Tonight’s the Night

Could the Browns finally win a game?

 Rod Stewart crowed this song with his raspy voice in the late 1970’s and I think my mother had a heart attack when she heard us singing along with the stereo. Basically, it was about that midget soccer player turned singer, Rod Stewart having sex with a virgin for the first time and tonight for the Browns, it could be a very similar situation since many of the players have not had a win so far in their professional career. Could tonight be the night or should we just hit fast forward and put on “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”? (My mom hated this song even more).

The Browns play my NY Jets tonight and as I stated in week 1, you never really know what you are getting. The Jets put a whooping on the Lions on opening day and we were impressed but a couple weeks later and it looks like the Lions are playing for the # 1 pick in the draft. Likewise, the Browns showed improvement in games against Pittsburgh and the Saints but now it appears both of those teams are overrated. So what happens tonight?

The Browns D

The Browns have a solid defense and bookend pass rushers who can bring a lot of heat on rookie QB Sam Darnold. This can be a game very similar to last week’s Dolphin game in which Darnold was continually pressured and had a few turnovers. I would not be surprised at all if the Browns sack him at least four times tonight and pressure/hurry him into at least seven errant throws. This will allow the Browns to get excellent field positions, if not a Pick Six, on many possessions. This game has all the potential to be a win for the Browns for the first time since man walked on the Moon, except for two small factors: The Browns can’t score and Hue Jackson is still their coach.

Josh Gordon and his bong were sent to New England for a pack of smokes and a Moon pie and Tyrod Taylor has been, well, as expected. If you take away his running lanes and force him to throw, you have Tim Tebow without the kneeling and praying and fanatical fans claiming he is the G.O.A.T. Taylor is however, a veteran and one would think if he just managed the game, this should be the time for the Browns to break out. The problem is Hue Jackson might be the worst coach in all of football. He can’t figure out a way to win no matter what the situation is. One would think the Browns (1-34-1 last 2 plus years) would be running reverses, onside kicks, fake punts, Statue of Liberty plays and more. Even the Marx Brothers in the classic movie ‘Horse Feathers” found a way to win. Instead, as we noted in No time to panic , Cleveland goes out of its way to lose a game they dominated against the Saints. They went soft and surrendered 18 points in the last quarter, despite shutting the Saints down for 3 quarters. To make matters worse, their kicker missed three field goals and two extra points that cost them the last two weeks. Hue Jackson finally admitted this week that he didn’t know his kicker had a groin injury. The Browns should be 2-0 right now but their coach didn’t know he was trotting out an injured kicker? The kicker was released but isn’t this on the Coach not the kicker? I would be worried that Tyrod Taylor might have a shoulder injury on his throwing arm and Hue might think he was wearing a sling because he was making a fashion statement. Don’t be surprised if on 3^rd down Hue calls for a deep throw to Josh Gordon or yells to the bench for Johnny Manziel to get in the game.

I look for a close game with lots of turnovers by the rookie QB but as long as its within 14 points going into the 4^th quarter, I will pick the Jets to come back and win, not because of their competitive pride but because Hugh Jackson is abysmal at best and will find a way to lose the game.

-BSB