The Browns Tried Their Very Best Down The Stretch To Lose, But Ultimately Cleveland Beat The Jaguars

Listen I've seen PLENTY of losses over my lifetime as a Browns fan, and from time to time, this team gets very creative in how they get there. Some of my favorites include the time when we won the game and Dwayne Rudd took off his helmet and launched it in celebration before the clock hit zero, giving the other team a penalty and a field goal to win it. Another way  was back in 2015 when we lined up for a game winning field goal in a tied game against the Ravens, only to have them block it AND return it for a 33-27 victory with no time remaining. So point being, when the Browns were up 18-13 with the ball on the Jags side of the field and less than 2 minutes to play today, I was not popping bottles just yet. But how would they do it this time? 

.....they almost surprised me. With 1:44 left, the Browns took 11 seconds off the clock and had to Punt the ball back to the Jags with 1:33 remaining. How, you may ask? Let me explain the wonder that was the run, timeout, run, timeout, PASS WITH NO TIMEOUTS LEFT, drive that would've been the finishing touches on their previous drive in which we had 3 straight penalties for about 40 yards to knock us out of FG range, starting with a stiff arm facemask on a 1st down when the game was over. It was a fucking disaster. And then Trevor Lawrence was a very short Hail Mary from perhaps the most disastrous loss I've ever seen, essentially ending the season at 0-2.

BUT WE WON!!!!!

Dominated the first half and probably should've been up way more. Deshaun was substantially better. 22 for 34, 186 yards and most importantly zero turnovers and only 2 sacks. Ran a TD in himself, too. Was he great? No, not great. But he was good. He made very good throws, made plays, and was a couple drops away from having a very, very good stat line. And obviously the defense was better, too. Funny how that helps? 

The fact of the matter is that the season appeared dreary last week when we got drubbed by the Cowboys, but now we're 1-1 in a division where the Ravens are 0-2, and we 3 straight very winnable games coming up with the Giants, Raiders, and Commanders. THE TIME IS NOW!!!!! We're still down both starting Tackles and also our Tight End, but we need to get healthy and go win these three games. I'm not saying we're a good team but I'm saying we have a possibility to get in the thick of things on the backs of a relatively easy schedule coming up. I'm not jumping off the Deshaun or Browns train just yet....

*And simultaneously to the Browns game, the Guardians beat the Rays, Clase picked up his MLB leading 45th save, the Royals lost. Magic Number down to single digits at 9. What a time to be from Cleveland.