Cleveland VS Browns
The Cleveland Browns will go as far as they want to go. Well, not necessarily. They have to play good football of course. But from looking at the 4 Quarters of the Browns-Steelers game, it seems like they can be horrifically bad, or exponentially good.
For the sake of this article, I am naming the Cleveland Browns into TWO teams, Cleveland-first half, and Browns the second. (I may say Browns in relation to past Browns)
First the bad. Since that is what the entire first two Quarters were. Cleveland showed No rhythm, missed tackling, and poor execution throughout the first half.
I’m just going to jump on to it. Cleveland was down 27-3 at halftime. I’m at my cousins house, watching with my family, because I don’t know about you guys, but Browns-Steelers is a holiday to my family, however it was just all bad. Especially when my family are all Steelers fans. I was ready to jump ship as I think every Browns fan was. Tackle! Benjamin why did you take that out 9 yards deep, Touchback?!! Gilbert! Were just some of the things I was yelling out loud. Oh yeah, and PUT MANZIEL IN! It was just awful. We looked WORSE then the Browns that we are used to. Big Ben threw for 278 yards… in the first half. Cleveland’s defense was B-A-D. A combination of missed tackles, blown coverages, and a non-existent pass rush allowed the Steelers to pretty much do as they pleased. The Steelers literally dominated Cleveland. Every player, on every snap, beat their opposing player. I questioned why I even loved football. Have you literally questioned why you love football? I’m trying to put into your memory how bad that first half was, so I can show you how AMAZING we looked in the second half. So if your down on Cleveland enough, continue please, if not start from the beginning until you are.
Turn the page.
The second half starts. I don’t even want to watch the rest, but as a sportswriter and CST Primetime co-host, I had to. And that’s what we do as Browns fans. We keep watching.
We found out after the game that at halftime, in the locker room, veteran players stood up and took charge. The main ones were: Joe Thomas, Karlos Dansby, and Donte Whitner. AND Brian Hoyer. I love that Brian Hoyer was vocal at halftime. I wouldn’t expect him to, but the fact that he did gave me a lot more respect for him!
Unfortunately Ben Tate was injured in the first half,(Hopeful for week 5). Terrence West and Isaiah Crowell provided the much needed spark. In West’s first game he had 100 yards on 16 carries. Crowell was highly impressive too. 32 Yards on just 5 carries and he had 2 Touchdowns. All three Running backs in the game boasted a 6+ Yard per carry!
In the second half Brian Hoyer took over. He showed command, poise, and a streak of a pretty good Quarterback. They decided to do a little hurry up, and he handled it great.
Overall in the second half, straight up domination by the Browns. We scored 24 while giving up 0 until the last second.
The way the Steelers dominated Cleveland in the first, is miniscule to what the Browns did to them in the second. They were literally SHUT DOWN. The Browns looked like the Great Seattle Seahawks! It was that good. The receivers finally looked good. Gilbert struggled, but defense definitely tightened up.
Anyways, my purpose for this article was not to summarize the game, although that was necessary. I named this piece Cleveland VS Browns for a reason. Because, if we play all season like Cleveland in the first half, we likely wont win a game. If we play all season like the Browns in the second half, we will win the Super Bowl. No, this will not happen. No team is ever “Browns” that much. It will be a mixture of those “Cleveland” and “Browns”. If it is more Cleveland, we are looking at a regular Browns sub-par season. But if we play more like the Browns, we will make the Playoffs. Whatever the mixture, it is great to KNOW that we can play like that.
Hopefully we can put it all together. Hopefully our good-bad streaks will be less severe as it was that game(that was ridiculous). Hopefully we can find middle ground. Hopefully we come out and beat the Saints. Hopefully Cleveland does not end up beating the Browns.
This season will be defined from now on to me as Cleveland VS Browns. If we can see 65-35% Browns over Cleveland, we will be in pretty good shape. As I said at the beginning, THE CLEVELAND BROWNS will go as far as they want to go. Well, not necessarily. They have to play good football of course.
GO BROWNS! And of course follow me on Twitter @CST_DallasT
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