PPM

 The season is over after Sunday with one more game to determine a champion!

Last Week: 2-0 

Overall: 183-95

Super Bowl

Chiefs over 49ers 27-21

PPM

 It's time for the conference title games and the trip to Las Vegas!

Last Week: 3-1

Overall: 181-95

AFC Title

Chiefs over Ravens 27-23

NFC Title

49ers over Lions 31-24

PPM

 It's my favorite NFL weekend of the year with four games that should be all good ones to trim the field down to four next Sunday.

Last Week: 3-3 

Season: 178-94

Playoffs

Ravens over Texans 34-21

Bills over Chiefs 38-35

49ers over Packers 31-21

Lions over Buccaneers 30-17

No Defense in Houston-Browns hammered in playoffs

    The Cleveland Browns were favored to come into Houston to defeat the Texans based on their swaggering bullying defense and the surprising play of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco.

Instead, those two parts of the team were major factors in an implosion that saw Cleveland on the downside of a devastating 45-14 defeat to the Texans and their young quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Joe Flacco finished with 307 passing yards with a touchdown pass along with two interceptions.

Kareem Hunt scored both the Browns touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving in the defeat.

Brownie Bits

1) This one goes on the supposedly "best of all-time" defense and not because they allowed forty-five points as fourteen of the Houston total is on the Browns offense.

2) Why? Look at the vaunted pass rush, which not only didn't sack C.J. Stroud, they seldom pressured him.

Some of that is because of the quick release of Stroud but the Texans' offensive line more than did their job in keeping Stroud from any harassment from the Browns.

3) Myles Garrett is a possible defensive player of the year but was outplayed by tackle Laremy Tunsil in the game that mattered most as Tunsil handled Garrett's pass rush.

Garrett finished with two solo tackles and an assist and more importantly, never hit C.J. Stroud.

4) Perhaps Tunsil has success against Garrett because he is familiar with him (both players played in the SEC), and because Tunsil has that experience blocking Garrett along with being a fine tackle himself, Garrett lacks the intimidation factor that he has against so many blockers.

5) The only Cleveland defender who made any impact in the game was Jeremiah Owosu-Koramoah, who finished with eight solo tackles, four of those for a loss of yardage.

Owosu-Koramoah was the best player on the defense in the latter part of this season and I'm looking forward to his development next season.

6) As bad as the loss could have been, Houston could have put the game away by halftime had they made two plays.

Tight end Dalton Schultz dropped a pass that would have been a huge gain, and C.J. Stroud overthrew Nico Collins on a pattern that he would have easily scored, so this could have been even more lopsided.

7) The Browns pass defense was battered all day with the Texans targeting Greg Newsome all game long.

Houston took advantage of Newsome and almost seemed to look to throw to the player that he (or Ronnie Hickman) was near and threw to that receiver.

8) The Browns had success hitting David Njoku, who was the one player that the Texans didn't have an answer for.

Njoku caught seven passes for ninety-three yards, including a forty-five-yard throw, and when you consider Harrison Bryant's forty-seven-yard reception, the Browns might have been smart to throw to the tight ends even more often.

Njoku and Bryant combined for eleven catches and one hundred fifty-eight yards.

9) The back breakers for Cleveland were the two interceptions of Joe Flacco that the Texans returned for touchdowns.

On the first throw, I can't blame Flacco too much as he was trying to throw the ball away and he was hit as he threw but on the other throw, Flacco was at full fault.

Flacco's numbers look fine but his statistics belie the interceptions that gave the Browns no chance to recover.

10) Kevin Stefanski is getting some criticism and I don't feel much of it is justified.

Other than the decision to allow the final forty-five seconds to roll off the first half and not even try to move downfield for a field goal attempt, I didn't see much to blame Stefanski for in the loss.

11) Houston had been broiled by Amari Cooper in their first meeting with Cleveland and they weren't about to allow that to happen again.

Cooper caught four of five passes but the longest was for only nineteen yards.

12) This game showed that the Browns got away with turnovers all season (Cleveland turned the ball over more than anyone in the NFL) and when you play good teams, they will make you pay for turning the ball over.

13) I'm not sure that the Browns are guaranteed to improve next season.

Cleveland won a lot of games this season that in past seasons didn't go their way and when you have a team that receives break after break during one season, they often will regress during the next season.

14) Should the Browns expect to contend, they will have to add one, if not two receivers for next season.

I like Cedric Tillman and David Bell but neither is ready to be a second wide receiver, Elijah Moore can be helpful but he's not quite as he was advertised and that's assuming the cap space can be provided to pay Amari Cooper for 2024 over twenty million dollars.

The Browns would have done well to pay DeAndre Hopkins, who finished with over 1,000 yards for a mediocre Tennessee team when they had the opportunity before the season and hopefully, Andrew Berry will realize that keeping Amari Cooper along with a solid second wideout isn't a luxury- it is a must.

15) This season has been a fun one for the fans of the Browns.

The Joe Flacco story was an amazing ride and the dodging of losses gave the team a shine that they haven't had in years.

Despite the loss, as disappointed as I am, it was still a good season.

I think this was a winnable game and that bothers me far more than a round two loss would have.

Now it's on the offseason and how a team can possibly improve themselves with the salary issues in place, it will be a very interesting one.  

PPM

  The college season is history with the new champions proving that crime does occasionally pay but it's all about the pro game now as the playoffs begin Saturday afternoon!

Last Week: 4-1 

Season: 175-91

Playoffs

AFC

Browns over Texans 24-20

Bills over Steelers 27-13

Chiefs over Dolphins 37-28

NFC

Cowboys over Packers 28-21

Lions over Rams 34-24

Eagles over Buccaneers 31-15

Browns finish season in Cincinnati, lose 31-14

    The Cleveland Browns had locked their playoff spot up and their seeding position was set in place entering their visit to Cincinnati on the final Sunday of the regular season.

The Browns sat as many of their key players as they possibly could and started a quarterback that had never dressed for the team in Jeff Driskel, so the result was a predictable 31-14 loss to the Bengals with the Browns allowing the first thirty-one points of the game before two fourth-quarter touchdowns allowed Cleveland to avoid the shutout.

Jeff Driskel threw two touchdown passes to David Bell along with two interceptions with Bell leading the receivers with four catches for sixty-eight yards.

Cleveland finished the season 11-6 and will travel to Houston on Saturday afternoon as the first game of the postseason.

Brownie Bits

1) I know I've been critical of teams in the past that benched their top players before the playoffs.

I'm not this time and not because it's the Browns in this case.

Cleveland had clinched their spot and seeding and Cincinnati had been mathematically eliminated before the game, so under those conditions, I'm okay with the decision.

2) I'm going to admit that I didn't watch this game as closely as usual.

I've been ill this weekend and considering the non-stakes in the game, I watched the first half and watched the rest later.

3) Cleveland hoped to avoid injuries but even when playing as many reserves as possible, players can get hurt that are contributors.

Shelby Harris suffered a shin injury but Kevin Stefanski said Harris will be "ok', Cedric Tillman left with a head injury and Pierre Strong had a back issue.

No word on their status on Saturday.

4) The win by the Bengals allowed them to finish 9-8 and give every team in the AFC North a record above .500.

The last time that happened? 

1935, when Franklin Roosevelt was in the first of his four terms as President.

5) Jeff Driskel didn't set the world on fire but one couldn't expect that from a player that had been a Brown for nine days.

I understand why Dorian Thompson-Robinson wasn't played, although the snaps would have been good for him but this shows just how little Kevin Stefanski wanted to play P.J. Walker.

Driskel allowed the Browns to get through a game that meant little without damaging the quarterback position so mission accomplished.

6) I was pleased to see David Bell grab the two late-game scores.

I've always liked Bell as a 4th/possession receiver and for one reason or another, Bell hasn't seen the field as much as I would have thought.

7) Perhaps Bell will play more against Houston with the uncertain status of Cedric Tillman.

Tillman has been coming along with his increased playing time since the Browns traded Donovan Peoples-Jones, so his absence would be a loss.

8) I'm not hanging too much weight on the Browns win on Christmas Eve over the Texans.

That was a Houston team without C.J. Stroud, who will be available for the Texans this time, and DeMeco Ryans, a defensive coach, has to be telling his team about the embarrassment of allowing so many yards to Amari Cooper in that game.

Cleveland may win but it's going to be a different team in this visit to Houston than the one three weeks ago.

PPM

Last Week: 11-3

Overall: 171-90

College National Championship

Washington over Michigan 24-17

Pro

Bengals over Browns 20-14

Chiefs over Chargers 31-27

Games of the Week

Bills over Dolphins 41-30

Texans over Colts 27-24  

Buckeyes rotten in Cotton, lose 14-3

    The Ohio State Buckeyes offense played awful early and late, and while neither Devin Brown before his injury nor Lincoln Kienholz afterward distinguished themselves, the stories of the night are going to be Ryan Day's conservative playcalling, and how much Day is willing to gamble off this game on Brown and Kienholz for the 2024 Buckeyes.

The 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri isn't as important as how it happened and how it could affect next season for Ohio State.

Ohio State finished with only 106 yards passing and TreVeyon Henderson led the offense with seventy-two yards rushing.

Ohio State will open the 2024 season on August 31st at home against Akron.

For the first time in a long time, Ohio State may have more questions than answers during a long off-season.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Devin Brown injured his ankle in the second quarter and after an aborted attempt to return, left the game for good.

As much as I would like to blame the loss of Brown for the Ohio State defeat, it's not so.

Brown completed four of six passes for only twenty yards at the time of his injury.

2) Ohio State scored their only points under Brown on a forty-four-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding in the first quarter.

Fielding would miss from forty-eight yards in the third quarter when his kick hit off the upright.

3) The offensive line play was brutal as Missouri sacked Ohio State quarterbacks four times and controlled the run game as the Buckeyes reluctance to throw allowed the Tigers to key on TreVeyon Henderson.

4) Jesse Mirco's punting season has been disappointing, to say the least, but Mirco was not a problem against Missouri, placing three punts inside the twenty, and hitting one of sixty-one yards.

5) The player of the game for Ohio State had to be defensive end Jack Sawyer, who sacked Missouri quarterback Brady Cook three times.

Sawyer hasn't announced his decision for the NFL Draft but his play last night may have made him a few dollars extra, should he decide to go pro.

6) Missouri didn't score their two touchdowns until the final quarter against an exhausted Ohio State defense, and it's hard to blame the defense for allowing those scores.

Missouri held the time of possession battle 34-26 but it seemed to be more than that as I watched the game in live action.

7) I did think Ohio State got hosed a bit on the first Missouri touchdown drive when Josh Proctor was called for a late hit on Missouri quarterback Brady Cook.

I thought Proctor hit Cook just as he was stepping out of bounds and it wasn't late.

8) Ohio State committed eight penalties on the evening and continued the struggles with special teams that will likely cause the demise in the coming days of special teams coach Parker Fleming.

Three of the eight came from the special teams, including a holding call on a punt that was fair caught.

9) Ryan Day was downright timid in his playcalling and while the offensive line didn't do their part in protection, Day didn't want to throw downfield often when Devin Brown was in the game, and he did next to none with Lincoln Kienholz.

If this game was so important to win, as was proclaimed before the game, and if it was a chance to measure the quarterbacks for 2024, why wouldn't you try to use as much of the offense as possible?

There were complications with Lincoln Kienholz in using the entire offense but that wouldn't apply to Devin Brown and I don't think the offense was too wide open even before Brown was hurt.

10) Ohio State has to be disappointed with the loss and changes are going to have to be made on the coaching staff and personnel.

Ohio State enters a pivotal season with four quality teams entering the Big Ten next season, the competition will be tougher so the Buckeyes will not be able to show up and win every game on talent alone.

Ryan Day's seat may be warm now, next season will either solve issues in the program or bring bigger problems to the forefront.

It's going to be a long offseason in Columbus. 

PPM

 The final few bowl games and the college semi-finals are the standouts of the weekend along with the next to last week of the NFL regular season.

Last Week: 10-15

Overall: 160-87

College

Semi-Finals

Washington over Texas 38-36

Alabama over Michigan 24-14

Cotton Bowl

Ohio State over Missouri 26-21

Peach Bowl

Ole Miss over Penn State 20-7

Orange Bowl

Georgia over Florida State 35-13

Fiesta Bowl

Oregon over Liberty 44-14

Music City Bowl

Auburn over Maryland 29-24

Arizona Bowl

Toledo over Wyoming 31-25

ReliQuest Bowl

LSU over Wisconsin 34-17

Citrus Bowl

Tennessee over Iowa 24-10

Pro

Browns over Jets 27-17

Broncos over Chargers 24-14

Games of the Week

Ravens over Dolphins 27-24

Chiefs over Bengals 35-20

Browns ground Jets, Clinch Playoffs!

  The Cleveland Browns offense couldn't be stopped in the first half and despite a second half that saw the offense sputter, the Browns had more than enough to defeat the New York Jets 37-20 in Cleveland.

Joe Flacco threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns to lead Cleveland with David Njoku catching six passes for 134 yards to lead the receivers.

The victory clinched a playoff berth for the Browns, who improved to 11-5 with the win and retained Cleveland's slim chance of winning the AFC North title.

Cleveland completes their regular season next Sunday in Cincinnati against the Bengals.

Brownie Bits

1) Amari Cooper was unavailable after suffering a heel injury in his record-setting game against Houston last Sunday. The Browns took another blow to their receiving corps when Elijah Moore left the game with a concussion late in the first half.

Moore had caught five passes for sixty-one before the concussion and his loss left the Browns very basic at wideout.

2) Joe Flacco was solid other than his double-pump pass that was tipped and turned into a pick-six by Jermaine Johnson.

Give Johnson the credit for making a tremendous play, as he leaped into the air, came back down, jumped again to tip the ball, and then caught it and ran for the score.

3) The Browns appear to have found themselves a potential gem in Ronnie Hickman, who had a pick-six of his own.

Hickman, who the Browns signed as a free agent after the draft, is playing in place of the injured Grant Delpit, and should he continue to improve, I could see a scenario in either of the next two off-seasons where the Browns could decide to save some cap space and use Hickman as a starting safety rather than Juan Thornhill or even Delpit.

4) David Njoku was the dominant offensive player of the first half but even then Njoku still fumbled on one play with the Jets recovering.

Njoku may be just one of those players you never receive consistency from and you simply have to accept the occasional mistake,

5) I am not a fan of the Thursday night games but the Browns playing in this one could give the team some clarity for the final week of the season.

If Baltimore defeats Miami, they would clinch the AFC North and the Browns could be locked in as the fifth seed should New England upset Buffalo.

6) If those results occur, the Browns could play it safe in Cincinnati and allow some injured players some time to recover.

I'm never in favor of those decisions usually but there is a difference between resting healthy players and giving injured ones an extra week to heal.

7) The player who has developed into an impact player over the last month has been Jeremiah Owosu-Koramoah.

JOK didn't have a sack or interception in this one but he is developing into a three-down linebacker with the ability to pass or track the quarterback or drop in coverage.

8) The Browns decided to protect the lead in the second half with so much at stake and so many receivers out of the lineup, running the ball and keeping the clock moving.

I understand that under the circumstances and think it was a good idea to try to avoid yet another injury to the receivers but it did allow the Jets to tee off on the running game.

9) The offensive line did its job yet again in giving Joe Flacco time to throw.

Flacco was sacked just once and took only one hit on the evening.

For a team with question marks at tackle, the line has done what they need to do in keeping the pocket clean.

10) Defensive Alex Wright collected one sack between his rookie season in 2022 and the first thirteen games of this season.
Wright has one sack in each of the last three games, so perhaps the former third-round draft choice has found something late in his second season.

11) Turnovers are still a problem for the Browns that will eventually bite them hard.

Three more against the Jets, two of those fumbles, and the Browns seem to be having a season that the football gods are tapping them on the head with the team succeeding despite the turnover problems.

12) The playoff-clinching win sends Cleveland to the postseason for the third time since the 1999 return of the Browns.

That's anemic but it will be the second in the last four seasons.

13) Not a fan of the all-white uniforms and white helmet.

The jersey reminded me of the terrible uniforms that Dee Haslam thought were wonderful and lasted for the minimum time allowed.

Cooper hangs loss on Houston

   Amari Cooper set an all-time Browns record for receiving yardage at 265 yards on eleven catches, two of those for touchdowns as the Cleveland Browns defeated the Houston Texans 36-22 in Houston.

Joe Flacco threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns for Cleveland in the win as the Browns improved to 10-5 on the season.

Cleveland did not clinch a playoff position with the win but their playoff chances are ninety-six percent after the victory.

The Browns will host their final regular season home game on Thursday night against the Jets, with a  win clinching a playoff spot.

Brownie Bits

1) The record-setting game by Amari Cooper broke the record previously held by Josh Gordon and the record-breaking catch came late in the game when the Browns discovered Cooper was only ten yards off the pace.

2) Amari Cooper entered himself into the record books in two other positions, one of which is a surprise.

Cooper became the first Browns receiver in history to record consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

That's a surprise considering some of the receivers in Browns history, a few of which are in Canton.

3) Cooper also joined Terrell Owens as the only receiver to post one thousand-yard receiving seasons with three teams.
Cooper with the Raiders, Cowboys, and now the Browns while Owens made his mark with the 49ers, Cowboys, and Bills.

4) Joe Flacco's day was excellent and while he threw two interceptions, one was excusable as the Browns were forced to go for it on a play near the end of the first half as an injury to Dustin Hopkins took a field goal attempt off the table.

5) I really liked the play call by Kevin Stefanski on the first drive that targeted Amari Cooper deep for a fifty-three-yard gain to the Houston six-yard line and set up the Browns first score.

Stefanski is at his best when he attacks but isn't overly clever in his playcalling. Starting the game aggressively downfield has lower risks than the gimmicky short-yardage plays he often used with DeShaun Watson.

6) Dustin Hopkins pulled a hamstring chasing Houston's Dameon Pierce on Pierce's kick return score.

This forced the Browns to eschew any field goal attempts and to try for two-point conversions after touchdowns, which the Browns were successful on two of three chances.

7) I'm still determining the status of Dustin Hopkins but with a short week to prepare for the Jets, I would be extremely surprised if Hopkins kicks on Thursday night.

The question then becomes- who will be the kicker for the Browns on such short notice and how much experience will he have?

Former Browns Cade York and Zane Gonzalez are available and the name often mentioned in the past has been veteran Robbie Gould, although Gould may not be in shape after not kicking all season.

I wonder if this could be a damaging blow to the Browns, depending on how long Hopkins could be out of the lineup when you consider how excellent he has kicked this season.

8) I worried about the Browns patchwork offensive line against a solid Houston pass rush but Cleveland caught a break with Will Anderson unable to play and Jonathan Greenard, the leader in sacks for Houston, left the game early with an injury.

The Browns line didn't allow a sack of the less-than-agile Joe Flacco, so they played well, even if they caught a break in personnel not being available for Houston.

9) The Browns defense gave up two late touchdowns with the game well in hand but had kept Houston off the board before that and despite it being Case Keenum rather than C.J. Stroud in another lucky pull for the Browns, the defense played well, sacking Keenum and Davis Mills three times.

10) Za'Darius Smith had two of those sacks and had a third overturned due to a Cleveland penalty.

I wouldn't say Smith has disappointed in his first season with Cleveland but he hasn't quite been the force that the Browns expected opposite Myles Garrett with five and a half sacks this season.

11) Cleveland may have had a sizable lead at halftime but the finisher was the eighteen-play, ninety-four-yard drive in the third quarter.

Possessions that end in touchdowns on long, punishing drives can grind down defenses and help your defense not only in rest but in how you can play on the field as the opponent is limited in just what they can do with a deficit and time winding away.

12) I mentioned the ninety-six percent chance of a playoff spot for the Browns.

A win against the Jets would clinch but here is the scenario that would keep the Browns on the outside.

Lose to the Jets and Bengals. Buffalo wins at least one of their two games, and two of these teams win both their games, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Houston (one of the three will win the AFC South), Pittsburgh or Cincinnati- And even then it would come down to tiebreakers.

Cleveland could make things a lot easier by polishing off the Jets on Thursday but even if they don't, the Browns still seem in solid shape.

PPM

  The bowl season continues to roll and the NFL is down to the final three weeks of its season with the PPM picking the winners of all of them!

Last Week:  11-3

Overall: 150-72

College

Birmingham Bowl

Troy 36 Duke 28

Camellia Bowl

Arkansas State 37 Northern Illinos 32

Armed Forces Bowl

James Madison 36 Air Force 29

Potato Bowl

Georgia State 19 Utah State 16

68 Ventures Bowl

South Alabama 28 Eastern Michigan 13

Las Vegas Bowl

Utah 29 Northwestern 10

Hawaii Bowl

San Jose State 29 Coastal Carolina 24

Quick Lane Bowl

Bowling Green 23 Minnesota 21

ServePro Bowl

Texas State 28 Rice 21

Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Kansas 34 UNLV 24

Military Bowl

Tulane 40 Virginia Tech 23

Duke's Mayo Bowl

North Carolina 40 West Virginia 21

Holiday Bowl 

Louisville 24 USC 10

Texas Bowl 

Oklahoma State 50 Texas A&M 45

Fenway Bowl 
SMU 38 Boston College 17

Pinstripe Bowl 

Miami 22 Rutgers 17

Pop-Tarts Bowl

N.C. State 28 Kansas State 24

Alamo Bowl

Oklahoma 29 Arizona 26

Gator Bowl

Clemson 29 Kentucky 21

Sun Bowl

Oregon State 35 Notre Dame 32

Liberty Bowl

Memphis 41 Iowa State 35

Pro

Browns 21 Texans 20

Bills 31 Chargers 21

Games of the Week

Dolphins 35 Cowboys 32

49ers 27 Ravens 23

Browns saved by prayer vs Bears!

     Joe Flacco rallied the Cleveland Browns from a ten-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to take the lead when Dustin Hopkins kicked a thirty-four-yard field goal to give the Cleveland Browns a 20-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Cleveland.

However, it's never easy or simple for the Browns, as the Bears moved into Cleveland territory with five seconds remaining for a Hail Mary attempt by the visitors.

Justin Fields' bomb bounced off several Bears and Browns jumping in a clump and landed in the hands of Chicago's Darnell Mooney for what would have been a Bears win and a devastating Browns defeat- BUT

the ball bounced off the hands of Mooney, who somehow kicked the ball into the hands of reserve safety D'Anthony Bell to allow the Browns another crazy 2023 win.

Joe Flacco threw two touchdowns with three interceptions and finished with 374 yards passing while both Amari Cooper and David Njoku finished with over one hundred yards receiving and a touchdown catch.

Cleveland improved to 9-5 on the season and maintained its one-game lead for the top wild-card position in the AFC.

The Browns will travel to Houston to battle the 8-6 Texans, one of three teams that are one game behind Cleveland for the wild card.

Brownie Bits

1) Joe Flacco threw three interceptions, but it can be argued that none of the three was his fault.

The first looked to be a miscommunication with the receiver, the second throw was on the money with Cedric Tillman getting hit just as the ball arrived, shooting the ball into the air to be plucked by Tremaine Edwards for the pick-six, and the final one, Flacco had an open David Njoku. Just as the ball arrived Tyrique Stevenson came flying into the picture with a tremendous play.

2) Flacco's fourth-quarter play was what you would hope for with over two hundred yards and leading the Browns to a touchdown and two field goals including the game-winner.

3) The Browns running attack wasn't gobbling up ground with only twenty-nine yards on eighteen attempts.

The running game will need to do better with two of their final three games on the road.

4) The offensive line took another blow with Joel Bitonio unable to continue after the first quarter.

Give Bitonio credit for the effort as he felt his back tighten up in warmups but tried to play anyway but the pain was too great.

5) The loss of Bitonio would mean the Browns for most of the game played with an offensive line missing four of the five players that started the season as only Wyatt Teller remains.

Ethan Pocic may have a chance to return this season and Bitonio's status is up in the air but all three of the tackles have been lost for the season, leaving the Browns to rely on players that were on practice squads earlier this season at tackle.

6) The offensive line that was the strength of the offense has suddenly become a liability with all these injuries, unable to push off the line in run blocking, and having difficulties keeping pass rushers off the immobile Joe Flacco.

Montez Sweat rampaged through the Browns blockers for three sacks on Sunday and I wonder just how the Browns are going to keep Jonathan Greenard and Will Anderson off Flacco next week unless Ethan Pocic and Joel Bitonio can play.

7) The play of the game came with three minutes remaining when Joe Flacco drilled a throw through tight coverage to Amari Cooper down the sideline, resulting in a fifty-one-yard touchdown that tied the game at seventeen.

It's the type of throw through windy conditions that big-armed passers make and smaller quarterbacks don't.

8) Give the defense credit for keeping the Browns in the game until the fourth quarter.

The defense allowed only ten points and their third-quarter hold on the Bears to keep them to a field goal that gave them a lead of 17-7 rather than one of 21-7, which essentially was the difference in the game.

9) The Browns received two massive plays from rookies who are in the lineup due to injury.

The biggest may have been Cameron Mitchell getting just enough contact on a fourth down run by a running Justin Fields to leave Fields just short of a first down on the Cleveland thirty-three on the first Bears possession of the fourth quarter.

The score was still 17-7 at that stage of the game and if the Bears score even a field goal on the drive, who knows how the Browns react to needing two touchdowns to win at that point.

10) Ronnie Hickman played well with five solo tackles and a pass breakup that forced a punt.

The former Ohio State Buckeye was undrafted and there may be a few teams kicking themselves for not using a day three pick on Hickman.

11) Marquise Goodwin was signed to be the deep threat to open the downfield passing game, yet Goodwin's injuries had not allowed him to be that threat.

In fact, Goodwin had caught only three passes for a combined ten yards but it was Goodwin breaking away for a fifty-seven-yard gain that kickstarted the Cleveland comeback.

The gain would lead to a Dustin Hopkins field goal, cut the Bears lead to seven, and allow the Browns to play one possession at a time rather than chase two scores.

12) So how does it set up for a battered Browns squad, holding a one-game lead over the two AFC South survivors (Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and Houston are tied for first in the division at 8-6), Cincinnati, and Buffalo, with two of those four joining Cleveland for wild card positions.

Pittsburgh and Denver are one game behind that group and while not out of the running, will need some help in the remaining three weeks.

The Christmas Eve tussle in Houston looms large, win that one and I'd think it would be very tough for the Browns to not make the dance.

Lose to the Texans and things could tighten up considerably as the Texans would join the Browns at 9-6 and the other 8-6 have very winnable games with Buffalo visiting the imploding non-Brandon Staley Chargers, Cincinnati traveling to the punchless offense of the Steelers, Indianapolis, and Jacksonville on the road against mediocre NFC South foes Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

I think one more win could be enough, two would seal things up but two of their three remaining games are on the road against teams that are hustling for the postseason themselves (Houston and Cincinnati) for a team that is winning in strange ways, the margin of error isn't as great as one could think.

PPM

   The Bowl Season starts and the NFL playoff race continues as the PPM returns after a first-time event in the PPM- Zero wins!

Last Week: 0-4

Overall: 139-69

Bowl Games

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Georgia Southern over Ohio U 27-21

New Orleans Bowl

Jacksonville State over Louisiana 30-23

Avocado Bowl

Appalachian State over Miami Ohio 40-38

New Mexico Bowl

New Mexico State over Fresno State 34-32

LA Bowl

Boise State over UCLA 34-24

Independence Bowl
Texas Tech over Cal 29-21

Toastery Bowl

Western Kentucky over Old Dominion 27-17

Frisco Bowl

UTSA over Marshall 37-20

Boca Raton Bowl

South Florida over Syracuse 28-14

Gasparilla Bowl

Georgia Tech over Central Florida 30-26

NFL 

Browns over Bears 19-14

Raiders over Chargers 20-10

Games of the Week

Ravens over Jaguars 26-29

Colts over Steelers 20-16

Browns tame Jaguars 31-27

       Joe Flacco threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns in his first home start as a Cleveland Brown as the Browns defeated the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars 31-27.

David Njoku caught two of Flacco's touchdown throws and finished with ninety-one yards from six catches to lead the Browns skill players.

Cleveland improved to 8-5 in breaking a two-game losing streak and will host the Chicago Bears next Sunday.

Brownie Bits

1) Before the game, the Browns announced that they had signed safety Grant Delpit to a three-year contract extension worth thirty-six million dollars.

Delpit is in the middle of a breakout season this year and the Browns needed to keep their playmaking safety.

2) So this being the Browns, Delpit roared out against Jacksonville with five solo tackles and a sack of Trevor Lawrence on a safety blitz before suffering a groin injury when on another blitz of Lawrence, Delpit landed on Myles Garrett and was forced to leave the game.

How much time Delpit will miss is still uncertain but it is "so Browns" to see Delpit injured on the same day that he signed his contract extension.

3) Joe Flacco did turn the ball over twice, once on an interception and the other on a fumble when he was sacked for the only time of the day.

Flacco even avoided a sack or two with some movement in the pocket.

When dealing with a lack of mobility, you are always concerned about blindside hits and fumbles from the quarterback, so the Browns will have to continue to receive solid play from the offensive line.

4) The Browns sacked Trevor Lawrence four times in the game, two of them from defensive tackle Maurice Hurst.

When defensive tackles are getting sacks, either one of two things are happening.

Either the edge rushers are forcing the quarterback to step in the pocket leading them directly to the tackle or the tackle is just blowing up the guards and breaking down the opponent's pass protection.

5) Myles Garrett didn't have any sacks but he did offer some complaints about the officiating.

I know Garrett gets held on every play and it is often not called but it's rarely a good look to gripe unless you have a specific poor call that costs you a game.

6) After the game, Kevin Stefanski named Joe Flacco as the starter for the remainder of the season and I think that was the best choice.

Even with the flaws of the aging Flacco, the ability to open the offense up with downfield tosses combined with the experience that comes with a thirty-eight-year-old quarterback made the selection an easy one.

7) Kevin Stefanski did use Dorian Thompson-Robinson a few times under center in short-yardage situations with DTR running once for a first down.

I like to see these looks but what I especially like is when play callers mix things up and show defenses that DTR (for example) can run, hand the ball off, and eventually show that the Browns can throw out of those situations.

I remember despising the Browns on the Wildcat formations when they had Josh Cribbs (a college quarterback) and never calling a pass play with Cribbs essentially neutered the formation as defenses never had to account for anything other than a Cribbs run of some sort.

The more things that a team can do, the higher the chances of an effective play call.

8) If you rip Kevin Stefanski for play calls that don't work, fairness says to give the man credit for his good ones.

And I LOVED the call that resulted in the final touchdown on a fourth and three.

With Joe Flacco in the shotgun, David Bell gives the appearance of staying in to block or being a desperation checkdown target but after the initial block, Bell moves to the center of the field, wide open with Flacco quickly popping the ball out to Bell, who then ran for forty-one yards with nary a Jaguar around for the score.

9) That play was set up by an over-the-shoulder interception by Greg Newsome, who made an excellent play on the Trevor Lawrence throw.

Martin Emerson grabbed two interceptions and the secondary played very well for most of the game.

10) Give Trevor Lawrence credit as the Jaguars leaned towards the former Clemson Tiger not playing due to an ankle injury in their previous game.

I picked Jacksonville mainly because of the announcement that Lawrence was going to start over C.J. Beathard and I liked the toughness that I saw from Lawrence despite the three picks.

Lawrence was beaten up and harassed all day yet hung in there and gave his team a chance to win a game that they could easily lost by a much larger margin.

11) This was a huge win for several reasons.

It stopped the losing streak at two and took advantage of losses by the three teams that entered the day tied with the Browns in the wild-card hunt (Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Houston) to move a full game ahead of all teams in the playoff scramble.

The bad news is that Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Denver all won their games to place a stunning six teams at 7-6 for two spots and only one game behind the Browns.

One slip and the Browns are back in a mass battle and dealing with the headache of tiebreakers.

12) Four games to go with a home game next week vs Chicago, at Houston, who had their quarterback injured yesterday (C.J. Stroud), home against the Jets on a Thursday night, and finishing in Cincinnati against a suddenly resurgent B.ngals team without Joe Burrow.

I think a split of those games gets them into the playoffs, perhaps as high as the fifth seed.

Three out of four definitely get them in, and maybe with some breaks, a shot at the division title.

Baltimore leads Cleveland by two games but has a brutal final four games in road trips to Jacksonville and San Francisco with home games against Miami and Pittsburgh.

I can see a scenario where Cleveland ties for the division title but it will take no less than three wins in the final four weeks to be in that position.

PPM

  The college bowls don't start until the 16th, so this is a sparse PPM with just the pro football side to pick from.

Last Week: 6-9 (Yuck)

Overall: 139-65

NFL

Jaguars over Browns 24-20

Chargers over Broncos 23-17

Games of the Week

Eagles over Cowboys 34-31

Chiefs over Bills 40-36

Kyle McCord to enter Transfer Portal

     The transfer portal in college football is always a hectic and often controversy-filled time but the start of the portal for 2024 immediately initiated that process when Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord announced his intentions to enter the portal and seek a new home for 2024.

Ryan Day was asked during his most recent press conference about the quarterback position for the Buckeyes' appearance in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri and for next season, and Day was non-committal about the position or McCord having an advantage in holding down the spot for 2024.

This apparently led to some ill feelings about the situation and as soon as the portal officially opened this morning, McCord filed his name into the system for the right to shop his services.

McCord was solid but not excellent in his only season starting for Ohio State, throwing for 3,170 yards, and completing sixty-five percent of his passes with twenty-four touchdowns against six interceptions but may be remembered most for leading the game-winning drive in South Bend to defeat Notre Dame and throwing the interception that snuffed out the final possession in a six-point loss to Michigan.

McCord did play through much of the season with an ankle injury that made him less mobile than the usual Ohio State quarterback and he did seem to lack chemistry with the receivers other than Marvin Harrison Jr. and maybe Cade Stover but Ohio State lacked the explosiveness that they possessed under C.J. Stroud with the same star skill position players around McCord, so the only assumption to make is some of that (at least) had to be placed on McCord.

Ryan Day had to be a little disappointed with McCord's play, especially with the constant comparisons to Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, who wanted to attend Ohio State but Day chose McCord instead as his quarterback of choice in that recruiting class, and when you consider the pressure under Day and the program entering next season, it's not unfair for Day to re-open the competition between McCord, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and incoming freshman Air Noland to attempt a clean break from a underwhelming offensive season.

McCord's decision leaves Ryan Day with an interesting opportunity for the Cotton Bowl to give Devon Brown and Lincoln Kienholz significant playing time against a good team in Missouri.

I'd even go as far as to give each player two quarters of play as the Cotton Bowl is basically an exhibition game anyway.

I don't think that this will hurt Ryan Day in the future with quarterbacks, if anything it may help him as a quarterback who may not want to sit behind a starter, particularly one not playing well (past or present) will now know that Day won't hesitate to play the best player and not adhere to loyalty as Urban Meyer had been known to do.

Ohio State now could play in the portal itself for a one-year stopgap at the position with Riley Leonard, formerly of Duke, and Will Howard, formerly of Kansas State, as the biggest portal prizes available as of now.

In the end, Kyle McCord was a good quarterback who played in the shadow of three of the best quarterbacks in program history.

McCord and Ryan Day are finding out that when you don't beat Michigan for three seasons in a row, good will never be good enough at Ohio State. 

Late Implosion bumps Browns in LA

         The Cleveland Browns had plenty of chances to defeat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday but meltdowns in the fourth quarter were wide-spread from the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching as the Rams grabbed a 36-19 decision far closer than the final score indicates.

Joe Flacco finished with 254 passing yards and two touchdowns but his fourth-quarter interception led to the Rams pocketing the win.

Jerome Ford and Harrison Bryant caught touchdown passes with Bryant's five receptions leading the receivers.

Cleveland falls to 7-5 with the loss and while the Browns are still in the playoffs as of this writing, the Browns return to Cleveland and the waiting 8-3 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brownie Bits

1) Joe Flacco's first start at quarterback was as good as one could expect except for his late-game interception and the Browns looked like an NFL offense that was interested in taking chances downfield rather than the offenses piloted by Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J.Walker.

2) That said, the weaknesses of Flacco make it imperative that the Browns not fall behind, which allowed the Rams to tee off on the immobile Flacco.

Both of the Rams sacks in the game occurred on the Browns final drive, including Flacco being dumped in the end zone for a safety in a final indignity.

3) The offensive line did keep the Rams from beating Flacco up during most of the game but the Browns running game continues to be a concern.

While Kareem Hunt carried twelve times for forty-eight yards for a solid four yards a crack and Pierre Strong carried twice for twenty, Jerome Ford's struggles continued with a meager nineteen yards on nine attempts.

4) Amari Cooper had caught three of five targets from Joe Flacco including a twenty-two-yard shot which was a refreshing change, and looked very comfortable catching the ball from the veteran passer.

That all changed when he was forced from the game with a concussion and will be considered unlikely to play against Jacksonville unless he passes the league's concussion protocol.

That's unlikely, as only a few players have been able to enter that program and then play the following week this season.

5) Cooper's loss would further weaken a pass-catching group that is already in question as the season has progressed.

Flacco did hit former Jets teammate Elijah Moore for a forty-two-yard gain but Moore caught only four of twelve passes, so Moore didn't do very much with the increased workload other than the long catch.

6) Harrison Bryant caught five passes, one for a touchdown, and even more important, caught all five passes thrown to him.

Bryant was drafted by the Browns as a pass-catching threat but have used him only sporadically in that role, and with Bryant eligible for free agency, I wonder how much that is playing into the Browns' thoughts about their willingness to pay Bryant.

7) I know the defense is battered and Myles Garrett is playing through a painful shoulder injury but this is the third time in a road game that the defense needed a stop late in the game and couldn't get it accomplished.

There are reasons for that but great defenses nail those situations and this one hasn't always been able to do that.

8) Denzel Ward missed his second game with a shoulder injury and he's clearly missed as most Pro Bowl-level players would be but Ward's absence takes away so much from the defense in both the passing game and the trickle-down from what he brings even down to the run support game.

If Ward misses the Jacksonville game next week against Calvin Ridley, I'd be very concerned about the teams' chances in attempting to avoid a three-game losing streak.

9) Anthony Walker is often touted as the Browns solid veteran leader at linebacker that doesn't make mistakes.

Walker made a blunder with a ridiculous hit out of bounds, and that's not the kind of play that "veteran leaders" make.

10) A word about the Rams young receiver Puka Nacua, who ripped off a thirty-one-yard run and caught a seventy-yard touchdown pass but even more impressive was a second-quarter catch that was key in keeping a drive alive.

Nacua took a hit that sent him to the locker room with announcers Kevin Kugler and Mark Sanchez speculating about Nacua's status for the season, not the game!

Yet, Nacua returned to play in the second half and caught two more passes.

Nacua was picked by the Rams in the fifth round and is the type of under-the-radar late-round draftee that other teams seem to find and the Browns never come up with in their drafts.

11) I included coaching in the introduction mainly for a silly challenge by Kevin Stefanski on a late-game Rams reception that cost the Browns a timeout that didn't matter in the end anyway but shows that Stefanski can be rattled in late-game situations.

DeMarcus Robinson caught the ball and took three (and almost four) steps before moving out of bounds and yet Stefanski challenged, costing a valuable late-game timeout.

This play was so clear, that the referee was annoyed by the time spent replaying it when he announced the replay result, he stated "The receiver CLEARLY was in the field of play while making the catch".

12) The Browns hoped to earn a split of the West Coast games and they didn't so despite holding a playoff spot at 7-5 Cleveland isn't able to relax.

At 7-5, the Browns are one of four teams for three spots (the Houston Texans are the odd team out at this time) and even though the Browns are at home against Jacksonville, the Jaguars are 8-3 although they will be traveling on a short week after a Monday night game against Cincinnati.

This game is important for several reasons in the playoff race but the biggest reason might be for the state of mind.

The schedule is lighter for the final four games after Jacksonville (Chicago and the Jets at home, Houston and Cincinnati on the road) but a loss would mean three losses in a row and a dread that the Browns are rolling downhill without any brakes.

A loss wouldn't end the season but it would put the Browns in a position of perhaps (over the final month) not having as much control over their own destiny.

PPM

   It's conference title weekend with the CFP sorting itself out and the bowl lineup being determined plus the NFL hits December crunch time!

Last Week: 11-5 

Overall: 133-56

College

Conference USA
New Mexico State over Liberty 37-35

Pac 12

Oregon over Washington 34-24

Big 12

Texas over Oklahoma State 40-27

MAC

Toledo over Miami Ohio 29-27

Mountain West

Boise State over UNLV 28-24

SEC
Georgia over Alabama 24-20

American

Tulane over SMU 34-31

Sun Belt

Appalachian State over Troy 40-37

Big 10

Michigan over Iowa 27-6

ACC
Louisville over Florida State 23-20

NFL

Rams over Browns 20-13

Chargers over Patriots 27-17

Games of the Week

Eagles over 49ers 27-24

Texans over Broncos 27-17 

Browns bucked in Denver 29-12

 The Cleveland Browns suffered injuries in the second half and continued a disturbing trend with their receivers dropping passes as the Browns were defeated in Denver by the homesteading Broncos 29-12.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw the first touchdown of his career and 134 passing yards before leaving the game in the second half with a concussion from a hit from Denver's Baron Browning.

Jerome Ford rushed for sixty-five yards on nine carries to lead the offense for Cleveland.

Cleveland falls to 7-4 and will play the Los Angeles Rams in Los Angeles next Sunday.

Brownie Bits

1) The biggest issue of all the issues that seem to be piling up is the receivers dropping the ball.

Cleveland dropped five passes in the second half with David Njoku dropping multiple passes for the second week in a row and the most notable drop from Amari Cooper, who dropped a wide-open pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game in the third quarter.

No matter which of their three current quarterbacks play, the Browns offense isn't good enough to afford the drops from accurate passes.

2) Dorian Thompson-Robinson's stats weren't glittering (14/29 134 yards 1 TD 0 INT) but he was hurt by drops, and he avoided making the mistake that gets you beaten.

I'm not saying Cleveland wins this game before his injury but the Browns were down by only two and hadn't made mistakes to that point.

3) I didn't think the hit by Baron Browning was a dirty hit but it was a penalty.

Browning led with his shoulder which isn't a dirty hit but he did make contact helmet to helmet which as Sam Wyche said on an NFL Films segment " he hit him in the head and that is a penalty".

4) After the injury to Thompson-Robinson, here came P.J. Walker, and while Walker didn't get intercepted, he did almost everything else wrong in completing six of thirteen and getting sacked four times.

I'm not sure of Thompson-Robinson playing next Sunday (I'd bet he won't be ready) and the decision will have to be made early on whether to give Joe Flacco a crash course or try to squeeze one more game out of Walker.

Neither option is overly appealing.

5) The offensive line didn't allow Thompson-Robinson to be sacked but they allowed four sacks of P.J. Walker in a little over a quarter.

Walker isn't a mobile quarterback and Denver was able to rush with abandon because they knew the Browns had to throw but it does cause concern about how the Browns will protect the granite-like Flacco in the pocket.

6) Denver entered the game with the league's worst run defense and considering the circumstances for the Browns, running the ball would have seemed the best plan.

Cleveland had success with Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt combining for eighty-seven yards on sixteen carries but they didn't commit to runs between the tackles often enough and as a result, Denver was able to avoid the big run out of the backfield as only one run was longer than nineteen yards.

7) Kevin Stefanski has done a pretty good job this season (Seattle aside) but twice in this loss, Stefanski's need to be clever cost them.

The first was another cutie package with Harrison Bryant taking snaps on a fourth and one near midfield with Bryant fumbling the ball with the Broncos recovering.

It didn't lead to points for Denver but it did kill a Cleveland drive.

8) And the Stefanski moment that serves as the epitaph for his Browns tenure- starting the fourth quarter and it is the second play for P.J. Walker on a second and seven on the Cleveland forty-one, Denver leads by two.

Stefanski calls a double reverse with Pierre Strong and Elijah Moore which results in a fumble, Denver recovers, and four plays, and eighty-five seconds later, Denver scores a touchdown and the game is essentially over then and there.

Granted P.J. Walker didn't fumble but a play such as that takes timing and precision (and it was the only touch of the game for Pierre Strong while I'm at it), so I don't see how the time was right for such a play call.

It's the biggest black mark on Stefanski, the need to show his brilliance that pops up at the worst possible time.

9) Myles Garrett played much of the game with a shoulder that hung by his side for most of the second half.

Garrett left the stadium with his arm in a sling and is undergoing an MRI today to reveal any possible damage.

It goes without saying that losing Garrett would be a devastating loss that might be the final straw in what the Browns can come back from.

10) Jeremiah Owosu-Koramoah played very well and seemed to be in or around every play, finishing with seven solo tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, and several assisted tackles.

Drafted as the "antidote" for the Browns' problems with Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, JOK is capable of so much when he is healthy and allowed to run to the football, which in the Joe Woods scheme in the past, he wasn't always allowed to do with his responsibilities.

11) Finally, I thought Denver was a tough out with the Broncos' recent run of improved play, playing in Mile High, and with a rookie quarterback, so I'm not totally disappointed by the loss.

The key is now beating the Rams in Los Angeles this Sunday.

The 5-6 Rams have won their last two games, both since Matthew Stafford returned from injury, and are just one game out of the playoffs behind 6-5 Minnesota and Seattle, so they have plenty to play for and won't be an easy win.

The Browns needed to split the two games out West, this one is more important than one may have thought a week or two ago with a home game against the AFC South-leading 8-3 Jacksonville Jaguars following the Rams, a loss in California would drop the Browns to 7-5 and perhaps in full panic mode.

We will see on Sunday.