Pick Six's sink Browns in Denver

 Jameis Winston set a Cleveland franchise record for passing yardage in a game and threw four touchdowns but it was two of his three interceptions that decided the game as Denver Bronco defenders would take two tosses and return them for touchdowns as Denver dumped Cleveland 41-32 on Monday Night Football.

Winston finished with 497 yards passing with Jerry Jeudy (nine catches, 235 yards, and a touchdown), Elijah Moore (eight catches, 111 yards), and David Njoku (nine catches, fifty-two yards, and two touchdowns) leading the offense.

Cleveland fell to 3-9 in defeat and clinched a losing season.

The Browns travel to Pittsburgh next Sunday for the second game against the Steelers in three weeks.

Brownie Bits

1) Jameis Winston's entire career was on display in this game.

It shows Winston's willingness to fire the ball downfield, stand in the pocket, and gun the ball to receivers through tight coverage.

Winston's tools rank with the best in the league and when he is on his game, it is very fun to watch.

2) The downside is his overconfidence in his arm, which results in poor decision-making, which was shown in the deciding play of the game.

Cleveland is down by two with 1:48 to play, needing just a field goal to win and nearing field goal range, Winston throws to a covered Elijah Moore.

Instead, Ja'Quan McMillian grabs the ball, falls to the ground, isn't touched, gets up, and runs for the backbreaking touchdown.

And that play will be what is remembered most about a record-breaking night.

3) That is the biggest problem with Jameis Winston.

Winston makes bad teams fun to watch and the Browns are far more watchable now than under DeShaun Watson but while that's endearing now will it be so if Winston is the starter in 2025 and another season is wasted?

I doubt it and while I'd prefer Winston to Watson and others, I'm not sure I'd want to hitch my wagon to him.

4) Jerry Jeudy was a major disappointment with the Broncos and he didn't change opinions in Cleveland before DeShaun Watson's injury.

Jameis Winston's insertion into the lineup has improved Jeudy's performance but that was nothing compared to Jeudy's eruption against Denver.

Jeudy was motivated for his return to Denver and talked about his feelings often as the game approached.

I'm not saying that Jeudy is a true number-one receiver but he's showing the signs of things starting to fall into place for a productive career.

5) One thing I will point out about Jeudy's game was that he was often covered by one of the league's best corners Patrick Surtain Jr.

As good as Surtain is, Jerry Jeudy practiced against him for years at Alabama and Denver.

If anyone knows Surtain's abilities and tendencies, it's Jerry Jeudy.

6) Elijah Moore's game has picked up with Winston and it has come perfectly for Moore, who will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Moore might be making a case for the Browns to re-sign him and the Browns might be forced to pay more than they thought to retain him should he finish the season playing at this level.

7) The once-anemic Browns offense outgained the Broncos 552-400 and who would have thought that before the lineup changes?

Only one lineup change has made all the difference,

8) The running game is still struggling.

The Browns rushed for 77 yards averaging 3.3 yards per rush.

Jerome Ford and Nick Chubb each carried the ball nine times with Ford outgaining Chubb

I wonder if the Browns and Chubb might consider ending the season for the popular running back, which might help Chubb better prepare for next season.

Shorter than usual but I wanted to get something up before too much time passed

Forgotten Superstars: Steve Watson

      I've been watching old Denver Broncos games on YouTube (Remember it was the Broncos who were the team of my youth) as I do other things and it made me want to write about my favorite Bronco on offense from childhood- wide receiver Steve Watson.

The Broncos weren't always known for offense in the seventies and eighties.

In fact, when Sears sold the NFL jerseys in their catalog at that time, Denver was the only team to have a defensive player jersey (53 Randy Gradishar) as their representative, so the "Orange Crush" defense was the star of the team.

Still, Steve Watson took over the top receiving option from Haven Moses in his third season in 1981 and was the go-to pass catcher for Craig Morton as he ended his career and for the first formative years of John Elway as well.

Watson made the Broncos in 1979 as an undrafted free agent from Temple but only caught six passes in each of his first two seasons in Denver before his breakout season in 1981.

In 1981, the first season of Dan Reeves's coaching career and the final season of Craig Morton's quarterbacking career, Watson caught sixty passes for 1,244 yards and a league-leading thirteen receiving touchdowns as he made his only Pro Bowl in a breakout year.

Watson wouldn't be selected to another Pro Bowl but he continued to rack up receiving yards with 555 (in the nine-game strike season), 1,113, 1,170, and 915 in the following four seasons for the Broncos.

It was Steve Watson who was the go-to receiver for a developing John Elway as an intermediate threat and occasional long-ball target.

Watching these Denver games during a time when the football wasn't in the air as much as it is today, Watson's ability to get open deep as well as on shorter routes makes me think that he might have been more effective in today's game.

Watson's numbers dipped a little in 1986, catching forty-five passes for 699 yards and he played only five games in 1987, catching eleven passes in what would be his final season.

Watson finished his career with over six thousand receiving yards, three hundred fifty-seven catches, and a very good average of seventeen yards per catch.

I wonder if Watson had come along a few years later with his skills perhaps the Broncos would have won one of those lost Super Bowls under Dan Reeves as he would have given the team the bigger receiver that the team lacked with their quicker smaller pass catchers such as Vance Johnson and Mark Jackson.

And now, why Steve Watson was part of my childhood fandom.

You see, the local newspaper would every year or so mention Watson in the local sports section as his grandparents lived in Hagerstown.

That was the connection to Watson and I remember every time we made our weekly run for supplies, I tried to wear something Bronco-related on the remote chance that I would run into these people (remember this was in an era that wasn't easy to acquire items from a non-local team) who in my early teenaged mind would see me, talk to me, and make a connection with someone that knows a Denver Bronco!

In a shocking development, none of that would occur and I'm not a Broncos fan anymore but Steve Watson is still one of my favorite players and we welcome him to the Forgotten Superstars series. 

Browns obtain Jerry Jeudy

      Andrew Berry decided to return to the scene of his greatest trade since taking charge of the Cleveland Browns by trading for a wide receiver with a team dealing with salary cap issues.

Amari Cooper worked out spectacularly and while Elijah Moore didn't make the impact that the Browns hoped for, Moore wasn't a total bust either, so it wasn't a surprise that Andrew Berry returned to the wide receiver trade well to bolster DeShaun Watson's weapons.

Berry and the Browns sent fifth and sixth-round picks to the Denver Broncos for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, whom the Browns hope will provide the deep threat they have lacked since the days of Josh Gordon.

The Browns traded the fifth-rounder they acquired for Baker Mayfield from Carolina and their own sixth-rounder.

Cleveland still has their own fifth-rounder and still owns two sixth-rounders from Arizona and Baltimore.

Jeudy had been connected to the Browns by rumors before the in-season trading deadline but Denver decided to keep their 2020 first-rounder from Alabama and wait for the off-season before exploring a trade.

Jeudy caught 54 passes for 758 yards with two touchdowns last season and is under contract for the 2024 season at a cap hit of 12.99 million after Denver picked up his fifth-year option last spring.

The Browns are expected to attempt to re-work Jeudy's contract to help create cap room and commit him to more than a one-year rental.

Jeudy hasn't been the star that Denver and many expected after being drafted but he's been decent and in Cleveland, will be slotted as the number two receiver opposite Amari Cooper as the deep speed threat that the Browns have been missing for years.

Where this does affect the receivers is that one of the current roster is likely to be elsewhere, if not two.

Cedric Tillman and Elijah Moore will be the third and fourth receivers, and I bet the Browns use either their second or third-rounders on another pass catcher.

Assuming the Browns do that, that player makes the team, so unless the Browns decide to keep six receivers David Bell may be the player on the outside looking in.

Jerry Jeudy was a disappointment for Denver but if used as a deep threat in the offense and as the number two receiver, I believe he could be a successful player in Cleveland. 

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. 

Basic Browns bump Broncos 17-14

   The battered Cleveland Browns may not have said their Thursday night game at home against the Denver Broncos was a must-win game but it really was.

Without severe key players including quarterback Baker Mayfield and running back Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the Browns came up with a gritty team effort based around the ground game and won a hard-fought 17-14 decision in Cleveland.

Backup quarterback Case Keenum completed twenty-one of thirty-three passes for 199 yards and a touchdown and third-string running back D'Ernest Johnson stepped through the curtain in his opportunity to be the backfield workhorse with 146 yards and a touchdown.

Cleveland improves to 4-3 with the victory and will receive a badly needed ten days off before a Halloween Sunday battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home by Lake Erie.

Brownie Bits

1) Case Keenum did exactly what he was signed to back up Baker Mayfield before the 2020 season- win winnable games in the event that Baker Mayfield would be unable to play.

Keenum did what was advertised= don't dazzle, use the running game, and don't make the type of mistake that can cost you a game.

It's simple and it's basic and it doesn't always work against better teams but on this night and against this team (Denver) it was enough to notch a W.

2) The knock on Case Keenum is his arm strength and it's a fair one- Keenum's arm is average at best but honestly I didn't see a lot of difference between Keenum's arm and Baler Mayfield's arm strength.

Now being fair that may be because of Mayfield's injury this season but in his other three seasons, Mayfield was never a mad bomber.

And Keenum did throw the ball to his receivers in stride or where it needed to be, which Mayfield often has been unable to perform.

3) The Browns returned Jarvis Landry to the lineup but Landry left the game with another injury late in the game.

Landry caught five passes for thirty-seven yards in giving Case Keenum a checkdown option and no word on his status for Pittsburgh of this writing.

4) Cleveland played with Donovan Peoples-Jones after the second-year receiver suffered a groin pull in pre-game warmups.

Peoples-Jones had led the Browns receivers in the loss to Arizona and is undergoing an MRI on the injury today.

5) The star of the day was D'Ernest Johnson with 146 rushing yards and a touchdown on twenty-two carries.

Johnson took advantage of the injuries to Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt for his career day and showed better speed than you would expect from a third-string back.

Johnson showed that on a team with fewer outstanding backs that he could be a viable option.

6) Johnson avoided one thing that backup running backs are often tripped up by- too many moves and jukes looking for a bug run rather than putting his head down and running in a straight line.

Johnson was content to move forward and take what he was given instead of showing shiftiness for a breakaway run that never arrived.

7) Big play of the game- In the third quarter with the Browns looking at a fourth and three from the Denver four, Case Keenum scrambled for the three yards and the first down.

Keenum would then hit Johnny Stanton with a one-yard pass for what would prove to be the winning score.

8) While I understand the Browns wanted Jedrick Wills back in the lineup so badly, it might have been a better idea to allow Wills to sit for one more game (after missing the Arizona loss) and hopefully be close to 100 percent against Pittsburgh.

It seemed like Jonathan Cooper and Shelby Harris were having their name called a lot after going up against a weakened Wills and their name won't remind anyone of great Bronco pass rushers like Rich "Tombstone" Jackson or Lyle Alzado.

9) Anthony Walker returned to the lineup and seemed to be all over the field finishing with seven solo tackles and several assisted tackles.

I'm looking forward to a lineup with both Walker and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah playing together to see just how much ground the pair can cover to allow Joe Woods to more of his five defensive backs on the field at all times for more effectiveness.

10)  John Johnson has been a disappointment after signing a contract in the off-season but Johnson made a key play late in the first half when Johnson intercepted a Teddy Bridgewater pass in the end zone.

Hopefully, it is the start of a Johnson that is beginning to make an impact.

11) The difference between 4-3 and 3-4 may not seem like much but considering Baltimore has won five of their first six and the Bengals are four and two, winning a home game against a bad team was a must.

Now with Pittsburgh at 3-3 and off a bye week on Halloween night, a 3-4 record and a loss to the Steelers could mean the season. 

Instead, a win over the Steelers would move the Browns to 5-3 and the ship is sailing well on the playoff seas.

Forgotten Superstars: Randy Gradishar

It's time for a return of what some of you reading have told me is your favorite regular segment- the Forgotten Superstars and today's version is a timely one with the recent announcement of the "Centennial Edition" inductees of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Once again, Randy Gradishar has been denied deserved induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but Gradishar already has been inducted in the College Football version as he made that grade in 1998 from his days at Ohio State where he was a two-time All-American and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting for 1973 in a year that saw Ohio State place John Hicks (2nd), Archie Griffin (5th) and Gradishar in the top six and essentially hand the award to Penn State's John Cappelletti with three players splitting the Midwest vote.
Gradishar would be the first-round selection of the Denver Broncos in 1974, was a key cog in the rise of the Denver franchise and in his ten-year career, Gradishar would make seven Pro Bowls, named All-Pro six times and would win the AFC defensive player of the year in 1978.
Combine that with a strong case that the AFC defensive player of the year for 1977 could have been given to him and that he was still in his prime when he retired after the 1983 season in which he was named All-Pro, the case for induction is an easy one to make.

I looked back a little at Randy Gradishar in 2016 and I've always thought that he has been kept out of the Hall for a few different reasons.
The biggest reason is that the peak of Gradishar's career coincided with the beginning of the 3-4 defense that Gradishar's Denver Broncos used as their defensive system.
As effective as the 3-4 was and still is, at that time the 3-4 hadn't truly let loose outside linebackers as pass rushers and with two inside backers rather than a middle linebacker in a 4-3, Gradishar had more responsibilities in pass coverage than a middle linebacker of the time and as an inside linebacker rarely rushed the passer to roll up the type of statistics that voters of today value most from a linebacker-sacks.
Even still, Gradishar finished with only 4.5 sacks officially for his career, that is only because of sacks becoming an official statistic for the final two seasons of his career.
Gradishar also intercepted twenty passes in his career, three of those for touchdowns.

When you add those facts to an unprovable one, Randy Gradishar likely finished the 1970s with more tackles than anyone in the decade and has been mentioned as finishing with over two thousand tackles when he retired after the 1983 season, which would be the highest in NFL history to that point.
I believe that is likely to be correct, but it's unprovable because tackles did not become an official NFL stat until 1994.
Taking those two unofficial statistics together, the statistics that would prove Gradishar's worth either worked against his role on the defense that he played for or weren't an official statistic during his career.

Of the great defenses of the 1970s, Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain (5), Dallas's Doomsday (4), Minnesota's Purple People Eaters (3) and even Miami's No-Name defense has Nick Buoniconti, yet the "Orange Crush" of Denver is yet to be represented.
Randy Gradishar should have been a slam dunk, Louie Wright is another player that has been overlooked by voters and Lyle Alzado might have had a chance if not for the steroid admission and controversy from the end of his career.
Check the numbers out of Louis Wright (perhaps a future forgotten superstar?) and compare them to Donnie Shell and Cliff Harris, both inducted in this class and then consider which is harder to find- an elite cornerback or an elite safety (I'd argue that both Shell and Harris were very good players surrounded by great ones) before the easy take of "Super Bowl Rings".
Minnesota has three guys in (all deserving) and they didn't win one, so that standard shouldn't wash.

I've written in the past of my Bronco fandom in childhood and I spent several years with my Bronco jersey with Gradishar's 53 on it from Sears.
Back then, if you wanted jerseys or clothing from teams other than in your area, you had to order from Sears and each team would only have one player available.
It says a lot that the Broncos best player and selection was a defensive player in a day of almost all offensive glamour positions.
As shown in the picture to the right, only one team of the-then 28 teams in the
NFL was represented by a defensive player- Randy Gradishar of the Denver Broncos.

Randy Gradishar may not have received his deserved bust in Canton, but he is now part of the Forgotten Superstars universe, which may not be nearly as prestigious but apparently is better at evaluating deserving members.

Randy Gradishar clips start at around the thirty-minute mark and are preceded by those of Louis Wright.

Bucked in Denver, Browns lose to Broncos 24-19

Bad tackling, mediocre play-calling, and the quarterback's inability to throw a ball that isn't high above his intended receiver's head all added up to the worse loss in a disappointing season for the Cleveland Browns as they lost to a Denver Broncos team that started a quarterback that had never taken a snap in professional football before in a 24-19 shocker.

Baker Mayfield threw for 273 yards and the Browns only touchdown to Jarvis Landry and Austin Siebert kicked four field goals in the defeat.
The Browns slip to 2-6 on the season and will host 6-2 Buffalo next week.

Brownie Bits

1) The first note deals with off the field as safety Jermaine Whitehead blasted off several tweets towards Cleveland radio host Dustin Fox and several fans that challenged them to fights at the team's practice facility in Berea.
Whitehead did have a bad game, missed several tackles, including one that saw Noah Fant run down the field in the above picture for a 75-yard score.
To be fair to Whitehead, he is playing with a broken hand, which can make wrapping up tackles difficult so I could give him a break for that, but his Twitter behavior is inexcusable.
Considering Whitehead's past ( The Packers cut him for slapping New England's David Andrews in a game last season), it wouldn't stun me to see the Browns cut him on Monday.

2) I said before this game that I had a feeling that if the Browns lost to a third-string quarterback that had never taken an NFL snap before this game that Freddie Kitchens could be fired.
Now we'll see because I just cannot make excuses after this,
No matter the excuse, the Browns are 2-6 and now will have to 8-0 to have a playoff chance and 7-1 to salvage a winning record.
Far more was expected from this team, now will Freddie Kitchens take the fall today or is he given the chance to save his job in the second half?

3) Three times in this game, the Browns had key third (and fourth ) downs to be picked up and on all three occasions, it was not Nick Chubb getting the football.
Twice, it was backup Dontrell Hilliard, the other was a sneak by Baker Mayfield and on all three occasions, the Browns came up short of the first down.
If you want to look at why Freddie Kitchens is in trouble, one of the reasons are these play-calling decisions that put the football in the hands of everyone but the best playmakers.

4) To be fair, I thought Baker Mayfield made the first down in the fourth quarter on a fourth and one from the Denver five.
I don't blame Kitchens for going for it there as the Browns were down five points at the time and a field goal still would have left the Browns needing a second field goal to win, 6but as written above- I do question not giving the ball to Chubb.
I thought Mayfield made it on forward progress and still do, but when you watch the replay, Mayfield is turned to the side as he's brought to the turf and that is what the side judge saw when he spotted the football.
Kitchens then made things worse by listening to Mayfield's advice to challenge the call.
These plays that involve short-yardage spots of the football are rarely overturned because there usually just isn't enough visual evidence with so many bodies around the ball.
Predictably, the Browns lost the challenge and a timeout was wasted.

5) Give the Broncos credit, they kept things very simple for first-time starter Brandon Allen.
Denver kept his reads simple, didn't task him with too many decisions to make, and allowed him to play the exact type of game that you would hope to see from a young quarterback in his first game action- keep your team in the game and don't make huge mistakes by turning the football over.
Allen finished 12 of 20 with two touchdowns and most importantly, zero turnovers.

6) Baker Mayfield didn't throw an interception either and his play didn't cost the Browns the game, but he still is throwing so many balls high and for a passer that was regarded as such an accurate passer coming out of Oklahoma, he is not consistent at all with his accuracy.
The two passes that I remember most?
The first was in the first half to a wide-open Demetrius Harris in the back of the Denver end zone.
Being fair, Harris made the catch, but was very sloppy in trying to keep his feet inbounds and was rightfully ruled out of bounds with the Browns settling for yet another Austin Seibert field goal.
I blame Harris far more than Mayfield there, but if that pass is on the money Harris doesn't have to leap and his feet stay in bounds.
The other pass was a pass that meant little in the game, but the little things add up in these losses.
The Browns are running a set screen pass to Nick Chubb and the Browns have the linemen out in front of Chubb in both Greg Robinson and Joel Bitonio, so this looks like at least a first down gained and the potential for more.
Chubb's all alone, so all Mayfield has to do is get the ball to him.
He doesn't, the pass is nowhere near Chubb and incomplete.

7) Odell Beckham caught five passes for 87 yards and hit two for chunks of yardage (39 and 27) with one of those two scraping the ball off a Bronco defenders helmet and the other showcasing a high-step to earn more yardage than the play looked like it would make.
It's easy to see what Beckham can bring to an offense when he is used to his best, but the Browns still aren't using him in the offense at his optimum.
Beckham rarely is running deep patterns and I wish I knew why that was.
Is it Baker Mayfield's arm? Mayfield's health? Freddie Kitchens playcalling? Or the chemistry between the two isn't where it should be after the lack of training camp work?
No matter the reason, the Browns aren't using Odell Beckham to maximum efficiency and if that's the case, why did they trade for him to begin with?

8) The Browns haven't hit on many things this season other than one Sunday in Baltimore, but it appears that Austin Siebert as the kicker has been one of those that have worked out.
Siebert's four field goals kept the Browns in the game and improved to 14 of 14 on the season.

9) One more Mayfield-Beckham note.
On the final Browns drive, Cleveland has taken the ball to the Denver 28 and it's fourth down and four.
Beckham lines up and he has man coverage in which Beckham is always going to have an advantage.
I know that taking a deep shot with the game in the balance is a gamble, but one in that situation that a confident coach and quarterback take.
Mayfield forces the ball into coverage to Jarvis Landry, the ball falls to the grass and the game is over as the Browns are without their timeouts.

10) Mack Wilson has had his struggles as rookie linebackers often will but in the second half, Wilson played his best stretch as a Brown.
Wilson finished with five solo tackles, two of those for losses, a sack, and a deflected pass.
We might look back at this draft as the Mack Wilson draft in a few seasons in stealing a star in the fifth round.

11) I could live with the Broncos touchdown scored by Courtland Sutton, who leaped over Denzel Ward and used a four-inch height advantage to make the play.
Ward did a good job in coverage and a bigger man caught the ball- it happens.
But the lousy tackling on the score by Noah Fant ( Jermaine Whitehead, Greedy Williams, and Adarius Taylor all missed tackles) and the no one even touching Phillip Lindsay on his 30-yard touchdown run might have been worse.
Defensively, the Browns just lack so many fundamentals that other teams always seem to have.

12) Finally, we waited for the schedule to soften and the Browns lost anyway.
When you consider the entire picture and the competition's issues- you HAVE to win this game and they kicked field goals instead.
Please save the "8-0 run vs this schedule" patter, It's not happening.
This team is poorly coached, poor in the fundamentals of the game, immature, and worries about the things that don't matter rather than what should matter.
They will win some games, but not as many as we all thought- now it's a matter of hopefully seeing some growth and maturity and build for next year.
If you are looking for more than that, save those prayers for something else.

Browns build road winning streak-Bump Broncos 17-16

Jabrill Peppers was drafted as a "playmaker" out of Michigan in 2017 and was thought by some to be the type of player that would change games from the safety position.
That had not happened in the first 29 games and in this season, Peppers had not notched an interception or a sack, yet twice it was Jabrill Peppers making a big play at the end of a half or the game to save the Cleveland Browns and allow the tiny playoff hopes of the Browns to live another week in a 17-16 win over the Denver Broncos in Denver.
Peppers made a leaping interception in the end zone late in the first half to foil a Bronco drive, but the play that ended the game was after Peppers blitzed from his safety position almost untouched to drive Case Keenum to the turf on a fourth down attempt.

Nick Chubb rushed for 100 yards and Baker Mayfield threw for both of the Browns touchdowns to lead the Cleveland offense in the victory that was the Browns first win over the Broncos since 1990.
The Browns improve to 6-7-1 and will host Cincinnati next week.

Brownie Bits

1) In the first half when Jabrill Peppers made his interception, a Mr. Ramon Malpica made sure to tag me in a tweet that simply said "Peppers!".
I was critical of drafting Peppers and I've critical of him at times since, although that's been far more frequent towards his punt returning than his play on the defense, where he's been decent, if not spectacular since being moved closer to the line of scrimmage this season
On this night, Peppers resembled the player that he was in college, finishing the game with six tackles, two for loss and the two impact plays.
Perhaps it's motivation, playoff contention as limited as it is or even a player beginning to mature, but if the Browns are going to receive this version of Jabrill Peppers, they might just be a very fortunate team.

2) Baker Mayfield had an inconsistent evening.
The Browns marched down the field for a touchdown on their first possession that ended in a 31-yard strike to Breshad Perriman, but Mayfield struggled for a bit thereafter with an interception, a fumble and some less than on the money passing before his 4th quarter drive where he regained his touch including his dart to Antonio Callaway for what proved to be a game-winning score.
Still, getting a win in a tough place such as Denver in your rookie season shows moxie, which is something young Mr.Mayfield has plenty of.

3) Gregg Williams made a fourth-quarter decision that could have cost him on fourth and one from the Denver 10, by deciding to go for it.
Nick Chubb was swarmed over and gave the Broncos one final chance.
It's one of those calls that define coaches because it is so difficult- kick the field goal with the occasionally inaccurate rookie Greg Joseph and a touchdown still beats you.
Go for it and fall short, a field goal beats you and yet gain that yard, the game is over with Denver out of timeouts.
I think I would have gone for it as well, although I won't criticize the actual play call.
Sometimes coaches cannot win for losing.

4) Take Denver's Vance Joseph for example, down four with a four and one at the Cleveland six.
Go for it and take your chances or kick the field goal, trim the lead to one and hope for the best.
In either situation (Unless you get the first down), the Denver defense is going to have make a stand to get you the ball back.
Joseph kicks the field goal.

5) The Browns entered the game with major problems stopping the run, but the defense closed the Denver ground game to just 32 yards.
Pretty strong evening against Phillip Lindsay, who entered the game with 965 yards on the season and still finished it short of the one thousand mark.

6) The defense bent but didn't break, but Case Keenum showed that the Browns do have some distance to go and some talent upgrades are still needed.
The Broncos attacked with the short pass constantly and Keenum was effective (31 of 48) in completing passes, but wasn't as successful downfield with a long of 24 yards for the night.

7) That strategy worked because Keenum doesn't have a big arm, but it also works because the Browns lack speed at linebacker.
Joe Schobert will (and is ) a fine middle linebacker when he has speedy linebackers from the outside that are able to chase down ballcarriers or funnel them inside where Schobert can make the tackle.
If you put Schobert or the injured Christian Kirksey for that matter in the position of running down ball carriers or receivers in space, their lack of speed is exposed quickly.
With the likely departure of Jamie Collins, look for the Browns to take a linebacker in the first two days of the draft and another on the draft's final day.

8) The return of Terrence Mitchell to the lineup after being activated from the injured reserve list was a help to the beaten up secondary which was without Denzel Ward for the second straight game.
Add to that the fourth quarter interception by E.J. Carrie that led to the game-winning drive and despite giving up yardage, they didn't allow a score through the air and that's a pretty strong night all things considered.

9) Nick Chubb's night looks impressive (20 carries for 100 yards) and when you consider that was bulked up by the late run for 40 yards, I can see where some might say that's an artificially high number.
I disagree, that run shows me that committing to the run with Chubb allows those late-game runs to occur because a big and physical runner is wearing down defenses and more of those breakaway scampers are going to happen.

10 ) The defensive play of the game that may have fallen into the shadows with the two plays by Jabrill Peppers and the E.J. Carrie interception is the stop by Trevon Coley on Denver running back Phillip Lindsey on 3rd and one from the Cleveland six, which led to Denver kicking a field goal when a touchdown would have given the Broncos the lead.
That play happens at 5:29 to go in the game and the Brandon McManus field goal was kicked at 4;35.
Not only does Denver have four plays to attempt to take the lead, if Lindsey gets to the marker for the first down, but they would also have possibly taken the clock to between two to three minutes unless the Browns used timeouts.
I know there are a lot of "If's" involved, but Coley's play took that off the board to worry about.

11) I know it is easy to allow fans to get excited about playoff chances, as distant as they are.
I'm not getting to that point yet.
Let's see what happens today, take care of business next week against the Bengals in a game that the Browns will be favored to win, see what has to happen after that and then I'll start worrying about scoreboard watching.

Back later with the Canelo Alvarez mismatch from Madison Square Garden.

Forgotten Superstars:Craig Morton

Photo Credit: Peter Miller AP Photo

The Forgotten Superstars universe is back with another segment, and as I've noted before, this series, despite its name, isn't always about superstars.

I belong to a Facebook group that strictly discusses the NFL of the "Golden Era of 64-94," and someone made a well, ridiculous statement comparing Joe Namath to Craig Morton, so after the thread, I started thinking about Morton's story, and I thought he'd be a good fit for the series.

Craig Morton's stats might be similar to Joe Namath's, but there really wasn't a comparison; Namath was a talented passer whose talent was eroded away by knee injuries that were destructive at that time but would be easily fixed today.
Morton, on the other hand, was a good, not great quarterback that might be better remembered if not for a few bad breaks in fortune.

A natural dropback passer, Morton was drafted by the Cowboys in the first round of the 1965 draft (5th overall) and looked to be blocked for a long time by starter Don Meredith, who was just 27 when Dallas drafted Morton.
An interesting note considering the discussion that brought Morton to mind: Who was the other quarterback drafted in the first round that year, seven picks behind Morton?- Joe Namath by the Cardinals, who couldn't sign Namath, who preferred the AFL Jets.
St.Louis Joe doesn't have the same ring as Broadway Joe, does he?

Morton would occasionally play in his four seasons behind Meredith, when Meredith was injured (Which was still more than you think a young QB would play in those times), but still looked to be blocked over the long term before Meredith surprisingly retired at the young age of 31.
If you really like the "What if" game, try these two questions without answers.
Imagine if Meredith had played until he was 39 (the age when Morton retired), Meredith's final year would have been 1977 so it could have been Meredith bringing Dallas to four Super Bowls (winning two and losing two in that time) and six NFC Championship games ( the four Super Bowl teams plus losses in 1972 and 1973), how much would that have affected the career of Roger Staubach, who either would have been a career backup or Staubach likely would have been traded elsewhere as Morton eventually was?

The other question: Would Monday Night Football have been as successful without Don Meredith sparring with Howard Cosell in the early '70s when MNF began?
Interesting to consider.

Back to Morton, who took over the starting job and, despite constant shoulder problems, would lead Dallas to two division titles in his first two seasons as a starter and brought the Cowboys to a Super Bowl against the Colts.

More unfortunate bounces, as some of the craziest plays that you'll see in arguably the worst-played Super Bowl ever saw Morton's Cowboys, who were likely the better team, lose on the final play of the game to the Baltimore Colts 16-13.
No matter the quality of the game, with some breaks (watch the NFL Films highlights of that game; every bounce went the way of the Colts), it would have forever been Super Bowl-winning quarterback Craig Morton, just as we remember guys like Mark Rypien, Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, etc.


The following year, 1971, saw the Cowboys as the favorites to win the Super Bowl, yet with head coach Tom Landry paralyzed by indecision on whether to use Morton or Roger Staubach as the starter, and Landry getting to the point of using the two on alternate plays, the Cowboys stumbled to a 4-3 record halfway through the season.
Finally, the team asked Landry to make a decision between the two, without offering a preference other than a selection.
The selection of Staubach began the Cowboys' NFC reign of terror as the Cowboys would make the playoffs every year except one for the remainder of Staubach's playing days and would win the Super Bowl at season's end.

Morton did have another chance as he started all of the 1972 season after Staubach suffered a separated shoulder in the preseason, leading the Cowboys to a 10-4 record and the wild card (In 1972, there was just one wild card team) after finishing second to 11-3 Washington in the NFC East.
Again, Morton would come up short in the playoffs as Dallas trailed San Francisco 28-16 with minutes remaining.
Landry inserted Staubach into the game, watched him produce two touchdowns in 90 seconds, and pull off a miracle 30-28 victory.

Morton would not start another game in Dallas as he sat behind Staubach for the 1973 and half of the 1974 season before a shocking mid-season trade with division rival New York.
Can you imagine making a trade of a quarterback that has taken you to a Super Bowl in mid-season to a division rival, no matter how crummy that rival is? ( The Giants were 1-5 when making the trade and finished 2-12) ?
Morton had signed a "futures contract" with the WFL's Houston Texans in an attempt to find a team to start on, and the Cowboys decided to get something for him before the WFL contract kicked in.

Morton signed his contract with Houston, but wouldn't have played there as the Texans moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, halfway through the WFL's only full season.
Dallas received the Giants' first- and second-round picks for Morton and turned the first-rounder into Hall of Famer Randy White.
The Giants received two and a half years of mediocre football as they went 8-25 under Morton, who threw 29 touchdowns against 49 interceptions.
Morton's immobility meant he needed to be protected by a good offensive line, and the Giants didn't even approach average in protection, as Morton was sacked 99 times as a Giant.


The Giants were ready to move on from the 34-year-old Morton and swung a trade with Denver for their vagabond veteran Steve Ramsey in a trade immortalized in the book "Orange Madness" by the then-unknown Woody Paige with the quote "Our shit for their shit".
Morton brought the Broncos to their first playoff berth, division title, and AFC championship all in his first year despite numbers on the surface not looking special (1929 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions), but his season was exactly what the Broncos needed, with the best defense in the conference; Morton just needed to avoid mistakes.
Morton led the Broncos into the Super Bowl and ran into his old friends in Dallas, who mauled him with several sacks and allowed Morton to complete just eight passes in the game (Four of the eight were thrown to Cowboys) before driving him from the game in the third quarter.
Denver's only touchdown in the 27-10 loss was scored with Norris Weese taking the snaps.

After the 1977 season, despite the Denver success, the Broncos tried to replace Morton constantly.
In 1978, Morton held off Norris Weese for the starting job and guided the Broncos to a repeat division title and in 1979, the Broncos went to the playoffs as a wildcard at 10-6 with Morton as the main starter, but Weese started six games and with Morton throwing more interceptions than touchdowns in 79 (19 picks to 16 scores), the Broncos again attempted to replace Morton.
Denver traded their number one pick to the New York Jets for Matt Robinson and expected Robinson to be their anchor at quarterback.
Instead, Robinson was so bad (2 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in seven starts) that by the end of the 8-8 season that saw Red Miller lose his job, it was Morton with more starts, with nine.

With Robinson gone for 1981, Morton notched arguably his best statistical season under new head coach and former teammate Dan Reeves as the Broncos just missed the playoffs at 10-6.
Morton threw 21 touchdowns and notched his only season of over three thousand yards passing for the surprising Broncos, who weren't knocked from the playoff picture until the final week of the season when they lost to the Chicago Bears.

However, in that game, with the Broncos knowing a win would give them the AFC West title and a loss would leave them on the outside (Denver would tie with San Diego at 10-6, but lose a tiebreaker), Morton threw for under 100 yards and three interceptions before Steve DeBerg entered the game in a 35-24 defeat.
That was the last stand for Morton, who would start just three games for the 2-7 Broncos in the 1982 strike year, and the 39-year-old would retire at the end of the season.

Morton was out of football for less than a year, as in the middle of the 1983 USFL season, Morton was hired to replace his old coach, Red Miller, as the head coach of the Denver Gold.
Morton would finish at 12-12 over his season-plus with the Gold and would be replaced by Mouse Davis for the final season of the league.
That was the last football job for Morton, who is now retired and living in Northern California.

A superstar?
No, but the Forgotten Superstars series isn't always about being a superstar; sometimes it's just bringing back a memory or two.
We welcome Craig Morton to our Forgotten Superstar universe, and coming soon, I'll have another addition as well...

Browns defeated in OT-Denver drops Browns 26-23

Photo Credit-Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Browns had multiple chance to deal the undefeated Denver Broncos their first loss of the season on Sunday in Cleveland.
But,these still are the Cleveland Browns,so between poor decision making by the quarterback,poor decision making by the coaching staff and a Denver defense that was too strong over the long haul,the Browns dropped a 26-23 overtime decision and fell to 2-4 on the season.
Josh McCown threw two touchdowns to Gary Barnidge,but also threw two interceptions that turned out to be massive in the result of the game.
Travis Benjamin caught nine passes for over 100 yards,while the real star of the day was veteran linebacker Karlos Dansby,who intercepted two passes,one of which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown.
The 2-4 Browns travel to St.Louis next week for a date against the 2-3 Rams.

Brownie Bits

1) Right off the bat,let us address the biggest complaint of Browns fans on this Monday-Mike Pettine's decision to go for two rather than kick the extra point with eight minutes to go in the game.
After Karlos Dansby's interception and gallop down the sidelines,the Browns held a 20-16 lead.
Pettine decided to go for two and failed. Had the Browns gotten the two,the lead would have been six points,an extra point would have been five and with the failure of the play-the lead was four.
Here is my issue with going at that stage of the game.
There is eight minutes to go.Even if Denver scores a touchdown (which they did quickly) and likely convert the extra point,the Browns still need a field goal to win,even with the two.
Kicking the XP would have meant that no matter what Denver did,the Browns could still win the game with a Travis Coons field goal.
By missing the conversion,the Browns took that off the table and when Coons eventually made the kick-it was worth only overtime,not a win...

2) Josh McCown reverted to past form.
Nothing great,but made a few plays pro and con and as a result looked like a vagabond QB rather than a comfortable pocket passer.
McCown just has issues in getting the ball away.
He takes too many sacks and he needs to just throw the ball away,which he didn't in an attempt to that,which was instead intercepted with under a minute to play....

3) Look at the situation that McCown inherited in overtime-first and ten at the Denver 39 after Barkevious Mingo (I know!) leaped into the air to intercept a Peyton Manning lob.
The play call of a pitch that was bobbled by Robert Turbin for a loss admittedly put McCown in a hole,but to take two sacks right after that?

4) I know Denver's defense is terrific and their pass rush ranks at the top of the game,but boy did the O-Line looked overmatched in allowing four sacks.
The Browns could go a long way in getting players to pressure the passer,but they draft guys to do that-they just pick the wrong guys...

5) Before I start ripping on the defense,full credit to Karlos Dansby,
Not just for his two interceptions and touchdown,but for the seven tackles and being in the screen far more than that.
It's easy to mail it in when you are an aging member of the Browns-Dansby hasn't.

6) Denver entered the game 30th in rushing yards at just 71 per game.
Cleveland allowed Ronnie Hillman alone to go over 100 and 152 to the Broncos as a team.
And this was supposed to be a team upgrading against the run?
The interior defense is better,but the outside defense against the run is a reminder of a good whiff of rotting meat...

7) I'm not going to hammer the Browns pass coverage on the one good pass that Peyton Manning threw all day-the long score to Emanuel Sanders.
The coverage was fine,Manning just put the ball exactly where he needed to....

8) The Robert Turbin debut was underwhelming as he finished with just 27 yards on ten carries.
Give him a little time,but for now,I didn't see much to be excited about...

9) Travis Benjamin with another strong game.
I don't believe that Benjamin will ever be a true number one receiver (size),but boy could he be a hugely effective number two or three on a team with a big pass catcher..

10) Peyton Manning looks done to me.
Whether it is the finger "feel" issue or the lack of sync between his skills and what Gary Kubiak wants from a quarterback,this isn't working in Denver.
Denver is 6-0,but has exactly one win over a team with a winning record (3-2 Minnesota at home),I think this might be a team that gets whipped by better competition...

11) Finally,It's easy to look at things and say the Browns are close.
I don't see that at all. I saw a winnable game given back by poor decision making from the field and the sidelines.
I see a team lacking in talent that would be better suited for a talent upgrade than winning meaningless games.
I don't think they are close at all and remember Browns fans 3-13 is greater than 5-11....