Browns Blow in the Wind- Lose to Raiders 16-6

  The Cleveland Browns appeared to be ready for a shootout with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday in Cleveland.

After all these two teams "boast" two of the worst secondaries in football and the game looked to be another Cleveland Browns shootout with the team that has the ball last wins.

Mother Earth had different plans with high winds and occasional sleet and snow squalls to hamper the air game and turn the game into a ground-based defensive battle that saw only one touchdown out of two survive replay as Las Vegas dropped the Browns 16-6.

Cody Parkey kicked two field goals to account for the Browns points in the defeat as the Browns only nudged past the two hundred yard mark in total offense with Baker Mayfield throwing for 122 yards and Kareem Hunt leading the rushing games with 66 yards on eighteen carries.

The Browns fall to 5-3 with the defeat as they enter into their off-week with a return two Sundays away against the currently 1-6 Houston Texans by Lake Erie.

Brownie Bits

1) This one hurts a bit.

The game against a team that is roughly of the Browns caliber at home, You hope that those games are wins and losing those hurt in the building process as well as the standings if you think that you are in playoff contention.

These are games that good teams win- no matter the circumstances.

2) Still, the weather was a factor in this game with the heavy wind especially visible at the Dawg Pound end of the stadium.

Cody Parkey's miss late in the game was on its way through the uprights until the wind grabbed the football and shoved it aside to the left and Las Vegas booter Daniel Carlson missed a field goal in a similar manner kicking at the same goalpost.

3) The bad weather, while typical of an AFC North battle did arrive a bit early this season, but the disappointment is this- You are the Cleveland Browns. Building around the running game.

You play in the AFC North where November and December are where warmth goes to die.

Against a West Coast team that plays inside a dome, you expect to win this game.

4) The Raiders did what the Browns thought they would do- Possess the football and control the clock.

The Browns finished with only six drives for the entire game and lost the time of possession statistic by over fifteen minutes.

Josh Jacobs rushed for 128 yards on thirty-one carries and with his longest run consisting of only sixteen yards, Jacobs kept the chains moving and the clock running and that's all the Raiders needed to do.

5) Derek Carr didn't throw for more yardage than Baker Mayfield as Mayfield threw for ten yards more on the day, but Carr completed 15 of 24 to Mayfield's 12 of 25 and threw for the only touchdown of the game.

6) The game really swung on two calls in the same end zone.

In the third quarter, Jarvis Landry appeared to have caught a touchdown pass, but replay showed that the ball wasn't cleanly caught and it deserved to be overturned.

The Raiders were fortunate enough to have the camera in exactly the right place to see that Landry didn't catch the football.

7) In the fourth quarter, Hunter Renfrew appeared to have lost the ball as he hit the ground on what would be the only touchdown of the day.

However, this time the camera didn't have a clean shot of the play and the play stood for a touchdown.

I thought the ball hit the ground, but I understood why the play couldn't be overruled because there just wasn't enough evidence to turn the call over.

8) Myles Garrett played most of the game with a knee injury suffered in the first quarter.

Garrett will undergo an MRI today to see how severe the injury is and what his status will be entering the off week.

Garrett, understandably, didn't sack Derek Carr and saw his sack streak end at six games.

9) I've been critical of Baker Mayfield often for his inaccurate passing, but particularly for throwing the ball so high that his receivers are susceptible to taking unprotected blows from oncoming defensive backs.

The throw pictured above to Jarvis Landry in the end zone was an example of these throws and they are part of the problem with Mayfield, who didn't complete half of his passes in this loss.

Mayfield wasn't the reason that the Browns lost this game, but he didn't do much to help them win it either.

10) I know the Browns played without Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham, and Austin Hooper in this game and that meant a lot more of Harrison Bryant (who fumbled once), David Njoku (who once again dropped an easy catch in a key fourth quarter situation) and Rashard Higgins (one catch in three targets).

Those guys aren't the offensive talents similar to the players on the sidelines are, but as long as they have to play, they have to do better.

11) One week after catching the game-winning score against Cincinnati, Donovan Peoples-Jones didn't have a ball thrown to him and I'm not even sure that I remember on the field except for returning kicks.

KhaDarel Hodge was on the field in his return to the lineup and saw a lot of action without being targeted.

Peoples-Jones is still very raw, but he is the only deep threat that the Browns have in the absence of Odell Beckham and teams are going to start playing up on the Browns receivers that run the short and intermediate routes.

12) Finally, 5-3 at the halfway point.

I would have taken that eight weeks ago, but I have to feel that there has been an opportunity lost.

Yes, Pittsburgh is undefeated but their win over Baltimore dropped the Ravens to 6-2, which could have been a tie with the Browns had Cleveland taken care of business against the Raiders.

Still, 5-3 seems about right.

The Browns won a game that I wouldn't thought then (Indianapolis) and lost one that I would have picked as a win (Las Vegas) then despite picking the Raiders to win in the PPM.

13) The Browns would be the seventh and final team in the playoffs, if the season ended today.

The Browns have three very winnable games in the immediate future-home against the Texans and Eagles before a road visit to Jacksonville.

They have to go 2-1 at worst in those three games, but 3-0 is possible.

If they go 3-0, 8-3 before games at Tennessee and home against Baltimore.

That places them likely at 8-5 with losses before two games at Giants Stadium against the Giants and Jets before concluding the season at home against Pittsburgh.

By the chalk, that's 10-6.

Now there is the map to the playoffs- Can the Browns win the games that they should win to follow it?

The road begins in two weeks.

Back later with the boxing Saturday that I haven't had the time to write about!

Jennifer Pagliei Interview-Part One

One thing about my job is that I need to follow the local weather, especially in fall and winter, and do so closely.
As a fan of weather and I'm usually trying to learn more every day, I watch a lot of weather programming.
I've noted in the past that I've had my periods of disenchantment with the Weather Channel (releasing Nicole Mitchell and being more reality show based than the weather) and then Weather Nation, which was very good when based in Minneapolis before dropping in quality when they transferred operations to Denver with all new staff.

So it came as a shock to me when sitting at work trying to get a local weather report that a meteorologist was not just good on the screen, but knew the topic without stumbling over the words and terms.
Hagerstown is usually the first stop for persons beginning in television and I've always said when you see someone talented here-take a good look because they won't be around long.
That was the case with Jennifer Pagliei, who didn't work for the only network affiliate in town, but for the Herald-Mail 6 crew, which is only available via the local cable company and as a result, only finding her at work was an extreme longshot.
Jennifer indeed didn't stick around long as she is headed for Springfield Massachusetts, home of the basketball hall of fame.
However, before she left on the next step up the ladder, Jennifer was kind enough to do an interview with us, which we will be posting over the next few slow days.
Jennifer has also agreed to do an occasional podcast with us from Springfield, so look for her occasional appearances there as well.
Thanks to Jennifer for taking the time for us!

TRS: Tell us a little about yourself

Jennifer Pagliei: My name is Jennifer Pagliei, currently 23, and I am originally from

Pennsylvania. I have always loved the weather since I was little, as

every meteorologist will tell you, and your passion just continues to

grow throughout the years.

TRS: Tell us what you like to do outside of the weather

center,hobbies,interests etc..

JP: Outside of weather, and I really do not like to call it my job because it

is really something I love to do, report the weather to the public, but

outside of weather, I love to exercise. My favorite exercise is running

especially in the spring and summer because you get to enjoy not only

the beautiful weather but all the outdoor surroundings. I also like to

shop, hang with my friends, and family, and trying to escape to the

shore when I can.


TRS: Your bio says you went to Rutgers, why the decision to go there?

JP: Great question. Rutgers had a little bit in every category I was looking

for. I wanted to pursue my major in meteorology, I wanted to be close

to home, and I also wanted to cheer. I applied to Rutgers knowing the

university had all three of these things and got in. From there, I tried

out for the cheerleading team and I told myself if I made the squad

this is where I need to go. Once I made the team everything else fell

into place and I do not regret a thing about it.


TRS: As a Cheerleader did you enjoy doing the football and basketball

games before Rutgers joined the Big 10?

JP: Absolutely! I was a cheerleader since elementary school, almost 14

years, so cheerleading was second nature to me. It was my getaway

from school work and life sometimes, somewhere I could go to just

focus on the moment and not about surroundings issues. But yes, I

loved cheering the football and basketball games and I am sure it is a

great time now that they are in the BIG 10, great experiences for the

new cheerleaders to come.


TRS: When was the decision made to go into the weather industry?

JP: As stated before, weather was always a must for me. I was always

striving to become a meteorologist on TV. I wanted to be able to

pursue my love of weather and be able to show my passion to other

people. Really show them how cool the weather is. But it wasn’t easy,

undergrad was a challenge but that’s what I loved about it, pushing

myself to the limit knowing the outcome. For some reason, if TV was

not my calling I was going to find another way to pursue my love of

weather even if that meant to go behind the scenes or even research.

As for now, TV is still my main career.

Look for part two of our interview with Jennifer in the near future! 

Cleaning out the inbox

Time to dump the inbox with things filling up!

We start with the documentary Blackfish,which looks at the Sea World trainers of killer whales,their deaths,the whales themselves and the questions involving whether the whales should be in captivity at all.
Blackfish definitely has an agenda,which is to have killer whales never be in a captive situation and one could make a compelling argument agreeing with them,but I'll allow you to make your own decision on that.
However,the filmmaking is top notch and whether you agree with the premise of keeping whales captive or not,it is enough to make you at least consider the idea of placing animals this large in a situation that could result in a loss of life...

There is only one of the original members of the astronaut program left after the passing of Scott Carpenter at the age of 88.
Carpenter flew just one flight in the Mercury program and never flew again after a controversial trip that saw Carpenter fail to get all of his tasks completed and was well off his landing target as in 250 miles off target.
Only John Glenn is still alive of the first set of NASA astronauts....

As some of you know,I've become more of a weather geek through the years even if the Weather Channel is a pale imitation of its once strong self.
Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean has written a children's book "Freddie the Frogcaster" that intends  to make weather more interesting for kids.
I'm all for whatever makes things more viable for kids to want to learn and children's books are an effective way of getting material into the developing mind.
I know when I was small,I devoured all types of books and it opened my mind to almost anything through the written page.
Dean discusses the book here.

The first year that the Washington Nationals came to Hagerstown,their first round pick and hot prospect was Chris Marrero and Marrero had a high school teammate that was a top prospect for the Phillies in Adrian Cardenas.
So when the two faced off in Hagerstown,it was a big deal to those of us that care about such things.
Cardenas was a super nice guy,a willing signer and even gave me a bat that he signed that is still in my dining room today.
I rooted for Adrian after that through his days with the Phillies and following trades to the A's and Cubs
and was excited to see him finally make to the bigs in 2012 with the Cubs.
Cardenas spent parts of the 2012 season with Chicago and then decided he was through with the game at just 24.
In a terrific essay,Cardenas explains just why he was done in the New Yorker.
Highly recommended..
ESPN has an article on Kliff Kingsbury and how excited the Texas Tech fan base is about having a young coach that is excited about being there.
The article looks at Kingsbury,his ideas to be connected with the things that connect with young players and what helps in recruiting.
The former Red Raider passing star as the first star off the Mike Leach line talks about his career at Tech and his years wandering around the NFL.
Good read....


Two goodbyes from the sports world before we go.

Goodbye to former Oilers and Saints head coach Bum Phillips at the age of 90..
Phillips was the leaders of the later 70's Oiler teams that were good enough to win titles,but played at the wrong time and in wrong place as they played in the same division as the Pittsburgh Steelers,who were just a little better.
Phillips and his folksy image was popular with players,fans and media and one liners were never in short order with the Bum around.
Phillips was not as successful with the Saints as the Oilers,but set the table somewhat for the Saints teams that turned the corner under Jim Mora...

Terry Pluto in the Cleveland Plain Dealer recalls Rodney "Buckethead" Craig who passed away at 56 in Los Angeles.
Craig had been homeless for most of the last ten years and was stabbed to death in August,but Pluto's article was the first I had heard of that.
Craig was thought of as a serious prospect when the Indians got him from Seattle,but never did much other than be a decent pinch hitter in 1982...