Disaster At Met Life

 

I knew that coming to see a Browns game at the Meadowlands couldn't possibly go well.  The Jets have beaten the Browns 9 of the last 12 times they have met, which is sort of crazy as the Jets are as reliably terrible as the Browns.  The Browns have lost to Jets teams led by such luminaries as Justin Fields, Joe Flacco, Sam Darnold, Josh McCown, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith (now twice) and Mark Sanchez.  Hey, Charlie Frye led the Browns to sweet sweet victory in 2006, so there's that.  I think all Browns fans that pay attention knew that the game was going to be two shit teams playing shit football in a shitty game in shitty weather that would not so much be won by one team as given away by the other.  This is the rich tradition of what happens when these teams lock horns.  Indeed, that is what happened today.

First of all, the TV coverage cannot begin to capture how grim the atmosphere was at the stadium.  I have three cousins that live in the NY area that Krusty and I went to the game with, and one of them secured tickets in some sort of club section.  This turned out to be somewhat fortuitous as pregame shelter as I would describe the rain as "increasingly urgent".  Almost everyone in our sections retreated to the comfort of the club during the game.  Not the Miller Boys.  We sat out there for all the "pagaentry" (or whatever the hell that game was).  I sat in that downpour protected by my rain gear, a $10 "action poncho", which in reality was a yellow plastic bag with a hood cut into it that I bought at a CVS by Penn Station.  I sat as still as I could to shield my shoes with my action poncho.  That didn't work.  We were joined by about 25 people total in section 242.  I'm telling you, the seating area overall in Met Life Stadium was about 20% capacity.  There's nothing like the magic of getting pounded by pouring rain as the "game presentation" booms "J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!" and the only guy excited is that asshole in the fireman's helmet.

Not improving matters was the fact the Browns offense was for the most part totally unwatchable.  They cannot run the ball.  I'm not sure if it's that the line can't block, Judkins hasn't come back from that 2025 injury as expected, or defenses stack the box because Watson cannot toss a pass of over 20 yards.  It very well could be all three of those things.  Concepcion must have been a big part of the game plan because after he went out they seemed to just hope that it wasn't going to be a dropoff running those plays to Bond.  That was a poor decision because Bond cannot reliably catch the football, which is a key component to being a wide receiver.  I feel confident that young man's career in the NFL will be quite short.  

A quick word on that Concepcion injury.  That play happened right in front of me, and when I saw it happen the first thing I said was "He's dead".  I swear to God, I thought I saw a man die on the field right in front of me.  You knew it was bad when EVERYONE on the bench went over to check on the lifeless body on the soggy turf.  I think even Watson gave him a glance.  Considering Watson tossed him a pass that was akin to tossing a dog a ball in front of a speeding dump truck, that glance seemed appropriate.  KC wasn't moving AT ALL.  Anyone vaguely attached to the Browns medical staff was over in a circle around the guy.  This being the NFL, I thought they would scoop him up in the "University Hospital Flesh Shovel" and we would all make faces on the "T Mobile Fan Cam" as a distraction as the body was quietly removed.  However, against all odds, Concepcion stood up and walked into the tunnel.  It was about 20 seconds later the scoreboard flashed a graphic that KC would not be re-joining us.  "Out.  Head."  Ye Gods.

The good thing about playing the Jets is that their offense is as shitty as the Browns.  The Browns defense might be pretty good, but today was all about the Jets being shitty on their own.  These are teams that can't get much going anyway, and the weather made it really difficult for either QB to get the ball to anyone.  Both teams had guys that got open.  It's just the QBs couldn't get the ball to them, or the receiver would drop it if it did.  In 13 drives, the Browns had 198 yards in offense.  Watson averaged 2.5 yards per pass.  TWO POINT FIVE!  How the hell can you score that way?  If you throw for 102 yards but take 8 sacks, you can't win.  It seems like this season is going to be all about watching Watson throw to receivers low, behind them, toss it out of bounds or just fire it into the turf.  He will also make 2 or 3 really good throws per game.  That's it.  Two or three.  It sort of looked like that was all the Browns would need after they took the lead as the Jets couldn't do shit either.  Of course, I don't think they expected that snap to my boy Bojorquez to fly over his head.  

The six or seven soggy fans left in our section all agreed that one of the two teams was going to do something stupid to lose the game.  They were confident that it would be the Jets as their shameful history is as bleak as the Browns.  I was adamant that it would be the Browns but I will admit that the snap disaster caught me by surprise.  We all know that's how the Browns get you.  When it seems like they are going to pull off an unlikely win, they will come up with an inventive way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  After that Jets touchdown run, anyone watching rooting for the Browns thought "Of course.  This all tracks."  By the time Watson took a couple sacks after dancing around and not even getting off a pass, it was just filling in the details.  This was the Browns being the Browns doing Brownsy things out in the rain.  As is now the tradition, the Jets beat the Browns.  Again.  

The Browns are fortunate that they might get the Ravens without Lamar next week.  Ravens backup Snoop Huntley is no Lamar.  I don't even think Huntley is a poor man's Geno Smith.  There is no reason why the Browns can't beat the Ravens next week.  The Ravens kinda blow.  Of course, as we are quickly learning about the 2026 Browns, there is no reason to expect that the Browns will beat the Ravens either.  There just aren't that many good teams in the NFL right now.  The Browns are just one of those teams towards the center of the bell curve that can lose any game at any time for any number of reasons.  If they can't get a running game going soon, they are going to slip into that "sorta shitty" tier of the Colts, Commanders, and Saints.  The "Over 5.5 wins" is going to get dicey.  This is what this team is.  Watson is 21st in QBR, settling back in with his expected peers of Malik Willis/Daniel Jones/Kyler Murray.  He can't turn the offense around on his own.  He's just not capable of doing that.  What's the answer?  Hell if I know.

The game meekly ended.  I took a train back to my hotel with squishy shoes.  Not even the Jets fans on the train were jacked up about getting the win.  It was more the vibe of us having shared the experience of surviving the day together.  In the train car with me I saw one other Browns fan.  Like me, he had an old Browns jersey.  Like me, it was #3... Brandon Weeden.  I see you brother.  We made eye contact.  I saw him catch the jersey number.  We gave each other a silent nod.  We knew.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  

Go Browns.