Week Two in the NFL

The Sports Nerd | The Incoherent Ramblings of a Die Hard Sports Fan

So here we are…  Week 2…  NFL Season in full awing and there is plenty of drama to go around.  Pittsburgh and New Orleans losing their Quarterbacks… Miami trading a Pro bowl LB… NY Jet QB has Mono… Pro Bowl CB wants out of Jacksonville… Dak still hasn’t signed…  Miami is tanking…  Eli has been benched…  Buffalo is the best team in NY.. err.. scuse me..  Buffalo is the best team in the Tri-State area…  as my friend @jongolson would say, Buffalo is the ONLY team in NY…  The ranks of the undefeated include the aforementioned Buffalo and San Francisco…  Seattle, Green Bay, Dallas, Kansas City, and Baltimore…  OH and of course the Patriots…  Pittsburgh is 0-2 and without Big Ben for the remainder of the season… we had a tie in week one… and yet… with all of the drama going on all I can think about (surprise) is the Cleveland Browns and their performance in the first two weeks of the season…

After not being able to get out of their own way in week one, among several penalties, mistakes, no offense, they were spanked, owned and dominated by the Titans… Bakr threw 3 interceptions in the 4th quarter alone…   capping off a dismal, heartbreaking and depressing home/season opener…  They showed no energy, no explosiveness, and pretty much sloppy, undisciplined play, attracting 182 yards in penalty yardage.  They were horrible, and I was disgusted, because I know they are better than that…

After that week one debacle… we bring you to Monday Night Football…  September 16, 2019…  They were on the road… they faced a hostile crowd… they were shouldered with a ton of pressure after laying an egg the previous week…  OBJ was returning to the Meadowlands…  The Jets are a terrible team, the were starting their backup Trevor Siemian because Sam Darnold had MONO of all things…  Opening drive FG, due to amazing one-handed catch by Odell in nearly the exact same spot as the catch against the Cowboys that vaulted him into elite receiver status..  They managed one TD in the first half, a 19-yard TD by Nick Chub, and they lead going into the half 16-3…  the second half only saw ONE score… an 89 yard jewel to OBJ for a touchdown, sealing their first win of the season…

A win is a win as the saying goes, but despite the fact the Browns finally got off the schnide…  I have questions…  First…  When is Baker going to learn how to read a defense… When will the Offensive Line Gel to the point where Baker has time in the pocket…  When will Nick Chubb have a 100 yard rushing game… When will the Browns stop settling for Field Goals?  these are the issues I have with the current Cleveland Browns… the Offense was sluggish…  the Offense was Vanilla…  with the weapons at hand for this team they should NOT be settling for Field Goals when they have first down in the red zone…  Baker looked lost… he looked confused… he looked like he was pressing… He was tentative…  he held the ball too long…  the OL did not give him time… they did not provide decent run blocking…  Its a damn good thing they were playing the Jets… because if this was the Rams (week 3 opponent) Ravens, Seattle, Baltimore, or San Francisco, (Browns next 5 opponents) they would not have been so lucky. 

This offense has enough talent to be one of the most explosive in the NFL, yet Baker is playing like he is afraid…  Like he has no trust in either his decision making or the protection of his offensive line…  Until we see the Baker of 2018, this team is 8-8 at best and will not even SNIFF the playoffs…  Get your shit together Browns… or all of the  hype surrounding this team at the start of the season will simply be just that… HYPE…  with no connection to reality whatsoever…

Like I have been saying since the draft…  don’t tell me what this team can do…  SHOW ME…

Have a good night….

Scott - The Sports Nerd...