is how important regaining control of this series rather than allow Michigan to think of themselves as equals.

Dominance cannot be taken for granted.

15) Wrapping up with this hot take- Is it possible that C.J. Stroud has made his first and last start in a game against Michigan?

After all, Ohio State signed not just the number one quarterback in the nation, but the number one PLAYER in the nation in Quinn Evers, and would Ryan Day take the chance of losing a talent like Evers to keep Stroud?

I might wonder if in this loss if it isn't possible that one of the many things that were lost in Ann Arbor in this game, one may have been C.J.Stroud moving from Heisman finalist to possibly not even starting the game in 2022? 

PPM

   The PPM starts early as always on Thanksgiving weekend after a strong last week with our predictions. 

Last Week:12-3 

Overall: 105-63

College

Ohio State over Michigan 31-23

Boise State over San Diego State 27-24

Baylor over Texas Tech 42-22

Bowling Green over Ohio U. 21-18

N.C. State over North Carolina 40-38

Washington State over Washington 24-19

Houston over Connecticut 46-13

Appalachian State over Georgia Southern 33-21

Texas A&M over LSU 24-14

Middle Tennessee State over Florida Atlantic 34-31

Games of the Week

Mississippi State over Ole Miss 41-38

Oklahoma State over Oklahoma 31-21

NFL

Ravens over Browns 24-14

Bills over Saints 34-24

Game of the Week

Packers over Rams 27-21

 

Browns nip Lions 13-10

      Jarvis Landry ran for a touchdown and Nick Chubb caught one in a small role reversal as the Cleveland Browns held off the winless Detroit Lions 13-10 by the brisk winds of Lake Erie.

Chubb finished with 130 yards rushing with Baker Mayfield throwing one touchdown with two interceptions.

Cleveland staggers to 6-5 with the win and faces Baltimore next Sunday night in yet another must-win affair,

Brownie Bits

1)  The number one reason for this win comes down to Nick Chubb, who only finished with top-notch stats, it was Chubb that ground out the final first downs in the final three minutes to save a wobbling offense.

2) Nick Chubb is the only above-average skill position player on this offense.

Kareem Hunt is when he is available but outside of those two -That's it.

When your best skill receivers are rated as average, it's going to be a struggle in the passing game.

3) Keep in mind the Browns went down to the wire with a winless team with a QB making his first start, and a coach that kicks a field goal on fourth and one down six points and punts with under three minutes to go down three.

4) I did like the use of Jarvis Landry on his touchdown, which had Landry possibly throwing the ball and then tucking the ball down and running with it for the score.

Other than Nick Chubb, Jarvis Landry is the player that is likely to make a play on this offense, so anything that can get the ball in his hands is a good idea.

5) The defense played pretty well other than the 57-yard touchdown run by DeAndre Swift and although it was the Lions with Tim Boyle, credit is still due.

6) Chase McLaughlin has been solid most of the season but in bad weather for the first time, McLaughlin missed a field goal and had an extra point blocked.

One more home game like that and the questions will start again about the kicking game.

7) The offensive line had its struggles with penalties and three by usually solid Wyatt Teller. didn't help matters.

Teller committed one penalty after Nick Chubb converted a third and long early in the second half that essentially ended a promising drive.

8) Now, it's onto Baker Mayfield.

Mayfield is playing with several injuries and his proponents point to those injuries as a reason for his poor play.

Someone is pulling someone's leg as the team lists these injuries as questionable yet Mayfield is acting like he is playing on career-ending injuries.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, Mayfield is far from 100 percent but if he cannot play reasonably well with these injuries, then perhaps he shouldn't be out there.

9) Mayfield's two interceptions were both awful.

His first one to a wide-open Jarvis Landry for what would have been a huge gain was about five feet above a leaping Landry and ten yards down the field.

Just awful.

10) The second one could have lost the game, early in the fourth quarter when a terrible throw allowed  Detroit to start deep in Cleveland territory and allowed the Lions to kick their field goal to cut the lead to three points.

Two terrible interceptions that could have cost the Browns the game.

11) Finally, a win is a win and 6-5 keeps them in the hunt with two games against Baltimore looming.

I don't think that the way this team is playing right now, particularly at quarterback, that I'm very optimistic for this week against Baltimore.

Buckeyes roll over Sparty 56-7

     Ohio State was expected to defeat Michigan State in a battle of two top ten teams and some thought that the win could be one won handily.

But no one (at least that I saw) saw the bloodletting in the first half as Ohio State scored seven touchdowns to take a 49-0 lead into the locker room and held the ball most of the second half to take a 56-7 victory over Michigan State in the home finale' at Ohio Stadium.

C.J Stroud completed 32 of 35 passes for 432 yards and six touchdowns while Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba all finished with over one hundred receiving yards with Olave and Wilson each catching two touchdowns and Smith-Njigba grabbing one pass for a score.

Ohio State improved to 10-1 overall, 8-0 in the Big Ten and will travel to Ann Arbor next week against one loss Michigan with the winner winning the Big Ten East division.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Entering the game, one question that was asked was could the Buckeye defense stop the Spartans Heisman candidate Kenneth Walker?

Walker would finish with twenty-five yards but only on six carries because MSU had to throw the football against a deficit that increased with every possession.

2) C.J. Stroud stepped forward on the Heisman stage with his 32 for 35 performance and if Stroud is able to repeat that performance this week against Michigan,  Stroud may have a chance of winning it.

3) When people look back at the loss to Oregon, what has changed in the passing game has been C.J. Stroud's ability to get the ball out of his hand quicker.

Stroud has improved in that area so much since the week two loss to the Ducks and the Buckeye passing game has flourished due to the improvement.

4) All three Buckeye star receivers with over one hundred yards and five touchdowns among them.

The difference between those receivers and the Spartans defensive backs were massive and yes the Michigan State pass defense was rated near the worst in college football entering the game but this bunch is capable of doing that to any team on any night.

5) Another positive from such a big win was that Ohio State didn't have to use TreVeyon Henderson as much as Henderson carried only nine times for sixty-three yards.

The reduced usage could come in very handy in the final game vs Michigan and possible post-season outings.

6) The much-maligned Buckeye defense allowed a single touchdown and that didn't arrive for the Spartans until the fourth quarter.

7) That touchdown was against the backup Buckeyes and it was on a short field as backup quarterback Kyle McCord threw an interception around midfield.

Give the Buckeye defense plenty of credit for the improvement, Michigan State offense isn't a weakling and shutting them down in that manner gives the Buckeye faithful some hope that the defense can keep Ohio State into games and give the offense a chance to build leads rather than trade scores.

8) The offensive line kept C.J. Stroud upright and clean for most of this game.

The offensive line gave up only two sacks and one of those was one that Stroud gave himself up for the easy sack.

Like Stroud himself, the line improvement has been great as the season progressed, and opposing defenses are having more and more problems getting pressure on Stroud.

9) Chris Olave's two touchdown catches tied and then surpassed David Boston to become the all-time Ohio State leader in receiving touchdowns.

People forget just how good David Boston was because he was on the John Cooper era Buckeyes that lost to Michigan all the time and during his time with the Arizona Cardinals, David Boston looked to be a new wave of receiver with the size of a tight end with the speed of a wide receiver.

Boston didn't play well after leaving Arizona for a big contract with the Chargers due to weight gain, steroid use, and off-the-field problems but at his best, David Boston was a damn good receiver.

10) Win over Michigan in Ann Arbor, the season keeps rolling with a trip to Indianapolis.

Lose and you go straight to a New Years Day bowl.

Don't take it for granted.

As well as C.J. Stroud has played, he is still a redshirt freshman on the road against a coach and program desperate for a win- Don't assume this is a gimme.