Cleveland Browns Week 1 Recap and Week 2 Preview
In week 1 of the NFL season, the Cleveland Browns played the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium and lost 33-29. This was a very unfortunate result, especially given how the first 3 and half quarters went. But like I said in my last article, even in a loss, I felt that regardless of the games outcome, that it would yield a positive result for the Browns in the long run. I feel that this holds true and here’s why:
We not only kept up with the Chiefs offense, we out-paced them for most of the game. This is very promising in my eyes, because even though we sputtered out at the end of the game on offense, I feel like we have exactly what it takes to consistently put points on the board. I feel like this is a must when playing a team with an explosive quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, who is really never out of a game. Being able to keep time of possession in your favor takes away plays from the other team, which can limit the amount of opportunities they get to make magic happen. I, like many of you, have no concerns about out offense, and this is a game where we should blame the defense, right?
While I completely understand wanting to bash Joe Woods and our revamped defense, I am not concerned at all. We put out 7 (out of 11!!) new defensive starters against Patrick Mahomes in September, who by the way has thrown 35 touchdowns to 0 interceptions in his career during this month. The Chiefs offense is the class of the AFC, and can only really be rivaled by Tampa Bay in the NFC. This defensive assignment would be difficult for a defense who has gelled together for years, let alone a bunch of new guys trying to figure out the chemistry. All in all, I thought they played as well as they could have if you remove that 1 play 75 yard interception that very easily could’ve been an interception. In my opinion, there were really only two things that I felt cause us to lose this game.
Both of the things that I felt caused us to lose this game were, in all honesty, anomalies. One was a Nick Chubb fumble, which in his career he only has 4 total. He will very likely not have a mishap like that for a very long time, and for as hard as he was on himself for that, I’m sure he’ll even do a few extra ball security drills this week. The other event was the fumble from our punter Jamie “The Scottish Hammer” Gillan making two mistakes in one play. The first being mishandling the snap, and the second mistake was taking off with it deep in our own territory on 4th and 13. I know after mishandling the snap his adrenaline was probably taking over, but after watching this play many times now, he had more than enough time to get the kick off, even if it was a short punt. Anything is better than giving Patrick Mahomes the ball in our own red zone. Other than these two anomalies, I truthfully feel like this was a good showing from us. I know that everyone wants to talk about the Baker interception to close the game, but I don’t believe that was a true lapse of judgement. From the looks of it, he was trying to throw the ball out of bounds, but got tripped up and didn’t get enough air under it. Our defense will continue to gel, and when we get the opportunity to play the Chiefs again, we’ll be ready. Now, it’s time to look forward to this weekends game.
This weekend, we’ve drawn the Houston Texans for our home opener. While this game should be over at halftime, we shouldn’t take them lightly, because there is really no free win in the NFL. That sentiment is be reflected in how Coach Stefanski has been preparing this weekend. According to multiple reports on Twitter via Browns players, Stefanski has posted signs that say “Browns: 0-1 Texans: 1-0” around the practice facility. Doing this, along with the sting of last weekend still fresh, will hopefully motivate our Browns to an easy win and our first of the season. My final score prediction for this game is 34-13 Browns, and am interested in seeing Tyrod Taylor play against his former team. I feel that the Browns are simply better in every single way possible, and my final score prediction reflects that. All in all, I’m looking forward to this game, and feel it will get us back on track to hoisting the Lombardi.
Go Browns!
Image credits to:
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article254181698.html
https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/browns/the-browns-beat-themselves-against-the-chiefs-but-dont-blame-baker-mayfield
https://www.news-herald.com/2021/09/12/browns-cant-hold-halftime-lead-in-season-opening-loss-to-browns/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/browns/2021/06/16/baker-mayfield-contract-extension-cleveland-browns/7715544002/