Browns release Jarvis Landry

 As expected at the beginning of free agency, the Cleveland Browns were unable to reach an agreement on a restructured contract with wide receiver Jarvis Landry and released the veteran after four seasons in Cleveland.

The veteran possession receiver caught 288 passes for over 3,500 yards and grabbed fifteen touchdowns in his Cleveland career with a 2021 season that saw him miss five games but still caught fifty-two passes for 570 yards and two touchdowns, which were all career-lows.

Landry was obtained in the first major move of the John Dorsey era from the Miami Dolphins in 2018 in exchange for fourth and seventh-round picks in 2018 and 2019 drafts in what was a trade very similar to how the Browns added Amari Cooper in acquiring a proven player from a team that has cap problems for a cost far below the players worth.

Add into the equation that Jarvis Landry always showed up to play, played through injury at a physically taxing position in the slot, didn't mind blocking, and embraced the challenge of helping a belittled franchise raise itself from the bottom of the league and it's not hard to see why Cleveland fans wanted to see Jarvis Landry find a way to stay a Brown.

However, with Landry turning thirty during next season, scheduled to earn fifteen million next season (along with Cooper's twenty), and a body that may be aging early, I understand the Browns deciding to move away from Landry at his cost for next season.

That does leave Cleveland in a pickle as unless the Browns are able to land Allen Robinson of the Bears, who is the most accomplished free-agent wideout, the Browns are back in a situation of needing to select a receiver in either the first or second round.

The Browns currently have Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Anthony Schwartz, Rashard Higgins (who is likely to be elsewhere), JaMarcus Bradley, and Ryan Switzer on their roster and that's not a massive improvement at this time over the group that ended the season.

The Browns are rumored (by some) to be involved with talks with Allen Robinson  and should the Browns land Robinson the need at wideout will be decreased, although not eliminated.

Otherwise, this is a group with some work to be done by Andrew Berry and company.

I'll miss Jarvis Landry's leadership and professionalism but I'm understanding of the situation, now it's Andrew Berry's turn to take center stage to add more weapons for Baker Mayfield for 2022. 

Browns trade for Amari Cooper with Dallas

    The Cleveland Browns needed two top receivers to add to a position group that badly lacked production and especially a deep threat that would scare secondaries, assuming Baker Mayfield could give such a player a chance to haul in an often wayward spiral.

After the best free agents were either franchise tagged or re-signed by their teams, the market looked a bit weak other than Allen Robinson and the possible availability of Amari Cooper, should the Cowboys scrap his twenty million dollars from their cap for 2022.

The problem with Cooper as a free agent for the Browns was that a top receiver is unlikely to select the Browns with the Kevin Stefanski tight end heavy offense, the problems that Odell Beckham had with the team, and of course putting your career in the hands of Baker Mayfield, all add up to either not addressing your need or overpaying to bring them to Cleveland.

So, Andrew Berry decided to take the choice out of Amari Cooper's hands and swapped a 2022 fifth-rounder and the right to flip sixth-rounders to Dallas to bolster the pass-catching corps.

Amari Cooper caught sixty-eight passes for 865 yards and seven touchdowns last season in fifteen games for the Cowboys and was a player that Dallas wasn't looking to move for performance reasons but thought that CeeDee Lamb was ready to into the number one receiver position and twenty million a season is a high-end salary for your second receiver.

In other words, Cooper at his cost was a luxury item, not a necessity.

At twenty-eight by the time the season starts, Cooper is far from washed up and since being selected by the then-Oakland Raiders fourth overall in 2015, Cooper has missed only four games in his career (two of those for Dallas last season) and had he not missed those games, Cooper was likely to click up his fourth straight 1,000 receiving yard season.

Cooper may not be an elite deep threat but he is certainly a level under the top in the games and I would go as far to say that Cooper would be the best deep receiver that Cleveland has seen since those halcyon days of a very young Josh Gordon.

And what many don't see is the route running abilities that Amari Cooper possesses.

Cooper isn't a one dimensional, straight-line runner that runs by his man for one or two big plays a game, he's a player that a quarterback can get the ball to in almost every area of the field and one that teams will have to put their best cornerback on throughout the game.

There are a few questions in this trade to be answered.

Kevin Stefanski's offense has never thrilled outside receivers as Stefon Diggs was stifled in Minnesota, Odell Beckham had his issues in Cleveland, and Jarvis Landry's better seasons in Cleveland were Pre-Stefanski.

Could Cooper be the latest receiver to chafe under Kevin Stefanski?

Odell Beckham had major issues meshing with Baker Mayfield and Beckham's style isn't radically different than that of Cooper, I think that it is far from an assumption to count on Mayfield and Cooper finding that intangible known as "chemistry".

The other issue with Cooper?

Cooper missed his games last season after testing positive for Covid-19 and reportedly still is unvaccinated.

Covid isn't going away with future variants and strains still to come- Is it possible that Cooper couldn't be available for a must-win game?

Cooper is going to receive a lot of money under his contract that he signed with Dallas as Cooper is under contract for twenty million a season for each of the next three seasons.

I would say that Cooper may not be in Cleveland for all three of those seasons due to cap constraints (although it's always possible that the contract could be reworked) but Cooper could be around for two and should Cooper perform well, the Brown could possibly keep him for the contract term.

Jarvis Landry asked for permission from the Browns to seek a trade and permission was given as Landry would like to find a team that would be willing to pay his fifteen million contract for 2022.

The Browns have offered to restructure his contract to keep Landry and while he would be a nice complement to Cooper, I would say, I'd think it's unlikely to happen.

I'd still like to see the Browns use the 13th pick on another wide receiver (especially if Ohio State's Garrett Wilson is still available) or at least consider trying to trade back into the first round later (the Browns other glaring need is at defensive end or defensive tackle) for a player such as Ohio State's Chris Olave or Arkansas's Treylon Burks, who posted mediocre combine numbers and is reported to be tumbling down draft boards.

In the event that the Browns could manage to keep Jarvis Landry, the Browns still should consider a day two receiver as I don't see the Browns being to get by with Donovan Peoples-Jones or one-dimensional Anthony Schwartz.

Should the Browns somehow retain Landry, they could avoid a first or second-round receiver but I'd still recommend it in a season that the team has stated that they are going to ride with Baker Mayfield to give him as many weapons as possible to help him succeed (or take away excuses if he fails).

There is no downside to this trade other than a high salary if Cooper doesn't produce at an elite level.

Otherwise, the price is a fifth-rounder in a draft that the Browns possess two third-rounders and two fourth-rounders, and a swap of sixth-rounders.

You could also consider Jarvis Landry as part of the trade, should you decide to do as Landry's salary had to be reallocated (reworked or released) in order to clear the path for Cooper but even assuming that Landry is included in the deal, I still think that the deal was a good one.

Amari Cooper is younger, more versatile, and a more dynamic receiver than Jarvis Landry and I'd say that Andrew Berry did very well- even better if there is a chance of retaining Landry as the veteran possession receiver that Baker Mayfield may still need in the lineup.

Battered Browns fend off Jacksonville 27-25

   The battered Cleveland Browns became more battered during their game with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Browns managed to stagger out of Florida with a 27-25 victory and improved to a stunning 8-3 on the season.

Baker Mayfield threw two touchdowns, despite some misfires and connected with Jarvis Landry eight times for 143 yards and one of the touchdowns.

Nick Chubb rushed for another touchdown and 143 yards to lead the Browns in the ground game.

The now 8-3 Browns will see the competition increase next Sunday against the also 8-3 Tennessee Titans in Nashville in what should be the latest test in seeing whether the Browns are a legitimate playoff team or a pretender knocking off low-hanging fruit.

Brownie Bits

1) Both times were understandable, but the difference in the game came down to the two failed two-point conversions in the second half by Jacksonville.

Had Jacksonville kicked both extra points ( and it made sense for Doug Marrone to go for two both times), this game would have been going to overtime.

2) And the final stop was the much-maligned Andrew Sendejo catching a desperate lob by Mike Glennon on the final two-point try to save the victory.
Sendejo made an earlier play on a pass in the end zone, and while I'd disagree with Kevin Stefanski's postgame comments on Sendejo "he does a really nice job back there", you cannot deny he made two plays today when the Browns needed them most.

The Athletic's Zach Jackson noted that an earlier pass breakup in the first quarter by Sendejo was the first of the year by Sendejo on his 675th snap of the season.

That's incredible for a starting safety and it's not "a really nice job back there".

3) Baker Mayfield had an OK day with his two scoring passes, but he also missed a wide-open Rashard Higgins in the end zone, threw behind Kareem Hunt on a key late-game third down, and overthrew receivers on other occasions.

Did Mayfield play poorly? Not at all, but he certainly didn't shine brightly and when your opponent is 1-9 entering the game, I'd expect more.

Still, take the win and run.

4) Jarvis Landry arrived as the key part of the passing game.

After being thrown only two passes against the Eagles, catching both for 23 yards, it was Landry early and often in this one with eight catches for 143 yards.

Landry made a nice catch for his score and found a way to get open consistently under the Jacksonville secondary for Baker Mayfield.

The Browns may lack a deep threat without Odell Beckham, but Landry finds a way to get open no matter his surrounding cast.

5) The Browns defense didn't sack veteran quarterback Mike Glannon without Myles Garrett and other than Olivier Vernon hitting Glennon twice, Glennon didn't have any problems with the Browns pass rush- Unless you consider Vernon's helmet to helmet on Glennon on the final Jaguar scoring drive a problem that is.

While this would ordinarily be concerning, if Myles Garrett returns next week as is currently expected the problem in rushing the passer will go away.

6) I've thought that Kevin Stefanski has done a good job most of the season, but he did make a questionable decision in this one.

I wondered now and at the time, why the Browns went for it on fourth and one on the Jacksonville 22 with the Browns holding an eight point lead?

A Cody Parkey field goal attempt from 39 yards, assuming it was good, would have made the lead eleven with under six minutes to go and I don't care how good the line and running game is playing- that decision led to the Jaguars almost tying the game as Kareem Hunt was unable to get the yard and turned the ball over.

7) Ronnie Harrison was questionable all week and managed to be in the starting lineup, only to be injured on the first play making a tackle.

Harrison injured his shoulder on the play and was forced to leave the game and did not return.

Harrison will undergo an MRI today on the shoulder and a loss of Harrison at a time that Denzel Ward is missing time in the secondary could be devastating to an already weak secondary in the next two games when the opponents improve against Tennessee and Baltimore.

8) Back to the fourth and one call.

Let's say that you do decide to make the attempt to get the yard, wouldn't the bigger, stronger and better between the tackles Nick Chubb be the better choice than Kareem Hunt?

Hunt's not a small back by any means, but Chubb would have been the better bet to get that yard.

9) And it was Nick Chubb that finished the game as well.

With the Browns facing a third and thirteen and the Jaguars trying to get the ball back, Baker Mayfield 

made a safe pass intended to gain some yardage and keep the clock moving.

Chubb did more that wth the swing pass, cutting back to make one man miss, broke a tackle of another and dove for the first down that allowed the Browns to run the clock out.

10) If you want to worry about next week's game against the Titans and their workhorse Derrick Henry, worry about the Browns ability to stop the run.

Jacksonville's rookie James Robinson is having an excellent rookie year, but he's not the force that Henry is, and Robinson hit the Browns for 128 yards on twenty-two carries, which is just under six yards a carry.

11) The Browns are currently in the fifth position of seven in the AFC, but there is still a cluster of teams that could bump the Browns out.

With five games to go, the Browns have the Titans on the road and the Ravens and Steelers at home.

The Browns might be underdogs in all three games, although Baltimore is beginning to fade a bit from the team that started the season.

Cleveland should also take care of the winless Jets on the road, but the game that might be tougher than was thought earlier in the season is the game before the Jets, but in the same stadium- a road game against the Giants.

12) The Giants are a terrible 4-7 team, but in the even worse NFC East, the Giants are tied for first with Washington for the automatic playoff berth.

That means a bad football team is going to have more on the line in that game than anyone would have imagined weeks ago.

That game may determine (in the big picture) whether or not the Browns make the postseason.

13) Still, for all the questions about the 8-3 record and the lack of good wins (only the win over Indianapolis is over a team with a winning record), which are justified, lets enjoy the eight wins.

That means that Cleveland cannot have a losing record,which would be for the first time since 2007 to accomplish that and one more win would lock up the first winning record since the same season.

It's not unfair to have questions, but try to enjoy it as well.

Browns complete homestand sweep-dump Dolphins 41-24

The Cleveland Browns completed the triple crown of offense on Sunday with a 300-yard passer (Baker Mayfield, a 100-yard rusher (Nick Chubb) and a 100-yard receiver (Jarvis Landry) and more importantly, 41 points as the Browns won their third game in a row with a 41-24 win over the visiting Miami Dolphins.

Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Jarvis Landry with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt each ran for a touchdown as well with the Browns scored their high point total of the season in the victory.
Joe Schobert led the defense with two interceptions and four passes defended.

The Browns improved to 5-6 with the win and with the Raiders loss to the Jets are now just one game behind four teams at 6-5 (Raiders, Steelers, Titans, and Colts) for the final wild-card spot.

Brownie Bits

1) Ok, it's the Dolphins, which is similar to the 2015/16 Browns, but it still showed the growth of the offense after some struggles.
It still seems like they leave points on the table too often and I think Freddie Kitchens still doesn't want to realize that this team plays better when the offense flows through the running of Nick Chubb and now Kareem Hunt, but they did what they needed to step forward- win three winnable games at home.

2) I didn't think it was a groundbreaking thought when I thought Jarvis Landry would have a huge game against his former team and it was accurate as Landry caught ten passes for 148 yards with two touchdowns.
Landry never accepted the way that the Dolphins moved away from him after his production in Miami and would be ready to play against a porous Dolphin secondary.

3) Joe Schobert continues his excellent play of late with two interceptions and four passes defended along with his usual amount of tackles.
Schobert has often been lumped in by me with various Browns linebackers through the years as tackle accumulators, but not players that make plays and are difference makers.
Schobert is quickly changing those thoughts.

4) Austin Seibert missed another field goal at the Dawg Pound end of the stadium in his only attempt.
Siebert hit on all five of his extra points and hit his other two field goals at the other end of the stadium, but I have to say that I'm not without concern if Seibert has a big kick at the Dawg Pound end.

5) With the absence of Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi, the Browns defensive line was going to be looked at carefully in this game to see just how badly those losses weakened the unit.
Garrett won't be walking through that door, but Ogunjobi's loss was only for the Miami game and someone was going to have to step up.
The player that did that was Sheldon Richardson, who sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick twice and stuffed the run as well.
Richardson gave the Browns the type of game that they'll need with Ogunobi's return next week but especially needed it against Miami without him.

6) Baker Mayfield made better decisions in his 327 yards passing with three touchdowns game and Mayfield's only interception bounced off Odell Beckham, so there were plenty of positives.
However, he's still missing receivers and one throw caused tight end Demetrius Harris to take a huge hit, so there is work to be done.

7) Baker Mayfield was also sacked only once in the game and the offensive line was very effective in the running game, so there is hope that the offensive line is coming together. Greg Robinson and Chris Hubbard aren't hearing their names discussed, so things aren't so bad.

8) The Browns punted once in this game.
Once. How many times has that happened since the Browns return?

9) Now after a dominant victory over the Dolphins, the rematch looms with Pittsburgh.
I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a playoff game, but since the field for the playoffs has receded back to the Steelers and Browns a bit, it certainly is a game with serious implications for both teams.
Cleveland needs a win a bit more as they are one game behind, but Pittsburgh needs it as well.
Should the Browns win Sunday's game, they would have the same record as Pittsburgh and would have the tiebreaker over them as well if needed, so it's huge for both teams,

10) I hope the game doesn't get out of control and it could when you consider all that happened during their first meeting.
Mason Rudolph was benched as the Steelers barely squeaked by winless Cincinnati yesterday and the Steelers might consider starting Duck Hodges, a rookie that threw for the only Steelers touchdown of the day.
While Hodges would be an untested rookie, Rudolph hasn't played well of late and with the events of the last game in Cleveland, Mike Tomlin might be boxed in at quarterback.
Even with all that, the Steelers are to be respected and they will have a riled-up crowd for support on Sunday.
It should be a very interesting game in the Steel City.

Losing Streak Snapped! Browns beat Bills 19-16

On a day that you continued to have the feeling of another lost game and yet another "they should have", the Cleveland Browns kept alive any thread of hope for a miracle run down the stretch with a 19-16 win over the Buffalo Bills in Cleveland.
Baker Mayfield hit Rashard Higgins with a seven-yard strike with 1;42 remaining to take the lead and the Browns then had to hold off the final Bill drive and were then helped by Lake Erie as the wind blew Steven Hauschka's field goal attempt of 53 yards that looked to be centered coming off his foot and steadily blew the ball to left of the goalposts.
Baker Mayfield threw for two touchdowns and 238 yards in his first multiple touchdown game of the season and Jarvis Landry finished with nine catches for ninety-seven yards and a score.
Nick Chubb punished the Buffalo defense for 116 yards on the ground on twenty carries to provide the offense balance.
The now 3-6 Browns have very little time to prepare for the suddenly surging 5-4 Pittsburgh Steelers for a Thursday night game in Cleveland.

Brownie Bits

1) Allow me a little bit of joy here as Rashard Higgins caught the game-winning score.
Higgins has been neglected for weeks, despite being the one receiver that has natural chemistry with Baker Mayfield ( And think about the absence of Higgins from the lineup and correlate that with the decline in Mayfield's play) and yet after rarely playing this season, only hitting the field after what seems to be another issue with Antonio Callaway, it was Higgins that Mayfield was looking for at the end of the game!
Rashard Higgins is my favorite Brown on the offensive side of the football and he'll be a free agent at the end of the season (if any player deserves to walk away from a team, it's Higgins), so if this could be his last stand as a Brown- I feel pretty good for him.

2) Jarvis Landry played well for the second week in a row as the Browns have begun (hopefully) to realize that even attempting to use Odell Beckham downfield (it's even better if the QB can complete these attempts) can be quite effective in giving Landry room to operate in those medium routes that he can thrive in.
Funny how that works out.

3) I do have one issue with Landry, who was flagged for taunting a Bills defensive back after catching a first-quarter touchdown pass.
The penalty would haunt the Browns throughout the game as Buffalo coach Sean McDermott did what I think more coaches should do in that situation, McDermott put the penalty on the extra point, not on the kickoff as most coaches do, and forced Austin Seibert to attempt a 48-yard extra point.
The extra point predictably was missed and the Browns scrambled all during the game from the issues from the missed conversion.
All of which traced back to Jarvis Landry, who couldn't celebrate with his teammates and preferred to stick it to a Buffalo Bill.

4) I did really like the way that the offense used Kareem Hunt in his first game since his suspension.
Hunt didn't have the carries that Nick Chubb did (20 to 4), but he did run for thirty yards on those carries and caught seven passes for forty-four yards along with being a better blocker than I anticipated when he lined up in the backfield with Nick Chubb.
Hopefully, Freddie Kitchens can continue to keep Hunt involved with the offense.

5) Antonio Callaway didn't play due to what Freddie Kitchens termed as a disciplinary issue that he did not elaborate on and had Callaway been active, I'd bet that Rashard Higgins would have never been in the game for his game-winning touchdown.
Honestly, I've had about what I'm going to tolerate from Callaway, who flashes talent on occasional times and even more often shows a lack of discipline, both on and off the field.
I would have no problems with the Browns moving on from Callaway, he's been given more than his share of chances, but I'm not sure that John Dorsey will do that.
Should he make that decision, it would mean that yet another player from his once-prized 2018 draft class would be stamped as a disappointment.

6) The Browns only finished with one sack of Josh Allen on the day (by the oft-criticized by TRS Chad Thomas), but they were in the face of Allen all day and I loved the effort by Sheldon Richardson, who finished with three tackles, but was beaten up by the end of the game and yet Richardson didn't come out of the game and never stopped moving.
Some of the season thus far has been tough to take for fans and the organization, so it's nice to see veterans continuing to bust their rear no matter the record.

7) I was concerned with the eight first-quarter plays inside the two-yard line that the Browns wound up with zero points.
Passes to Odell Beckham drew two pass interferences calls, but all of the eight plays were all either passes to Beckham or runs with Nick Chubb.
I know that I've advocated running short-yardage plays with Chubb rather than Dontrell Hilliard and trying to throw the ball more to Beckham in the end zone, but there can be too much of a good thing.

8) I thought Baker Mayfield was OK in the victory.
Not outstanding, but not terrible either.
Mayfield threw for two touchdowns for the first time all season, didn't throw an interception, and led the final game-winning drive, so there were plenty of positives.
However, Mayfield is still hanging his receivers out trying to catch high passes, is still showing problems with accuracy and when Tremaine Edwards blitzed in the third quarter to sack Mayfield for a safety that tied the game at nine, Mayfield has to get the ball away there.
HAS to get the ball away and even though Mayfield didn't have very much time, he has to try.
The worst thing that happens is the officials call intentional grounding and give up the safety.

9) Maybe the Browns need to scrap the shovel pass from the game plan.
Baker Mayfield floated one that was intercepted for a touchdown against New England and in the fourth quarter, Mayfield fluttered one that was so far behind intended receiver Kareem Hunt that it was ruled a fumble and another touchdown on a scoop and score by Buffalo's Jerry Hughes.
Fortunately, the replay showed that it was actually an awful pass and took what would have been a game-clinching touchdown for the Bills off the board.
Baker either needs to practice this more or scrap the play call because he's not very good at it.

10) I love the way Nick Chubb plays this game.
Chubb never gives up on a run, carries tacklers and doesn't take plays off whether he has the football or not.
If this team voted on an MVP after nine games, It is Nick Chubb and by a large margin.

11) The 3-6 Browns keep those razor-thin playoff hopes alive, but we'll know more after Thursday's game against Pittsburgh.
It sounds cliche', but every game is a must-win game from here on out.
The division title is out, Baltimore is playing too well and the Browns would have to make up four games with seven games remaining.
For the wild-card, the Browns will have to pass seven teams to grab the second wild-card ( Bills, Steelers, Colts, Titans, Chargers, Jaguars, and Broncos) with two of those teams (Titans and Broncos) already holding tie-breaker advantages due to their earlier wins over Cleveland.
It's going to take a lot of good fortune and I think that they will have to win them all to have a chance.
One slip and it is time for draft talk...

Browns bounce back in Baltimore!

Nick Chubb rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns with one of those an 88-yard score that broke Baltimore's back and Baker Mayfield threw for 342 yards and one touchdown as the Cleveland Browns may have saved their season with a 40-25 clipping of the Baltimore Ravens wings in Baltimore.
Jarvis Landry grabbed eight passes for 167 yards, while tight end replacement Ricky Seals-Jones caught three for 82 yards including the only touchdown passing for Baker Mayfield.
The Browns improve to 2-2 with the win and join the Ravens at the top of the AFC North.
Cleveland will travel to San Francisco next Monday to meet the undefeated 49ers.

Brownie Bits

1) It's not an exaggeration to state that this win could have meant the season and here's why.
Had the Browns lost this game, they would have been a full two games behind Baltimore (3-1 to 1-3)
and with the schedule not getting any weaker over the next three games ( at San Francisco, Seattle at home and after an off week, at New England), it's not a stretch to say that by the time the schedule became a little more palatable, the Browns could have been unofficially out of contention depending on how the Ravens were playing.

2) And who would get the game ball for this victory? It has to be Nick Chubb, who when he ran for
the 88-yard score broke the back of the Ravens, who had just scored a touchdown and slammed in a two-point conversion to trim the Browns lead to six.
It was even more than that for Chubb, who ran over Baltimore all day and generally left them almost helpless against the Browns running attack

3) Baker Mayfield had plenty to say this week to various media and I think Baker is far too thin-skinned about some of this stuff.
After all, Rex Ryan is just one of a thousand guys on ESPN and who cares what Antonio Brown has to say while he does whatever at Eastern Michigan University?
However, these small things seem to motivate Mayfield and whatever helps him perform better is fine with me, even if I don't especially always see the point.

4) As for Baker on the field?
342 yards with one touchdown and interception was pretty strong numbers and I did like that Mayfield began to look similar to last year's Mayfield in getting the ball out quicker and allowing his receivers to do the work rather than holding the ball and waiting for the receiver to find their way, which often makes the offensive line have a much more difficult time in protection.
Mayfield's at his best when he adds a little movement (he's more quick than fast) and shoots the ball out quickly and against Baltimore, he did a much better job at releasing quickly.

5) Odell Beckham may not have had a great game on the stat sheet with only two catches for twenty yards, but as great players usually do- Beckham's presence opened the field for another player to have a huge game and against Baltimore, it was Beckham's buddy Jarvis Landry, who caught eight passes for over 165 yards and a 65 yard gain that would have been a touchdown had Landry been able to regain his stride after breaking a Baltimore tackle.
Landry finished with more yards against Baltimore than the combined previous three games before leaving the game with a concussion and showed that besides Odell Beckham, there will be players that thrive from week to week depending on how the opposition plans to cover Beckham.

6) Ricky Seals-Jones was a waiver claim from the final cut from training camp from the Cardinals and so many of those players turn out to be nothing special, but I have a strange feeling about Seals-Jones.
As in he might be one of those discoveries that break out and become a very helpful player.
Seals-Jones had a 59-yard reception and a short touchdown grab and showed the type of hands that might find him a job even after David Njoku would return.
At 6'5 and 245 pounds and with athletic ability as well, Seals-Jones might be a steal.

7) Freddie Kitchens must have heard the rumblings of media and fans about his predictable play calls against the Rams because he broke out of the chains and tried some different things.
Notably, the call was the reverse that led to Odell Beckham throwing an option pass far down that Damion Ratley should have hauled in despite pass interference that should have been called, but was not.
Those types of calls won't always work, but the threat of them always is positive by making defenses plan before the game and scramble on it.

8) As for Damion Ratley, he made a catch early in the game for ten yards, jumped up and shook his booty as if he had won the conference title.
Ratley would follow up his catch with a fifteen-yard penalty for an illegal block and then having the long toss from Odell Beckham go literally between his hands.
Ratley did have to leap into the air, but it went right between his hands!
Why does it always seem like a guy screws up for much of a game after an unnecessary celebration?
It will be interesting to see who may be out their way out this week with Antonio Callaway returning from his suspension and the possibility of Rashard Higgins returning as well.

9) Jermaine Whitehead has been a player that the Browns have been high on since claiming him off waivers last season from the Packers, but his production hasn't been anything noteworthy until yesterday in his second start in place of Morgan Burnett at safety.
Whitehead stripped Mark Ingram of the football in the third quarter, intercepted Lamar Jackson in the fourth quarter and then on the following drive, Whitehead's blitz hit Lamar Jackson's arm and sent the ball lazily floating to the arms of defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence.
Whitehead was directly involved in three turnovers in the second half.

10) Joe Schobert had a huge game with nine solo tackles, seven assisted tackles and a late-game sack of Lamar Jackson where he established his dominance with authority not by wrapping Jackson up, but by flinging him to the grass like a used rag.
I've sometimes been critical of Schobert and the injured Christian Kirksey for not making enough plays and accumulating tackles downfield, but his effort against Baltimore showed that he is capable of making those plays.

11) I thought the Ravens and the "new" Lamar Jackson were a little overrated after three games against three of the worst ten defenses in the league, but the Browns still did a nice job in keeping Jackson from doing much of what he does best- move around and make huge plays.
Jackson did throw for all three of the Baltimore touchdowns, but he was intercepted twice and forced to fumble once, although Baltimore recovered the fumble and Cleveland kept Jackson from making the big play as other than the 50-yard touchdown to Willie Snead in garbage time, the Ravens longest play was one Jackson scramble for 29 yards.

12) I mentioned Jermaine Whitehead earlier, but the Browns once again were missing starting cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, but both T.J. Carrie and Terrence Mitchell played very well in their starts and had the Willie Snead play not occurred, the Browns would have held Baltimore under 200 yards passing.

13) Big win, but the schedule as noted above doesn't get easier.
I like the Browns chances more than some in San Francisco on Monday night against the undefeated 49ers.
San Francisco is 3-0 (coming off a bye week), but two of those wins were against winless Cincinnati and Pittsburgh (The other against 2-2 Tampa Bay) and the following week against 3-1 Seattle is also winnable as all three of their wins were over winless Cincinnati, winless Pittsburgh (They play tonight, so one will be winless no more) and winless Arizona (0-3-1).
I'm not saying those teams are bad, but I'd like to see either beat someone with a pulse as the only team between those two with a winning record in 3-1 New Orleans beat the Seahawks in Seattle with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback and scored 33 points on the Seahawks.
That would be a so what until you remember the same Bridgewater-led Saints scored just 12 the following week at home last night against Dallas.
Yes, New England in Foxboro is going to be very difficult to conclude October and only the most devout Browns homer would pick the Browns in that one unless Tom Brady gets injured before then, but I think a 2-1 October is a realistic hope.
Give me that and I'll take it.

Browns finish Panthers 26-20

The Cleveland Browns might have taken the next step in the growth of their program as they overcame mistakes, penalties and some really sloppy tackling to step up and finish off the Carolina Panthers 26-20 in Cleveland.

Baker Mayfield continued his high-efficiency rate outside the state of Texas in completing 18 of 22 passes for over 200 yards and one score, while Jarvis Landry was the star of the day with fifty-plus yards both rushing and receiving as well as a touchdown via both avenues.
The Browns improved to 5-7-1 and kept their small playoff wishes alive with the victory.
Cleveland travels to Denver next Saturday night against the Broncos, another team with narrow hopes for the postseason.

Brownie Bits

1) Baker Mayfield once again was smart with the football, accurate and showed beautiful touch on deep passes to Breshad Perriman and Jarvis Landry.
I'm starting to come around...

2) Mayfield wasn't perfect though, he missed four passes, although one could claim with a little help, he might have completed them all.

3) Mayfield was only sacked once on a blitz off the corner by Captain Munnerlyn, but he was rushed often and used his feet to avoid the Panther rushers, but

4) Mayfield might have been sacked several times, but the Browns lineman grabbed Panther rushers rather than see Mayfield popped.
Kevin Zeitler and Greg Robinson were each called for holding twice and even though it's good to avoid your young quarterback getting whacked, I'd rather you block your man, especially in the case of Zeitler, who's very highly paid to avoid such matters.

5) Jarvis Landry was the player of the day, catching a 51-yard score, running three yards for another touchdown and running 51 yards on another play.
Landry also almost threw for a score, but his pass for Nick Chubb was broken up at the last second by a Carolina defender.

6) Give Mayfield and offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens credit for setting the go for broke feel for the game by throwing deep to Breshad Perriman for a 66 yard gain on their first offensive play.
Considering that Carolina had taken the kickoff and drove down the field for a touchdown to start the game, the Browns offense established that they weren't going to start slow and allow the Panthers to build a lead.

7) As for  Breshad Perriman, a talented player signed off waivers, the former first-rounder
struggled with injuries with Baltimore and never made an impact there.
Sometimes, players need a change of scenery and Perriman may have been one of those players that needed another chance.

8) It was cold (28 degrees) but not especially windy, but Baker Mayfield passed his first weather test.
Southern passers generally have to prove themselves in the cold, Mayfield will still have to deal with the heavy winds off the lake, but yesterday was a great start with his passes not being handicapped by the weather.

9) The receivers weren't perfect as both Jarvis Landry and Rashad Higgins lost fumbles by not securing the football and Higgins dropped an almost certain score on another play
If the Browns are receiving the type of play with these receivers from Baker Mayfield, imagine what could be with one or two upgrades for 2019.

10) The defense still tackled terribly, but held the Panthers inside the three on downs in the fourth quarter and ended the game when Cam Newton missed Devin Funchess and instead drilled a wide-open Damarious Randall for the interception that ended the game.
Much still needs to be done, but Randall, who Ryan reports was a huge disappointment in Green Bay as a cornerback, has been outstanding in his first season as a Brown at safety.

11) At 5-7-1. the Browns still need to run the table for a winning season and the playoffs even at 8-7-1 would be a remote possibility at most, but next week in Denver against the 6-7 Broncos is winnable.
Denver was beaten at San Francisco (3-10) yesterday, but has been very strong at home and should be an interesting test for the Browns.

12) The victory clinched a winning season at home ( 4-2-1) with the ailing Bengals and Hue Jackson to go.
Developing the ability to defend your home turf is the first step in building a winning program and no matter the final record (although a Bengal win is expected now without Andy Dalton), this is something to feel good about!

13) Finally, no matter the future of Gregg Williams as the eventual head coach. he's been doing a fine job keeping this team interested, playing hard and building the culture as the catchphrase goes.
I'm not sure if I want Williams as the permanent head coach (although when I hear some of the names, I would keep Williams before them), but I certainly want him as part of the staff, if it can be worked out.

Back later with a look at some of the many passings since the last passings post.

Browns trade for Jarvis Landry!

(Getty Images)

The Cleveland Browns decided to not wait for free agency next week to strike first and John Dorsey's first move was a decisive one as the Cleveland Browns traded a 2018 and 2019 draft pick to the Miami Dolphins to obtain wide receiver Jarvis Landry before the free agency scramble began.

As of this writing, the draft picks have not been officially announced but are expected to be the Browns third-round pick in 2018 and a day three pick in the 2019 draft.
The third-round pick will be the first of the round, but the Browns were able to keep all three of their second-rounders (their own, the Texans and the Eagles) and I would be fine with the trade, had the Browns traded the Eagles pick, so this is a more than reasonable cost.

Editor's Note: The actual cost turned out to be the Browns 4th rounder in 2018 and a 7th rounder in 2019.
Landry had been tagged as the Dolphins franchise (Non-Exclusive) player, but the Dolphins had been shopping him as they wanted to clear cap space, which the Browns had in abundance.
Cleveland is expected to revise the terms of Landry's contract with a new one, which locks him over the long-term (the franchise stipulation is one year).

Jarvis Landry brings arguably the best slot receiver in football to Cleveland and the type of hands that the Browns haven't seen in years, which is a nice asset for someone paid to catch the football, but even more important for a team that employs Corey Coleman at a high price tag.
Landry isn't a field stretcher, but few slot receivers are- but other than that, Landry brings qualities that the Browns currently lack besides just catching the football.
Landry is a fiery competitor for a team in need of one, will open up more opportunities for a hopefully motivated Josh Gordon deep, and will help the over-the-middle options for David Njoku.
Landry's 400 receptions are an NFL record for a player's first four seasons and having Jarvis Landry around in the short to intermediate passing game is going to help a young quarterback (or a veteran one as well) in so many ways.
I expect to see Landry used very much in the same manner that Todd Haley used his slot receivers in Pittsburgh, get him the football (I don't expect to see his reception numbers decrease greatly) in space, and find more ways than just short passes to allow Landry to make plays.

Gotta love this deal on many levels, so I give this one a big thumbs up.
BUT as I'm writing this, the Browns have made not one, but TWO more trades, so I'll be back later tonight with my thoughts on BOTH of these trades as John Dorsey has begun his revamp of the Browns talent base...