Before you read any further, take a look at the Surgeon General's warning below, folks. It's for your own good. This team is downright toxic right now. Subject your mind to them at your own peril...
I begin this article with a warning. If you don't have the strength to stomach more misery, turn back now. In the words of the great Dante Alighieri: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
For every Browns lifer out there who follows the OH Report, and still wants to press on, brace yourselves. This one won't be pretty.
Back to the Pit of Misery
I can handle, and even understand, when a team plays their best, and simply gets beat by a better team on a particular day. That's happened many times to me as a fan. It's life.
But what I will never understand, be happy with, or accept, is when a team doesn't give their best effort, and gets their butt kicked straight to the moon. That's exactly what happened to the Browns today.
I've seen many, many ugly Browns losses of every variety. Playing their hearts out and losing. Penalty-riddled games with stupid mistakes (last week). Heartbreaking losses on a last second field goal or bogus penalty. Or just flat out getting their butts kicked by a better team, even when the Browns genuinely try their best.
But for as bad as the Browns have been over the last 25 years since they returned to the NFL, I have rarely seen what I saw today. No effort. No heart. No passion. No oomph. They just didn't care enough to show up. And as a fan, that infuriates me like you would not believe.
If I were the GM, I would gladly go into the Browns locker room or training facility, tear them all a new one, shatter a couple blackboards and toss a chair. I'd gladly suffer a broken wrist if it meant getting my point across.
I'd tell Coach Stefanski to sit down and let me have the room. It's obvious he doesn't have the room this year.
And then I would go straight to Jimmy Haslam's office. And my talk with him would not be friendly. I'll just leave it at that. He's the main reason the team is in this predicament.
Yes, the NFL is full of professionals. No, most teams probably wouldn't respond to yelling and screaming. But maybe some would? It couldn't hurt. All I know is this team is soft. Or for emphasis, SAWFT.
A team takes on the personality of their coach. Always. Apparently Kevin Stefanski is as soft as the Michelin Man. And when you're soft and have no desire or energy to go play, a lot of bad things tend to happen. Starting with...
Nonexistent Defense
God let us have our day last season He let us have a defense that gave opposing OC's nightmares and stomach ulcers. But now because of that, now it's the law of the universe that we have to do a complete 180 on that side of the ball. Someone upstairs had to have their pound of flesh in return for the Browns having the best defense in the league last season.
These guys just don't have any energy, intensity or passion when pursuing the ballcarrier. The only one who does right now seems to be JOK.
There are so many missed tackles, and guys just aren't wrapping up. It's stuff they teach young boys in peewee football. That's tackling 101. The Browns didn't get after the Commanders enough today, and gave up 215 yards on the ground. They were even worse at stopping the run than last week against the Raiders (153 yards)!
Even Washington's rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU, didn't look that bad. He went 14-25 for 238 yards, a touchdown and a pick. The Browns did sack him three times. But the defensive line just never set the tone at any point during the day.
Their counterparts on the offensive side of the ball didn't either. In fact, they did even worse.
"Help us Bill Callahan. You're our only hope!"
I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. I'm a Star Wars fan. I had to toss that in there for a laugh. And because it is genuinely how I feel right now about this part of the team.
If you would've told me in the middle of last year, "Yep, Bill Callahan is going to leave. And the Browns will soon have the worst O-Line in the NFL," I would've laughed in your face.
I know that Coach Callahan was extremely important to the success of the team. But it's like night and day compared to when Bill was here for the last several years. The Browns gave up seven (yes seven) sacks today.
Let me gain about 30 pounds and hit 200. Then send me out there. At least I'd put my hands on somebody. I couldn't be much worse than everyone out there today!
But I'm beginning to think there's something deeper to this team's massive failures than just bad football or poor coaching...
Conspiracy theories? Or the cold hard truth? Who knows?
These aren't verified as true. So take them with a grain of salt. They're just my opinions and guesses. They don't necessarily represent the views of The OH Report.
But as of this article, Kevin Stefanski has said and reiterated that he's going to stick with Deshaun Watson at quarterback. But I'll bet you anything that he didn't think of that on his own. I bet Big Daddy Haslam didn't give him a choice.
The reason Deshaun Watson is still at quarterback for the Browns, is also the same reason Baker Mayfield and Joe Flacco aren't. It's my belief that Jimmy Haslam became enamored with Deshaun Watson, got sucked into his desperation, and did anything and everything he could to get him here.
I also am starting to wonder if the offensive line really is that bad, or if there are a few people in the locker room who have given up on, or don't like Deshaun Watson. I've seen bad football. But rarely like this.
I've never seen an offensive line do such a dramatic swing to the other end of the spectrum, after being so good for so many years under Bill Callahan. A solidly talented offensive line and a decent to good quarterback can do great things! We've seen it!
Bad coaching can only be an excuse for so long when it comes to any part of this team. But whether or not this is the case, all you have to do, to find the source of the turmoil, is look at the top. Look at James Arthur Haslam III.
Jimmy Haslam (like his more successful counterpart Jerry Jones) fancies himself to be a football guy. He isn't. Not even remotely. If Jimmy's a football guy, I'm the second coming of Paul Brown.
Jimmy's a billionaire who's made his money outside of sports. But no one will tell him to stay out of the way and let the football guys run the show. He continues to jam the square peg into the round hole, in the hopes that it'll one day work. He's practicing the very definition of insanity.
He pushed for Watson, got him, ran Baker out of town, and made sure Joe left too. Can't have the fanbase calling you out on your mistake. But he's left himself nowhere to go now. His gamble failed miserably. Most of the fanbase is now waking up to what I've known for the last two and a half years. It's only a matter of time before the heat is squarely on him.
Where do the Browns go from here this season, and beyond?
This current predicament wasn't it. Watson wasn't it. Selling the farm for him and hampering the entire team wasn't it. Mortgaging our future wasn't it either. And the 2024 season is just the start of the downward spiral. You think we're at rock bottom? Oh no. Not even close.
The Browns are currently on the hook for a $172 Million cap hit for Watson if they decide to cut him. But they won't be able to pay their star players when the time comes. You think Myles Garrett and others will stay here when payday comes? Think again. You think key free agents will want to come here and jump on a sinking ship if it keeps trending this way in 2025 or 2026? Nope?
This failure goes deeper than just starting 1-4. Way deeper. And I think it's only beginning to rear its hideous face.
Hang in there, Dawg Pound. I'm usually a positive, happy guy. Even after bad days. But even I can't put a positive spin on this one. But the one silver lining, is that we will all still be here. And I mean that sincerely as a compliment to you all.
The Dawg Pound will still be here even after Stefanski, Berry, and that bumbling Tennessee stooge they answer to, are long gone. It's how Browns fans are. We are the most loyal, passionate fanbase in sports. And it's not even close. I just wish it didn't take so long for us to get to the Promised Land.
"How Long O, Lord...?"
Statistical Leaders Deshaun Watson: 15-28, 125 yards, TD
Jerome Ford: 9 carries, 47 yards
Amari Cooper: 4 receptions, 60 yards
Sources
ESPN
Empire Fan Productions YouTube Channel
Picture Credit
330ToGO Facebook page
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