The Cincinnati Bengals may have returned Joe Burrow in time for the league opener in Cleveland against the Browns. Still, it did them little good against their defense as the Cleveland defense bullied the Bengals in a 24-3 win in Cleveland!
Nick Chubb ran for 106 yards while DeShaun Watson ran for one score and threw another to Harrison Bryant for the Browns two touchdowns.
Cleveland is 1-0 and will travel to 0-1 Pittsburgh next Monday night.
Brownie Bits
1) Cleveland only finished with two sacks of Joe Burrow but the Browns pass rush was consistently forcing Burrow to throw the ball before he wished and the Cincinnati offense was out of sync all game.
Cleveland has to be pleased with the results of their pass rush and I think it was the number one factor in their win.
2) Burrow threw for a career-low eighty-two yards and even though the Browns didn't intercept Burrow, the play of the defense didn't allow Burrow to regain the chemistry with even his returning players.
Burrow's preseason absence likely contributed to some of the struggles but the defense of Cleveland seemed to be a larger factor.
3) I've been a Grant Delpit believer since the Browns drafted him and Delpit has disappointed me at times but gave me just enough hope to keep me on the hook.
Delpit led the team in tackles against the Bengals and seemed to be in on every play.
It's a long season but I'm encouraged that this is the breakout year for Grant Delpit.
4) I think DeShaun Watson was okay, not great and you still have to hope the Browns will receive better play when you consider what the Browns paid for him but he avoided the big mistake and he was good enough to win on a bad weather day,.
5) The weather was rotten with a hard rain falling throughout the game and that likely contributed to neither quarterback producing big statistics on the day.
6) The Browns did have some problems protecting DeShaun Watson at times as the Bengals sacked Watson three times and had success rushing him.
I wouldn't say I'm concerned yet but considering the investment in the offensive line, I will be paying attention to the protection next Monday in Pittsburgh.
7) The offensive line might have taken a severe hit already as tackle Jack Conklin was carted off the field by cart and Kevin Stefanski said "it doesn't look good" for Conklin after the game.
The fourth-quarter injury put a damper on the win and fourth-round draft choice Dawand Jones finished the game in Conklin's place.
8) Nick Chubb was his usual dependable self finishing with over one hundred yards and was the one offensive player that could be counted by either team.
Chubb averaged 5.9 yards a carry on his eighteen carries.
9) The Bengals converted just two of thirteen chances on third downs and only converted six first downs all day.
10) Tee Higgins may be the Bengals number two receiver but he's one of the best number two's in the league, yet the Browns held him without a catch in eight targets.
11) The Browns defense looked great, the offense not so great and the weather likely helped and hurt both sides of the ball.
Either way, it's a big win on a sloppy day and an interdivisional win on a day where the Ravens lost a key contributor for the year in J.K. Dobbins and Pittsburgh was pounded at home, a win in the opener could be big at the end of the year.
The Cleveland Browns seemed to have taken care of business with 1:22 remaining against the New York Jets as Nick Chubb barrelled into the end zone for a touchdown that boosted their lead to thirteen points and with a lead along with the Jets having no timeouts remaining, the Browns could smell a 2-0 record going into a Thursday night showdown with the hated Pittsburgh Steelers.
Little did they know that as Cade York lined up for the extra point that things were as good as they were going to be for a long time and circumstances were about to hand Cleveland arguably the worst loss in the history of a franchise filled with horrible defeats.
The 31-30 defeat to the lowly New York Jets started when the seemingly superfluous extra point was missed by rookie and Carolina hero Cade York to keep the lead at thirteen and not fourteen.
A point that didn't appear to be important at the time spelled the difference between overtime and a regulation defeat.
After the kickoff and a nine-yard completion kept the clock rolling, Joe Flacco hit a wide-open Corey Davis for a sixty-six-yard touchdown without a Brown in the picture, it brought to mind the late game Baker Mayfield strike to Robby Anderson against Carolina only one week ago.
Still, the Browns only have to recover the onside kick and the game ends.
They don't as the Jets wrestle the ball away from Amani Cooper with still 1:22 remaining.
Joe Flacco leads the Jets fifty-three yards in one minute, punctuating the score with a fifteen-yard pass to former Ohio State star Garrett Wilson, Wilson's second of the day for a player that the Browns could have possibly had without the trade for the socially-distanced DeShaun Watson.
The Jets kick the ball out of the end zone with Cleveland needing to get into range to give Cade York a chance at redemption and on the first play, Jacoby Brissett scrambles for twenty-one yards.
Brissett then throws his only interception of the day and the disintegration was complete.
Nick Chubb ran for eighty-seven yards and scored three touchdowns with the last one ending with some controversy.
Amari Cooper caught nine passes for one hundred one yards and the only Cleveland passing touchdown reception.
Cleveland will host Pittsburgh, who is also 1-1, on the Amazon Special Thursday night in what was once a luxury game now has become a must-win in order to even out the loss to the decrepit Jets.
Brownie Bits
1) Nick Chubb should have hit the ground or stepped out of bounds on his final touchdown, which would have led to a few kneeldowns and the clock running out.
Chubb did just that in a 2020 win over Houston, so he should have known- BUT
2) Kevin Stefanski admitted in his press conference that he didn't prepare Chubb for what he wanted to be done in that situation, which is his fault.
Good for accountability at that time but is it really accountability?
The same things happen again and again from the smartest guys in the room and they are always going to be fixed.
3) The coach's job, whether it's Kevin Stefanski or a position coach, is to prepare his players for situations, and after a time-out, it is essential to prepare them properly.
You can argue Chubb should have known better but it is the coaching staff that didn't make sure that Chubb knew in the event that he neared the goal line to get down or out.
4) Coaching any sport at any level, in game situations, it is the coach/manager's job not to assume that the player knows what to do.
The player is in the moment, instruct him what to do, and then if he doesn't follow the instruction-the coach did everything possible.
5) It's too bad that Amari Cooper flubbed the onside kick because it took the shine off an excellent game.
Cooper is exactly what you hope to see from a number one receiver- he runs excellent routes, his hands are dependable and he's willing to lay out to make a play.
6) The offensive line did their job and gave Jacoby Brissett time to throw as the Jets finished with just one sack in the game.
The work by the offensive line gave Brissett good protection and allowed the veteran to play very well.
7) Jacoby Brissett's one interception was unfortunate and not a bad one but look past that and give him credit for a solid game with one touchdown, one interception, and 229 yards.
If Brissett can play like this for nine more games, the Browns aren't going to be hurt by his play.
However, that's a huge if.
8) I was complimentary of Grant Delpit last week and I'm critical this week.
The long touchdown pass to Corey Davis has been either blamed on Delpit for not being in the right place or Delpit for not communicating with Denzel Ward and some have blamed Ward.
In any case, I wonder if the Browns are using Delpit properly to get the best use of the former LSU Tiger as Delpit seems to do best when he is allowed to freelance and run to the ball and in what Joe Woods is doing with him, Delpit seems some times to look lost when used as a centerfielder.
That's not to excuse Delpit but part of coaching and personnel is not slamming a round peg into a square hole and expecting it to fit well.
9) The Browns are paying Denzel Ward over one hundred million dollars to shut down receivers and lead the secondary on the field and even if the Corey Davis score was more the fault of Grant Delpit than Ward and I'm not sure that's completely the case, Ward needs to communicate better because that's what your leaders and stars are supposed to do.
10) Cade York moved from hero to goat in one week and that's part of the high-pressure job of an NFL kicker and he has to make that extra point.
Kickers will have missed kicks, even the best of them but York's miss hurts under the circumstances and it will be very interesting to see how that miss affects his confidence.
11) Special teams screwed up more than York's miss and the failure to recover the onside kick as in the first quarter, the punting unit allowed a fake punt to give the Jets a first down, which continued a drive that the Jets would score a touchdown in the end.
12) Joe Woods as defensive coordinator and Mike Preifer as special teams coach are both on the hot seat right now and I'd be surprised if either lost their job.
Letting Woods go would be merely a message as the season has started, the team would likely promote someone on staff to the coordinator position and the system would almost definitely remain the same, so firing Woods doesn't make sense to me.
13) Mike Priefer though, I wouldn't argue against letting him move on.
The Browns special teams have been bad under each of his seasons with the team, don't seem to be improving any this season, and changing the special teams' coach would be an easier position to fill from outside the organization.
14) This is a devastating defeat and the type of loss that has the potential to ruin seasons.
Now go out and beat Pittsburgh Thursday night and things even out but if they cannot, the Browns have no chance of being 3-1 at the end of the first month and with the schedule tightening after their visit to Atlanta, the Steeler game is a must-win.
It may be a stretch but Kevin Stefanski might be safe but almost anyone else may not be if the Browns get drilled by the Steelers on Thursday night.
More than a game or even a season could be on the line in the next two weeks- it could be some coaching and maybe even front office careers.
The hype around the Cleveland Browns visit to Pittsburgh wasn't about the Browns playoff chances-those were gone when the Bengals won over the Chiefs on Sunday or even the Steelers playoff chances (rated at four percent).
It was about the likely final home game for Ben Rothlisberger, but there is also a chance that it could have been the final game of the Cleveland career for Baker Mayfield, who was simply terrible yet again in a 26-14 Browns loss.
Mayfield did throw two touchdown passes but he was intercepted twice, sacked nine times, and completed well under half his passes ( sixteen of thirty-two) in yet another dreadful defeat in a disappointing Browns season.
Donovan Peoples-Jones led the receivers with 76 yards and Nick Chubb paced the running backs with 58 yards.
The Browns clinched a losing season in the loss at 7-9 and will finish the season at home against the new AFC North champion Bengals.
Brownie Bits
1) Look, Baker Mayfield was terrible.
Completing one of his first ten throws, Mayfield was inaccurate as usual with his arm but even worse on a night that the Steelers seemed to have everyone down to the waterboy putting heat on Mayfield from the pass rush, Mayfield was almost mulish in his stubbornness to not throw the football away.
2) The irony in the above statement is that Mayfield seems to have little problem throwing the football away any other time but I guess the argument there would be that at least Mayfield is trying to hit his receivers for his usual passes into the sideline.
3) Still, it was not all Baker Mayfield's fault as he was sacked nine times and seemed to be hit on every play.
Blame Kevin Stefanski for his stubbornness in refusing to give rookie tackle James Hudson any kind of help at all with T.J. Watt, who sacked Mayfield four times alone.
Stefanski didn't keep a tight end, a fullback, a running back- anyone that could have given Hudson a hand in trying to cope with Watt.
Stefanski not only allowed Mayfield to take a relentless beating, but his decision to leave Hudson alone against Watt might also have destroyed Hudson's confidence to the point of destroying a rookie's psyche to play this game- Watt was that overwhelming!
4) Kevin Stefanski suggested that that the underuse of Nick Chubb was due to injured ribs to explain why Chubb carried the ball only twelve times on the evening with only four in the first half.
I still wonder if that was truly the case as Chubb was on the field for a bit on each of the Browns final two drives, having a Baker Mayfield pass to him wind up in the dirt and Chubb was in the backfield from the one-yard line as a decoy with Mayfield flipping a one-yard pass to Harrison Bryant for the final Cleveland score.
5) Pittsburgh entered the game at the bottom of the league against the run so even if Chubb was dealing with injuries, why not lean on D'Ernest Johnson rather than leaning on Mayfield so often?
6) For the third week in a row, the Browns anemic offense wasted a pretty good defensive performance.
Take away the late game garbage touchdown run by Najee Harris as the Browns had to sell out to stop the final drive and once Harris broke through the line there was no one there to stop him and the Browns defense allowed only one touchdown in the game, a first-quarter drive.
7) The Browns' offensive line was supposed to be the strength of their offense but even if you don't consider the nine sacks allowed, the line still was pushed around physically and committed multiple holding penalties and false starts.
A second-half holding penalty on Wyatt Teller seemed to be the football version of a basketball flop trying to draw a charging foul but otherwise, there seemed to be little to complain about.
8) One criticism of the Browns handling of Baker Mayfield has been the complaint that he has few offensive standouts to throw to.
Most of that is true but the Browns are paying Austin Hooper a lot of money to be the center of a tight end oriented passing game and yet Hooper's yard after catch numbers are next to zero and he drops far too many passes for a what is supposed to be a dependable possession receiver.
I'd rate Hooper as a disappointment thus far and I'd wonder about his future if he wasn't scheduled to receive 13.2 million in each of the next two seasons,w which means if Hooper would be released the Browns would have to eat almost twenty million of dead cap space.
9) The Browns lost both Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams to injury in this game just as they returned Greg Newsome to the lineup.
Newsome had a strong game as did Grant Delpit and one thing to be pleased about this season is the development of a secondary that was loaded with questions entering the season and turned out to have a pretty good season.
10) Dustin Colquitt's twenty-one-yard punt in the fourth quarter handed the Steelers a short field that would result in a Chris Boswell field goal which returned the Steelers' lead to two scores.
Colquitt had punted well since joining the team but his evening against the Steelers should at least make the Browns think about punting challengers in the 2022 training camp.
11) Baker Mayfield said that he will undergo surgery on his left shoulder for a torn labrum and I'd say he's unlikely to play against the Bengals with nothing to play for.
I'd bet that Case Keenum gets the start but I'd like to see the younger Nick Mullens get the nod.
Mullens did well in the loss to the Raiders and I'd like to see another start to see what the Browns think of his chances to stick around for the 2022 season.
12) I have had an article in progress for a few weeks on the Browns situation with Baker Mayfield and I keep having to update it.
I hope to finish it and have a critical post on how a season with high expectations has disappointed Cleveland fans for the second time in three seasons.
A team that didn't need more bad news received just that as second-round draft pick Grant Delpit suffered an Achilles injury in warmups and will miss the upcoming season.
Delpit won the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the nation for LSU and was considered by most, myself included, as a steal in round two with the playmaking potential to be the type of ball-hawking safety that Cleveland had not seen in years.
Delpit had not been named the starter at free safety, but was expected to see plenty of playing time and was expected to have taken control at the position by the end of the season.
Browns fans, let's hope we see this player next season!
Cleveland signed former Viking Andrew Sendejo as the veteran mentor/possible early-season starter in the off-season and returned second-year man Sheldrick Redwine at the position, but I'm not thrilled with either as the starter for the season.
Andrew Berry does have some interesting veteran options to consider at the position and though it would be against the usual Browns manner to sign a veteran name in these cases, there are some to choose from.
Earl Thomas has been one of the better safeties in the game, is similar to Delpit in his style of play, and played well for Baltimore last season although he did show some signs of decline when he was beaten deep on occasion.
Thomas did have an off the field incident in the off-season and the Ravens just waived him after a practice fight with teammate Chuck Clark.
Thomas could be a troubled player right now and the Browns may pass on Thomas for that reason alone.
Eric Reid has played well for Carolina in his two seasons after leaving San Francisco and I'm a big fan of his game.
However, he's more of a tackler (97 solos last year) than a playmaker ( four interceptions in his last five seasons) and I think the Browns are hoping for more of the latter in what they are looking for.
Tony Jefferson is a player that the Browns front office in the Sashi Brown era with Andrew Berry in tow, went after very aggressively in 2017 but lost to Baltimore.
The Ravens used him more as a strong safety, but he can play free safety as well.
Jefferson is coming off a torn ACL and between that and his salary caused Baltimore to let him go.
Kurt Coleman is more of a strong safety at this point in his career but has played free safety.
Coleman isn't what he once was, but he can still hit, would be good in the locker room, and the former Buckeye in the worst case, won't be worse than what they have.
Eric Berry didn't play in 2019 and I'm not sure if he wants to play in 2020, but he's never announced his retirement and the time off (he only played seven games including playoffs in 2018) might have helped his body heal a bit.
Berry might be a risk at his age and status, but in his seven games in 2018, Berry showed he can still play at a high level.
The questions are will he hold up long enough over the course of a season and does he want to play and if so, where?
One final possibility for the spot is from in-house.
Tampa Bay released M.J. Stewart because they thought he was a step slow and short for a cornerback (Why they did not figure this out before drafting him in 2018 is another question).
However, they had considered trying him at safety where his size wouldn't be such a detriment and his football smarts would be an advantage.
Perhaps the answer to this problem could be giving Stewart, who has impressed observers in camp, a shot at the position?
With the recent injury to linebacker Mack Wilson, the Cleveland Browns were positioned to add a linebacker and preferably a veteran that could step into the fray as quickly as possible.
While the news on Wilson has been better than expected as a source close to the team told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that the team is hopeful that Wilson might not miss the entire year as originally feared, Wilson is still going to miss a substantial amount of time and the mentioned need above for a linebacker was still in place.
The Browns made their move Sunday in announcing the addition of veteran linebacker Malcolm Smith split last season between Jacksonville and Dallas but played for San Francisco in 2018 under Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods, so Smith should have some knowledge of the system to step in quickly and compete for playing time.
Smith is remembered by most for his Super Bowl MVP performance for the 2013 champion Seattle Seahawks in Seattle's 43-8 crushing of Denver when Smith grabbed a Peyton Manning pass and ran sixty-nine yards for a touchdown, recovered a fumble and finished with nine tackles on the evening.
The ten-year veteran has played for four teams since leaving Seattle following the 2014 season to sign with the then-Oakland Raiders, where he started thirty of the Raiders thirty-two games in his two seasons with them.
Since then, Smith has missed a season, started five of twelve games for San Francisco, and played two games each last season for Dallas and Jacksonville, starting one for the Cowboys.
Honestly, I'm non-plussed by this signing because I think there are superior free agents available such as Alec Ogletree and Mark Barron with another having upside if not established play in Darron Lee.
All of these players are better players of late, the Browns linebackers are filled with question marks as it is and the Browns could have made a better argument in signing another linebacker AND still signing Malcolm Smith.
It's a depth move that is needed, but not one that immediately improves the team.
The Browns also may be looking for a safety after second-round draft pick Grant Delpit was carted off the practice field after suffering what has been reported to be an Achilles injury.
Achilles injuries are rarely short-term injuries and I would think that the chances are better than average that the Browns may have seen the last of Grant Delpit this season.
More on that as the news develops.
Everyone always says how much they hate the grading of drafts immediately following the draft and how unfair it is, half will be wrong, etc.
And those same people read them all and in many cases write them, so why is that?
Because it's speculation and with the draft, speculation is fun!
I could sum this draft up quickly and without detail and simply say it's an A-.
The Browns landed arguably the best tackle in the draft in Alabama's Jedrick Wills in the first and my top-ranked safety in LSU's Grant Delpit in round two without giving anything up and adding a fifth-rounder to a draft that lacked one when the draft started.
Both Wills and Delpit almost certainly will be immediate starters.
Missouri defensive tackle Jordan Elliott is rated highly and should be a rotational player this season, and perhaps more for the 2021 season with both Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson eligible for free agency after the 2020 term.
One often hears the term "Overdrafted" when a player goes earlier than expected, but the Browns used two picks for receivers that use the seldom-used term "Underdrafted" with John Mackey Award winner Harrison Bryant of Florida Atlantic in the fourth round and Michigan wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones in the sixth frame.
Bryant should see plenty of field time in the Kevin Stefanski offense as a receiving tight end and Peoples-Jones may not break into the lineup at wide receiver as quickly but should have a chance to help with returning punts, which he did at Michigan, and perhaps kickoffs as well.
Some questioned the choice of Washington center Nick Harris due to his size, but Harris can play guard, fits the zone blocking scheme of new offensive line coach Bill Callahan, and could be the eventual replacement for J.C. Tretter, despite Tretter's contract extension that he signed last year.
LSU linebacker Jacob Phillips is an excellent tackler who has questions about his pass coverage.
At a minimum, Phillips should be able to be a two-down linebacker for Cleveland and even though I preferred Ohio State's Malik Harrison, who was taken one pick later by Baltimore, the worst thing that I can say about Phillips is that he might have been drafted a little early and it could be that new defensive coordinator Joe Woods might think that Phillips suits what he wants from his defense more than Harrison will.
Here are my kudos and concerns from the draft.
Please keep in mind that these are not projections on my mind, just some thoughts from each side of the ledger, and do not mean that I am predicting that either side is predictions on my part.
Kudos
1: When your guys fall to you- Don't get cute- take him.
The Browns did just that in the first round with Jedrick Wills and on day three with Harrison Bryant.
In the past, the Browns would get too clever, try to get something else, and wind up losing your guy.
This time they stayed put and took their player, now let's see if Wills is the best of four very good tackle prospects.
2: The draft did set up for the Browns at 41 in the second round with Grant Delpit, Antoine Winfield Jr., and Ashtyn Davis all available for the Browns to fill their need at safety.
With all three available when the Colts called to talk about moving up from 44, it made sense to take the free fifth-rounder as the Colts were unlikely to take a safety.
The Browns were then guaranteed that one of the three was going to be on the board for their pick.
That's a smart time to move down and add assets.
3: I've stated through the years that teams become playoff teams by accumulating players who can make impact plays and not by amassing multiple players that are average.
The Browns usually did this as part of the trading down process that the analytics people love so much but in this draft, Cleveland managed to grab who they rated as the best tackle, best safety, and maybe the best pass-catching tight end.
Impact players who make a difference will be the core of turning this organization around.
Concerns
1: I still wonder about the third-round selection of Jacob Phillips over Malik Harrison.
The Browns have noted that they like Phillips in passing situations as a good coverage linebacker, but when you watch his video, you see that Phillips doesn't have great lateral mobility and needs work in coverage.
I'm not the professional and I'm not knocking Phillips as a player at all as he has plenty to like, but I do find that a bit odd.
2) While I really like all three of the picks on the final day, I do wish that the Browns had found a way for another linebacker to be added.
The Browns linebackers are very young with only journeyman B.J. Goodson having experience beyond second-year men or rookies, so I'd be surprised if Andrew Berry doesn't go shopping for a veteran free agent either now or in June for a bargain cap casualty.
3) While I like the pick of Jordan Elliott for both value and talent, I do wonder about a pass rusher at defensive end.
It's clear that Olivier Vernon is going to return and should Vernon be able to stay healthy, he will more than provide the needed help for Myles Garrett off the edge.
However, Vernon's health is a fair topic to question as he has missed four or more games in each of the last three seasons.
Veteran Adrian Clayborn could help in limited situations and I guess the Browns can hope for Chad Thomas to show something, but if Vernon can't stay on the field the defensive end spot is a major concern.
There's a lot to like about this draft for the Browns and there isn't a clear scream at the TV selection here as even the best drafts in the past have possessed (Chad Thomas over Sam Hubbard, anyone?).
However, the other teams in the AFC North did quite well in the draft as well and it's fair to question how much the gap between the Browns and the Ravens/Steelers has been narrowed.
How well did they do?
I'll be back soon with a look at the drafts of the other divisional rivals and how well their haul worked out for 2020.
The Cleveland Browns traded down in the second round three spots with the Indianapolis Colts to gain a fifth-round choice and both safeties that I hoped would be available with their pick at 41, were both available at 44th overall.
I barely mentioned LSU's Grant Delpit because I believed that he would have been selected well before the Browns second-round choice and I was hoping for Antoine Winfield Jr. from Minnesota as the Browns pick in the second round.
However, I was surprised to see Delpit still available, and of the two I did give Delpit the edge.
Andrew Berry decided to take the best player available and by doing so, the Browns landed a standout defensive back that surprisingly fell out of the first round from LSU and wound up with my top-rated safety inGrant Delpit one year after drafting cornerback Greedy Williams under similar conditions.
Delpit won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back in 2019 but was regarded as having played better in 2018 after some struggles last season dealing with a high ankle sprain for much of the season.
The LSU Tiger safety is physical against the run but plays well in space and can leap to grab the high pass as shown in the photo above.
At 6'3, Delpit can leap over receivers, cover tight ends, and with his seven sacks in the last two years, Delpit can be used in blitzing the quarterback as well.
Had Delpit entered the draft in 2019, Delpit would have almost certainly been taken in the top fifteen picks and this is an absolute steal for the Browns.
I love this pick for the Browns in talent and value and the added bonus of picking up the Colts' fifth-round pick for tomorrow's final day.
The Browns did not have a fifth-rounder (having sent the pick to Buffalo for guard Wyatt Teller) entering the draft, so this makes a good move even better.
I'll be back later tonight with reports on the Browns' third-rounder and a bit more on Grant Delpit.
