The Wheels Are Off

 

After another lifeless game in Pittsburgh, the flicker of recognition has come to some of the fan base that the Browns have no intention of measuring the season in wins and losses.  The rebuild is in full swing with the trade of the only veteran QB and former #1 pick/starting CB Greg Newsome.  These are not the moves of a GM concerned about if he's going to have his job next year.  Now I could argue that the Haslams have fucked over their front office people in the past and will do so again depending on the whim of the Royal Family so Andrew shouldn't get too comfortable, but it's not like he has a lot of options.  Somebody is going to have to wear the Watson debacle, and to me it's looking more and more like Berry gets tossed under that bus when they release Mr. Diamond Shoes next Spring.  The bottom line on the 2025 Browns is the season is EXACTLY what you feared it would be going into it.  Loss after loss with none of the levity of having Jameis Winston in the building.  If you have season tickets, you'd better start getting ready for Dec 7th as the only likely win you'll see this season when Tennessee limps into town.  Cleveland Browns, forged by toughness or whatever that stupid slogan is they are using.

I won a lot of money yesterday because I bet on the Steelers.  You should have done the same as the certainty of the Browns losing that game was at the same level as "sun rises in morning".  There was no way in hell the Browns were going to come back from London to go on the road to face Pittsburgh that was coming off a bye week and even be competitive.  The NFL must have been laughing out loud when they wrote that schedule up.  Also note, the only reason you didn't hear the Browns organization complain about it is because they don't give a shit about if they win or lose.  The only thing they care about is somehow magically being good when that Grift Palace new stadium opens, and they seem to think they can lose their way to greatness.  The bottom line though is I think those two teams could play on a neutral field 100 times and Pittsburgh wins 99 times.  The super sharp analysis that I have made has concluded "The Browns cannot score points in any circumstance".  

People will get worked up today because Gabriel threw the ball 52 times, but it's not like they could run the ball.  That offensive line is so bad, there is nothing they can do effectively against a competent defense.  Cam Robinson played, and almost immediately got hurt.  Conklin, who can't stay healthy, left with a concussion.  Cornelius Lucas and KT Leveston are not starting offensive linemen in the NFL, but that's who is protecting the edges.  This is Lucas's 6th team and Leveston got traded here in his second year after being drafted by the Rams.  Look, if the Rams are willing to let go of a draft pick in exchange for Subway gift cards and three XL "Dawg Pound" t-shirts, the Rams probably got the better part of that deal.  Those guys are bodies that are filling the roster that you wouldn't usually see on the field until Week 15, but here we are with those dudes in the starting lineup.  The offensive line fucking blows.

Let's also not forget that Dillon Gabriel is not looking like a "high ceiling player".  Of the 52 passes he threw, only 10 of them were more than 10 yards.  Arguably his best pass was that one he fired up into the 15th row of the end zone when the entire Pittsburgh defensive front was bearing down on him 1.2 seconds after the snap.  If the question is "Can Dillon Gabriel be a starting QB in the NFL?", we all know the answer is "no".  At this point Browns fans just need to embrace the idea of nailing down what Cleveland Browns Past Great he more resembles, a poor man's Colt McCoy or Cody Kessler.  He sort of has the pocket presence of Austin Davis with the flair of Jeff Driskel, but feel free to come up with your own composite.  As we have foreseen, Gabriel will start another 4-5 games and then we will watch Sanders flail around out there for awhile.  The real concern is if both of those guys get hurt and we have to endure some Bailey Zappe Time.  Nobody wants that, not even the Zappe family.  

Quick nod to Jerry Jeudy who again made $1.1 million dollars for a game despite not being able to catch the football.  I feel badly for the guy in that Gabriel has difficulty getting him the ball, but you've got to be able to catch it on the off chance it comes near you.  It must be such a shock to see a catchable ball coming his way that he freaks out and can't respond.  Jeudy is sort of the Mohamed Massaquoi of this era but getting paid like he's Jarvis Landry.  There's just nobody that can make a play.  If the ball doesn't go to Jeudy or Fannin, I constantly say "Who the fuck is that?" and some guy I've never heard of is picking himself off the turf after a four yard out route.  There is just nothing happening on the offensive side of the ball and no reason to think anything is going to change.  There's just 11 more games of this bullshit.

The question Browns fans need to ask themselves is if this organization is capable of building a winning team and culture.  They have shown you over and over and over that they can't accomplish anything because they don't know where they are going and they don't know how to get there.  For all the "We Gotta Fire Stefanski" people out there, I don't know what you accomplish by doing that.  It's not like a new coach will provide the team with the ability to protect the QB or have Gabriel toss the ball to open receivers 20 yards downfield.  The game plan each week is to minimize risk and hope the other team makes mistakes.  They are just trying to not embarrass themselves as they lose their way into a Top 3 draft choice where we start the new "Franchise QB Carousel" once again.  That "Forged By Toughness" 2025 season slogan should get replaced with "Losing With Dignity".  Now that's a shirt I would wear.  

Go Browns.