Listen man, we all watched the same game. We all saw a pretty much universal bed crapping. The only thing we can control is how we react it to it. I’m reacting by Flushing It.
When the Browns got their asses handed to them on a platter Week 1, I was really questioning my belief system. Was I wasting my time? Is this masochism? (Editor: It’s definitely masochism)
Then the Browns ripped off four straight wins and were 4–1 for the first time in over 25 years. If the Browns are doing things on the field last seen when Belichick was in charge, I’m willing to bet they’re the Right Things.
I am certain patience has been preached to you before. I’m sure it wasn’t when the Browns were 4–2. This is not the smoke and mirrors of 2014, when the Browns briefly took the lead in the division. They got to work on time that day. It didn’t last.
I am not ready to judge this team based on games against their perennially good divisional neighbours. Their coaches have both been in charge for over a decade. They have both won Super Bowls. One of them was Coach of the Year last year. There probably weren’t two teams better prepared to deal with the disrupted off-season.
Those are settled teams, they have been settled for a long time. You go into that building with a defined role to play. There isn’t a lot of crossing your fingers and hoping the crack doesn’t eat the paper. Each important block of those franchises is a known commodity. There are no surprises.
This is the first time Kevin Stefanski has faced Baltimore and Pittsburgh as a Head Coach. This is the first time these players have played for him against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. This is all new. This whole organisation is just getting to know each other. April was Andrew Berry’s first draft as General Manager. The plastic is still on a lot of this team.
Maybe the quarterback is an issue. The odds aren’t good, but the odds against any quarterback aren’t good. There aren’t even enough good quarterbacks to fill every starting spot in the league. I know a lot of you are ready for the next one, but I’m not there yet.
Like I said, they’re just getting to know each other. Stefanski hasn’t coached Mayfield before. He’s still finding the situations he can and can’t put him, what makes him tick, how to get him into a rhythm. The Head Coach said himself that he called some plays on Sunday that he isn’t gonna call again.
Baker to me is held back a grade. At least. Last year was such a mess that he was a worse quarterback than the day he was drafted by the end of it. He wasn’t taught how to be an NFL quarterback last year. His quarterback coach went from being a Mountain West graduate assistant to being an NFL quarterback coach in two and a half months. That’s a frosh teaching graduate calculus.
Something that struck me was a comment Mayfield made at the start of the year. He said he was prepared when guys had questions about the playbook this year, and he hadn’t been last year. That’s a guy that didn’t know what his responsibilities were last year. Maybe he’s not gonna work out, but I’m gonna give him more time than six games in a stable environment before I completely write him off.
Right now the Browns are not a Super Bowl contender. Nobody expects that, so I’m not gonna judge them like one. Right now they look like a team that’s made some good hires and are generally moving forwards. It’s still a roster with exploitable holes. This team is aiming for a Wildcard spot. I’m not going to let shellackings by two teams that are far ahead in the process cause me concern when they’ve beaten everybody else.
Anyway, Bengals next. I’m not gonna say it, it’s corny.
