Browns special teams slip up.lose opener 21-18

A first quarter special teams breakdown made the difference in the Cleveland Browns opener as a blocked punt on the Browns first possession was recovered for a touchdown by the Pittsburgh Steelers Anthony Chickillo as thereafter the game was pretty even in a 21-18 Steelers win in Cleveland.
DeShone Kizer threw for 222 yards with a rushing and a passing touchdown to go with an interception in his first NFL game to lead the Browns.
Cleveland (0-1) will travel to Baltimore next week for a meeting with the 1-0 Ravens,who won their road opener over the Bengals...

Brownie Bits

1) I know there are many plays that determine a win or loss,but the blocked punt is the one play that I circled.
I don't even blame Britton Colquitt,the Steelers drove straight through and gave him no chance to get that ball off.

2) Still,the half full note-Take that play off the board,the Cleveland offense with a rookie quarterback outscored the mighty Steelers offense 18-14.
Now there is plenty of nuance that I'll add to flesh this out,but among a few things to feel a little good about,try that on for size.

3) I didn't think the offensive line that had so much money poured into it played that great.
Seven sacks are never a positive stat,but I can spin that with a rookie quarterback that will hopefully learn to get rid of the football as he progresses.
My issue was that the running game that has to be effective if the Browns have any chance of showing the improvement some expect,wasn't.
Much of that goes on the offensive line.

4) That running game produced just 57 on 23 rushes with Isaiah Crowell,who is being counted on as the main mail carrier gaining a paltry 33 yards on 17 carries.
If the Browns are going to win a handful of games,the running game will have to do better.
That ranks near the top of things that I am interested in seeing next week in Baltimore..

5) I was dubious of the signing of Kenny Britt and he showed nothing to change my mind as he finished with just one catch for 13 yards.
DeShone Kizer threw to him three times,which tells me he wasn't open often and he had a key drop in the fourth quarter.

6) Pittsburgh still has Antonio Brown,who is one of those receivers that the various Browns regimes seem to hold in low regard.Brown made a huge play in the first half for over 50 yards despite a tip by Joe Schobert and his play that essentially made it time for the Steelers to kneel down was a hustle play that he simply went up and pulled down among a handful of Browns.
Until the Browns get their own Brown or at least corral this one against Pittsburgh,the gap between these two teams will continue to be huge...

7) To DeShone Kizer,who showed some signs of being a pretty good quarterback,but one that made mistakes and has 15 games to show what he truly is.
I think he needs to get the ball out quicker and his deep ball to Kasen Williams in the first half drifted just enough to carry Williams out of bounds on what should have been a 40 yard touchdown pass.
Kizer's interception to T.J. Watt was out of a miscommunication with Williams later in the game and can be tagged on his lack of time to gell with the newly acquired receiver.

8) What did I like from Kizer?
I like the arm,it's the kind of arm that the Browns haven't seen since Derek Anderson (who had such a big arm that he had no touch at all) and he showed poise against the rush that rookies don't often.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves,but good start..

9) I also liked what I saw out of Seth DeValve,who caught four balls out of five targets.
DeValve seems to have a knack of getting open,especially along the sidelines.
DeValve has a problem though-he hasn't picked up the blocking game as it was DeValve that allowed the Steelers to blow up the middle and reject Britton Colquitt's punt.

10) I also question Hue Jackson a bit.
On the play that essentially ended the game,the Antonio Brown jump ball,Jackson used both of his remaining timeouts.
How can one do that? By calling a timeout and then deciding to challenge.
When the challenge was lost (as it should have been),the game was over.
Would one timeout have made a difference? Doubtful,but Jackson needs to improve as a game coach...

11) It was finally nice to see officials that were not afraid to call roughness penalties on the Steelers.
Four of them in this game and they all were cheap and deliberate.
The Steelers have gotten away with this for years-If the league is truly serious about improving player safety and eliminating cheap play,the referees need to make those calls consistently and not just for a week or a month.
You call these every game over the course of a season,the off season will be spent by teams stressing avoiding dumb play because winning and losing will be affected..
At least,we didn't get to see these helmet first hits and then the sheepish and tacit smiles of approval from Mike Tomlin this time...

12) I liked a lot of what I saw from the Gregg Williams defense,but still some ways to go.
Not a lot of heat on Ben Rothlisberger (1 sack by Carl Nassib and a batted ball by Emmanuel Ogbah),but I was confused by his alignment that had Jabrill Peppers 20-30 yards off the ball.
Now I might have gotten that if Peppers was being used as a shadow to help cover Antonio Brown,but he usually wasn't.
I've been vocal about thinking Jabrill Peppers was not a player that I was thrilled about in the first round,but if you are serious about using him to the best of his ability and allowing him to roam as a ballhawk,you cannot have him that far off the ball and expect him to make plays..

13) I think that this game was better than I expected.
The Steelers were in a dogfight and they know they were lucky to come away with the win.
That's encouraging,but plenty of questions still remain.
This is still a team that will be undermanned most Sunday's and I'm not exactly thrilled with the moral victory,but there were a few steps forward on this day.
There is still a long race to run....

Boxing Challenge:Rungvisai leaves no doubt!

The boxing challenge continued with a three bout card in the junior bantamweight division that featured lots of action.
I scored four points on the night in the boxing challenge to Ramon Malpica's three to boost my lead to 122-107.

In the main event Srisaket Sor Rungvisai demolished Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez with a right hand that might have ended the once invincible Gonzalez's career for a fourth round knockout to retain his WBC junior bantamweight title.
Rungvisai had taken Gonzalez's title in March in New York City via majority decision in a great fight that most (including me) thought that Gonzalez deserved the victory and the WBC mandated an immediate rematch.
The rematch was far different as Rungvisai won the first three rounds on my card (although the third round could have went either way),landed several hard punches and even though Gonzalez was firing back and landed his share of punches,seemed to be less than his normal self.
In round four,Rungvisai started quickly and dropped Gonzalez with a right hand that severely hurt Gonzalez and he barely beat the count.
Gonzalez held Rungvisai at bay for a bit and looked like he might weather the storm before Rungvisai ended the bout with one right hand that ended the the night and maybe the career of Gonzalez.
Gonzalez didn't resemble anything like the fighter that was once thought of as the game best fighter pound for pound and just doesn't seem to be strong enough at 115 pounds.
Unless Gonzalez wants to return to flyweight,I just don't see him continuing at junior bantamweight unless he and his team just chalks this off as Rungvisai just being a bad matchup for him.
As for Rungvisai,he'll have another interesting and fun fight coming up that has a good chance of returning to HBO against new mandatory contender Juan Francisco Estrada,the former WBA/WBO flyweight champion.

Estrada won a unanimous decision in a title eliminator on HBO's opener over former WBC champion Carlos Cuadras.
Cuadras raced to a sizable early lead and appeared to have banked many of the early rounds.
The patient Estrada kept on doing what he does,applying pressure and wearing Cuadras down and began to hurt him in the middle rounds.
Estrada knocked Cuadras down in the tenth,scoring a two point round as he swept the final three rounds.
The knockdown won Estrada the fight as all three judges scored him a 114-113 winner.
Had Estrada not scored that knockdown,the fight would have been a draw.
I had Estrada the winner at 115-112 (7-5 in rounds with the knockdown).

The middle fight saw "The Monster" Naoya Inoue of Japan retain his WBO title with a technical knockout of an overmatched Antonio Nieves when Nieves was not allowed out of his corner at the end of round six.
Inoue knocked Nieves down with a body shot in the fifth round and then battered him badly in round six before the end of the fight.
HBO had been building Roman Gonzalez for a fight against Inoue,so there has to have been some disappointment,especially that Srisaket Sor Rungvisai got Gonzalez before Inoue did,but this card was so good as far as action,that I would not be surprised at all to see a future card with another Inoue defense along with the Rungvisai-Estrada title fight with the winner facing off in their next fight.

I finished with two points for Estrada's win and two for Inoue's.
Ramon finished with two points for Inoue's victory and one for Rungvisai's...

Oklahoma lowers the boom 31-16

The Ohio State Buckeyes continued to have issues in the passing game and the passing game against their secondary let them down as the Oklahoma Sooners scored four second half touchdowns and dumped the Buckeyes 31-16 in Columbus.

J.K Dobbins rushed for 72 yards and the only Ohio State touchdown with Sean Nuernberger kicked three field goals for the rest of the Ohio State points.
Ohio State (1-1 1-0 Big 10) hosts Army next Saturday..

Olentangy Offerings

1) Where do I begin in this crying session?
Well,lets start with the quarterback as J,T.Barrett continues to struggle with accuracy with anything farther down field than 10 yards and teams are loading up and daring him to throw beyond that mark.
He hasn't shown any ability to do so and until he is able to,teams are going to continue to play their defenders in the box and shut down the underneath pass.

2) Barrett was victimized again by a dropped certain touchdown pass.
Last week in Indiana,it was Parris Campbell and in this one,it was an open Terry McLaurin that couldn't haul in a pass that was on the money.
Considering that you won't have too many chances for these situations with J.T.Barrett,you need to cash those in and two weeks in a row,Ohio State has not.

3) Ohio State may have a new offensive coordinator in Kevin Wilson,but the Buckeyes have fallen in the same trap as in the past-they don't run the ball enough and take advantage of their strength.
J.K.Dobbins ran for 72 yards and averaged 5.5 yards a carry,but only ran the ball 13 times.
Mike Weber made his debut and ran for 29 yards on just three runs.
Meanwhile J.T.Barrett ran 18 times and threw 35.

4) The one possession that the Buckeyes did commit to the run was the first possession of the second half and the result was the only touchdown that Ohio State would score all game.
Committing to the strength of the team not only is effective with the runners,it just might open up J.T.Barrett a bit and increase his effectiveness.

5) The secondary is a work in progress.
Buckeye fans including myself assumed the secondary would plug and play players there that hadn't played much and they would step right in and be effective.
They haven't been,maybe the time is now to consider time for freshmen like Jeffrey Okudah to begin to work their way towards playing time.
800 passing yards allowed in two games makes it the right time.
With Army and the triple option this week,Greg Schiano has two weeks to consider some changes...

6) The defensive line played well.
Baker Mayfield did make plays,but he had pressure on him most of the game.
Nick Bosa and Sam Hubbard had the only sacks,but I think in the battle between the nations top offensive line and defensive lines,The Buckeyes gave as good as they got....

7) I was talking during the game as I usually do with my Buckeye pal Ian and told him how the Buckeye offense reminded me of the Browns-throwing four yard passes when you need eight yards and relying on the receiver to make up those yards.
The problem is that isn't happening because so many guys are in the box and wrap the man up.

8) Oklahoma's receivers on the other hand were able to take a short pass and turn it into something bigger as the Sooners showed with their first second half score when Dmitri Flowers took a short dump off from Baker Mayfield and turned it into a 36 yards touchdown.

9) I've always liked the Sooners.
I have written before about how much I rooted for the Barry Switzer Sooners and my love for the wishbone,so losing to Oklahoma wasn't expected to bother me.
I thought it was a tossup game that home field would give the edge to Ohio State in,but this is far from an upset,
However,I thought the Baker Mayfield behavior after the game was poor sportsmanship.
Mayfield had been talking all week about how mad he was about Ohio State singing on their field and how he found it disrespectful.
Here's my issue-Ohio State and their players sing Carmen Ohio every game-win or lose,home or road.
It would take about ten seconds of a Google search to figure this out,yet Mayfield continued to talk about the singing and how bothered he was.
Mayfield running to midfield with a flag in the middle of the O and jabbing into the field was something I expected after his words this week,but it didn't make it any better...

10) The word after the game was that so many fans want to see a change at quarterback.
Urban Meyer directly said no after the game,but fans want to see Joe Burrow or Dwayne Haskins get a shot.
I don't think that Barrett is going to be given a seat on the bench,but I do think that the coaching staff has got to get either Burrow or Haskins some playing time in the next two games against Army and UNLV.
This problem cannot be allowed to move further and the Buckeyes need to prepare for a future without J.T.Barrett and maybe even a present...

11) Wrapping up.
Do I think this season is lost?
Nope,I think the Buckeyes mulligan is gone and they have to win out from here on out,but not a lost season.
However,Ohio State is going to have a hard time doing that with things as they currently stand.
I think they'll take care of Penn State,the Buckeyes will be as high for that game as the Sooners were for the Buckeyes and Michigan is always a game that you never take lightly,but some of these other games aren't the slam dunks that I thought they might be a few weeks ago.
Until these offensive deficiencies are solved,I won't be taking any game as a layup.

Boxing Challenge-Benavidez survives,Usyk kicks off World Super Series

The boxing challenge started Friday night and Saturday afternoon with two title fights that were interesting.

Friday night on Showtime,heavily favored David Benavidez survived the surprisingly stern challenge of Ronald Gavril to win a split decision and capture the vacant WBC super middleweight title in Las Vegas..
Benavidez dominated the early rounds and built a lead on the cards before a rally by Gavril that brought him back into the fight.
Benavidez's lead appeared safe,especially when he dominated the twelfth round for the first two minutes before Gavril scored a flash knockdown out of nowhere.
I scored the round for Gavril,but only 10-9 because Benavidez won the round other than the knockdown.
I had issues with all three scores as they were all far too wide with two for Benavidez and one for Gavril.
I had Benavidez a 115-113 winner.
Ramon Malpica and I each added one boxing challenge point for the Benavidez win.

Meanwhile in Germany,the World Boxing Super Series kicked off and it was a mixed bag as far as production goes,but a solid,but lopsided fight in the ring as Oleksander Usyk defended his WBO title in winning his quarterfinal battle in the cruiserweight tournament with a tenth round stoppage of Marco Huck.
Huck was determined and never stopped trying,but was simply far too slow to deal with the flashy and athletic Usyk,who won every round,but one on my card and that was more that the champion and tournament top seed took the round off more than anything that Huck did.
Usyk looked very strong in the win and will face the winner of the WBC title/quarterfinal bout between Marius Breidis and Mike Perez.
Usyk-Breidis (who I assume will win) should be an excellent bout.
Ramon and I each added one point for Usyk's victory and the challenge score is 118-104.

The World Boxing Super Series is a great concept and did a much better job than I ever dreamed of filling the brackets with top fighters.
However,there have been some stumbles.
A bracket that favors the second seed more than the first,a lack of an American television outlet and today's slipup that to be fair came from trying to do the right thing.
The WBSS announced today that they were streaming the Usyk-Huck fight on their website,if you signed up.
I did and waited for an email that would give me the password to access.
I am still waiting for that email seven hours later!
Others must have had issues as well because a little before fight time,a tweet came through that said that it was available on their website.
It was.
For six rounds-it was.
Then the site was this bout has ended and the stream was gone-never to be found again.
The WBSS has time to work these things out,but today's issues were less than a strong start....

Back later with HBO's tripleheader and the Buckeyes hosting the Oklahoma Sooners...

PPM

The PPM moves into its second week with the first week of NFL action....

Last Week:7-0

College
Ohio State over Oklahoma 31-23
Syracuse over Middle Tennessee State 30-24
Bowling Green over South Dakota 35-17
Washington over Montana 50-20
Boise State over Washington State 35-33

Games of the Week
Clemson over Auburn 24-16
Stanford over USC 27-24

NFL
Steelers over Browns 27-10
Saints over Vikings 31-24

Games of the Week
Packers over Seahawks 24-20
Cowboys over Giants 27-24

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge returns with a weekend loaded with title fights and significant eliminators that make the weekend before Golovkin-Alvarez quite worth watching!

The biggest fights of the weekend is the three bout HBO card in the junior bantamweight division featuring two title fights, a eliminator for the winner of the main event and five of the top six/seven fighters at the weight class.

The main event features a rematch for the WBC title between champion Srisiket Sor Rungvisai against Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez after the pair staged a stirring battle in March that saw Rungvisai win a majority decision that gave Gonzalez his first loss.
Most (including me) had Gonzalez a narrow winner,but in a boxing rarity,the politically unaffiliated fighter won the close call on the cards.
The WBC mandated an immediate rematch and it should be a good one...

The fighter that many rank at the top of the division with Gonzalez's loss is Japanese phenom Naoya Inoue,who will make his American debut with a defense of his WBO title against Antonio Nieves.
Nieves lost his first fight last time out to Vitali Potapov and seems to be being brought in to make sure that Inoue's debut is a dazzling one...

The other bout is a WBC eliminator between former champion Carlos Cuadras,who lost a close decision (and his title) to Gonzalez in 2016 against former  WBA/WBO flyweight champ Juan Francisco Estrada,who hasn't lost since giving Gonzalez his most difficult fight before Cuadras and Rungvisai in a light flyweight title fight in 2012.
The winner of this becomes the next fight for the Rungvisai-Gonzalez winner and this too should be a action fight!

The World Boxing Super Series kicks off their Cruiserweight tournament with top seed and WBO champion Oleksander Usyk defending  against former champion Marco Huck.
Huck was the long time bully of the division with 13 title defenses,but is just 2-2 in his last four fights and looked deflated in his last fight vs Marius Breidis,
Usyk should be the favorite in this one and Huck might make this a decent fight to watch-If you can see it as there is currently no American television deal for the series,so it'll likely be a YouTube bout for me...

Another title is on the line Friday night on Showtime as the vacant WBC super middleweight title is filled as David Benavidez battles Ronald Gavril.
This is the title vacated by Badou Jack and was supposed to be won by the winner of Callum Smith vs Anthony Dirrell.
However,PBC made a deal with Smith's promoter's to have the fight on a PBC California card and after the fight was agreed to,attempted to switch it to Dirrell's native Flint,Michigan.
A furious Smith decided to go after the bigger money in the World Boxing Super Series and Dirrell decided not to fight Benavidez,so Gavril was brought in to face the very talented Benavidez.
I look for Benavidez to look spectacular in this one as Gavril's only loss was to the only recognizable fighter on his record.
Benavidez is expected to have to face Smith sometime next year after the WBSS ends.

The final challenge fight is in the untelevised fight from Puerto Rico between former flyweight champions McWilliams Arroyo and Hernan "Tyson" Marquez.
Might be a good fight that would move one up to title fight status,but with the expected landfall of Hurricane Irma,I would not be remotely surprised to see this fight canceled.

I lead the challenge over Ramon Malpica 116-102

Vacant WBC Super Middleweight title.12 rds
David Benavidez vs Ronald Gavril
R.L:Benavidez KO 9
TRS:Benavidez KO 5

WBC Junior Bantamweight title.12 rds
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Roman Gonzalez
R.L:Rungvisai Split Decision
TRS:Gonzalez Unanimous Decision

WBO Junior Bantamweight title.12 rds
Naoya Inoue vs Antonio Nieves
R.L: Inoue KO 6
TRS; Inoue KO 4

Junior Bantamweights.12 rds
Carlos Cuadras vs Juan Francisco Estrada
R.L: Cuadras Unanimous Decision
TRS:Estrada Unanimous Decision

WBO Cruiserweight title/World Boxing Super Series Quarter Final.12 rds
Oleksander Usyk vs Marco Huck
Both:Usyk Unanimous Decision

Flyweights. 10 rds
McWilliams Arroyo vs Hernan "Tyson" Marquez
Both:Arroyo Unanimous Decision

Cleveland Browns Preview

The Cleveland Browns are coming off a league worst 1-15 record and despite what seems to be a good draft on paper,the Browns still have a long way to go before being even a decent team and might once again be a challenger for 2018's top overall pick.

Cleveland enters the season with four quarterbacks,two of which have never taken an NFL snap and two that have never won an NFL game.
The Browns have handed the keys to second round draft pick DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame.
Kizer looks the part in the pocket,tall,athletic and with a big arm,but came out early from Notre Dame and has some questions after a college career that saw him fail to get Notre Dame to a bowl in his last season.
Kizer comes with questions,but considering the quarterbacks that Hue Jackson kept,Kizer has the best chance of being a quarterback that can be built around,so I'm in favor of the Browns seeing just what they have,since they will likely be picking high in the draft and with plenty of highly thought passers in the 2018 draft,lets find out now if the Browns have found their future QB or not.
Cody Kessler played a lot last year and looks to be a career backup to me.
Kevin Hogan impressed me more in a small sample of play last year than Kessler did and honestly,if I had to keep one or the other-I would keep Hogan.
The Browns surprisingly claimed Josh Woodrum off waivers from Baltimore on cutdown day and currently have four quarterbacks.
I don't think it will end that way as the Browns suddenly need a defensive lineman with the injury to Myles Garrett,so I suspect one of these passers are going to go before the opener...

The running backs are paced by Isaiah Crowell,who just missed 1,000 yards last year and I think this year goes over the mark.
Between the improved offensive line and a commitment to running the ball,Crowell is going to have a big year.
Duke Johnson will be the pass catcher out of the backfield and chance of pace back and seventh rounder Matthew Dayes from N.C.State impressed in camp and preseason in making the team as the third back.
Dan Vitale returns as the blocking fullback.

The wide receivers are filled with question marks and enigmas,so this season will answer questions-one way or the other.
2016 first rounder Corey Coleman is listed as the number one receiver on the depth chart after a season as a rookie that showed talent,injuries and questions.
Coleman's talent and speed are there,the question is can he stay healthy and is he a number one receiver?
Kenny Britt was signed from the Rams after his career to replace Terrelle Pryor,who was allowed to go to the Redskins as a free agent.
I'm not a huge fan of Britt and think he might be more Dwayne Bowe than Paul Warfield.
Cleveland has assembled an interesting,but unproven bunch behind the starters.
The Browns traded the Steelers 2018 6th rounder back to them to add speedy,but sometimes stonehanded Sammie Coates at the cutdown deadline.
Coates can get deep and make the big play,but the Steelers were disappointed in his drops.
Ricardo Louis,a college teammate of Coates,is back for his second season.
Louis has the physical tools for success,but the hands might not be as willing.
Kasen Williams was claimed from Seattle after a spectacular preseason that left Seahawks players and fans howling about his being cut.
Williams was a guy that I was really high on in his college days at Washington before injuries cost him almost two years of developmental time.
Williams can make the spectacular and tough catch,so I'm looking forward to seeing him
Reggie Davis was claimed from Atlanta as the final receiver.
Davis is extremely fast and might wind up being one of the kick returners...

Cleveland traded up back into the first round for Miami tight end David Njoku,but training camp saw Njoku struggle catching the ball and in preseason lagged behind both Randall Telfer and Seth DeValve in catches.
The first rounder was thought to be raw and would not make an immediate impact,but he'll start third on the Browns depth chart.
Telfer is listed as the starter,but is basically a blocker while DeValve shows potential as an athletic receiver,but needs vast improvement in the blocking part of the game...

The Browns put most of their free agency money into helping the offensive line.
Cleveland signed arguably the best available lineman in guard Kevin Zietler to plug in at right guard from the Bengals and center J.C. Tretter from the Packers.
Tretter has been noted to miss time from injury,so backup Austin Reiter could see plenty of playing time as the snapper.
Zeitler will be counted on to solidify the right side as it has questions at right tackle as 2016 third rounder Shon Coleman is unproven,yet relied on to be the starter.
The Browns have some huge backups on the right side in 6'9 Zach Sterup and 6'6 Spencer Drango.
Sterup is more of a tackle,while Drango can play either guard or tackle.
The left side looks to be among the best in the game as future hall of famer Joe Thomas resides at left tackle with Joel Bitonio returning from injury to start at left guard.
Marcus Martin backs up Bitonio after starting some for the 49ers last year and Zach Banner was claimed from the Colts after the Colts waived him after picking him in the 4th round in the last draft.

The Browns defense improved as far as talent goes,but still has plenty of questions to be answered.
The defensive line has the most depth and talent top to bottom,but that will be immediately tested after an injury to the ankle of top overall pick Myles Garrett this week.
As of this writing,Garrett will miss as many as four games and that's a huge hit to a pass rush that was counting on immediate impact.
I think Garrett will bring that rush when he hits the field,but until then the Browns will have to cobble something together.
Emmanuel Ogbah will start on the other end after a good rookie season and the backups on the end include former high picks Nate Orchard and Carl Nassib,one of which will start for Garrett in his absence.
Both Orchard and Nassib have shown pass rushing ability in the past and if one of both can consistently do so,the Browns could have a really nice outside rush.
At defensive tackle,Danny Shelton missed much of the preseason with injury and slid down the depth chart,but Shelton will be one starter even if not for the opener.
Jamie Meder brings run stuffing ability and training camp breakout Trevon Coley are listed as the current starters and will rotate with Shelton to keep the interior line fresh.
2017 draftees Larry Ogunjobi and Caleb Brantley will backup as waiver claim T,Y, McGill may or may not after being busted for marijuana possession the night after being waived,
This is a talented defensive line,but one still with more potential than production...

The linebackers look to be strong among the starters,but lacking behind them.
Jamie Collins was re-signed after being traded for in mid-season last year from the Patriots.
Collins is an all around three down linebacker that can make plays all over the field.
Christian Kirksey was a tackling machine in the Ray Horton 3-4 and shifts outside in the Gregg Williams 4-3.
We'll see how he does with the change.
I think he'll make more big plays,but perhaps fewer tackles in number.
Second year man Joe Schobert was great in preseason in the middle and might be the fantasy breakout star of this defense.
Backups Dominique Alexander and James Burgess are unproven and it wouldn't surprise me if someone was brought in later in the season...

The secondary looks like it is going to be challenged by opposing passers much as it was last season.
The release of veteran Joe Haden surely isn't going to help any,but it won't hurt as much as expected.
Jamar Taylor is back at one corner after a nice comeback season after being considered a bust with the Dolphins.
Veteran Jason McCourty was signed from the Titans to be the third corner,but instead will be replacing Haden as a starter.
Second year man Briean Boddy-Calhoun will be the third corner after a good rookie campaign following being picked up off waivers.
The Browns will try to strike gold again off waivers with Mike Jordan,a second year corner that played for Gregg Williams with the Rams last season.

The safeties look talented on paper,but we'll see on the field.
First rounder Jabrill Peppers starts at one safety.
Peppers was the most polarizing player in the draft with some observers thinking the Michigan product was a playmaker and weapon no matter where he was used,with others seeing a player with just one career pick in college and a player without a position.
We'll see who was right,but I did think Peppers was impressive in the preseason.
Peppers beat out former starter Ibraheim Campbell for his starting spot with Campbell being retained as the backup.
Second year man Derrick Kindred will start at the other safety.
Kindred started five games last season before missing the final few games due to injury.
Kindred will be backed up by former Jet Calvin Pryor,who might be the guy that could range from starter to released depending on how injuries fall out on the rest of the roster...

Editor's Note:Calvin Pryor was released the day after I did this section after a off the field fight with Ricardo Louis.
Louis will be not be released.
Hue Jackson said that the likely replacement will be the practice squad promoted Kai Nacua.
Nacua was an undrafted rookie from BYU....

Zane Gonzalez won a tight competition over incumbent Cody Parkey to win the kicking job.
Gonzalez won the Lou Groza award for the best kicker in college football last year and was the Browns seventh round pick.
Veteran Britton Colquitt returns as the punter and likely will do a lot of it this season.

Jabrill Peppers is listed as the top returner on kicks and punts,but newly acquired Reggie Davis will be used a lot on kicks with another newbie in Sammie Coates possible to see punt return action...

So-onto the part that you all love most-the prediction page.
Two years ago,I said 3-13 and nailed it.
Last year,I said 2-14 and the first or second pick in the draft.I was close,but in a rare optimistic pick,I overshot with the Browns finishing 1-15.even hitting the game they would win over the then San Diego Chargers.

I see two home games and maybe as many as three road games that are winnable.
Let's start on the road in order of schedule.
The Colts in Indianapolis is winnable,if the Colts have to start Scott Tolzien at quarterback and not Andrew Luck.
If Luck plays,I would take this out of the winnable column.
The other games are at the Chargers and at the Bears.
The Chargers were the only team that the Browns beat last year and they will likely be ready for revenge this year in Los Angeles.
The Bears might be playing Mitch Trubisky by their game in week 16 and if DeShone Kizer is still standing,he might be able lead the Browns by Chicago.

The home games?
The Jets are following the Browns rebuild template and are starting Josh McCown at quarterback.
If McCown can't hold up until week five,the Browns would be facing Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenburg-I like the Browns there.
Jacksonville has plenty of offensive weapons,but play the erratic Blake Bortles under center.
If this game was in Florida,I'd say the Jaguars would be favored,but this is winnable in Cleveland.

I'm going to be optimistic and say 3-13.
Give the Browns the two home games and maybe the Bears game for the wins.
It wouldn't surprise me if they were worse and it would take going 4-0 in the winnable games to beat my prediction.
Give the Browns a pick in the top three to four,a chance at the top overall pick in 2018 and improvement,but still a long way to go...