Baker Mayfield (Image: Ben Margot/AP)
Where do I start?
Should I start with the fact that the Browns offense scored 42 points?
Do I start with the Browns defense…which gave up 45 points?
Should I start with how the horrible officiating assisted in a Browns loss, 45-42, to the Raiders in overtime.
Well, I won’t start with the horrible officiating, but I will most definitely get to that. For now, I will start with the positive…Baker Mayfield and the Browns offense putting up 42 points!
Cleveland, we have ourselves a quarterback!!!
Although his performance wasn’t perfect, Mayfield did a very good job in his first start. He led the Browns offense to 42 points and almost pulled out a victory. He did however, have 4 turnovers in the game.
Honestly, I would only blame 2 on him. One being when receiver Antonio Callaway slipped coming out of his break and the ball was intercepted in return for a touchdown. The second was a miscommunication on the snap, when Mayfield was still making adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
But overall, I will say the rookie’s first start was a success and something to grow from. He showed that he can handle adversity at this level and bounce back from ugly turnovers. He will undoubtedly learn from what happened today in Oakland. The silver lining in all this is that we still, despite the 4 turnovers, almost won the game. That shows that with Mayfield at the helm, we may always have a shot to win.
Mayfield and Chubb
Mayfield had to deal with with dropped passes by his receivers. He couldn’t have put the ball in a better spot if he walked down the field and placed the ball in their hands.
It was ridiculous!
You can’t continue to drop wide open passes and win games. One bright spot of the offense was running back Nick Chubb. He had 3 rushes for 105 yards and 2 TDs. Chubb ran though the Raiders like a hot knife through butter. So, with the running combination of Chubb and Hyde, we should be able to run the ball more effectively.
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb
Defense Held Their Own
Our defense was on the field quite a bit however and I think they wore down as the game went on. They look totally gassed by the last few drives of the fourth quarter and overtime.
You could blame it on the California heat. Or you could blame it on the lack of production from the offense during stretches in the second half. Despite that, the defense forced 2 turnovers again this week and honestly, they did enough to win the game. But the referees in Oakland had a different plan.
ROBBED IN THE BLACK HOLE
Now I usually don’t talk bad about the officiating. But when there are calls missed, that literally cost a team the game, something needs to be said.
To be fair, the refs totally blew a call on the Marshawn Lynch run where they blew the whistle and he was nowhere near down on the play. Lynch, afterwards, angrily kicked the ball.
Sports fans, that’s an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but did they call that? No!! I guess they didn’t have the heart to flag him for that. Not after they just killed what would’ve been a very nice gain by Lynch.
I believe that they continued to try and make up for that inadvertent whistle by blowing a few calls that would’ve allowed the Browns to put the proverbial nail in the coffin on the Raiders.
The first being the quick whistle. It blew dead a play in which Derek Carr was hit by Myles Garrett. The hit forced a fumble which was clearly recovered by the Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi.
Ogunjobi had a clear path to the end zone but the referee blew the whistle, stating that Carr’s forward progress was stopped.
WHAT!?!?!
Correct me if I’m wrong but forward progress only applies if the player is trying to move forward and is stopped. Carr had dropped back to pass and was hit from the back. The ball came out, and the ref blew the whistle.
Had they let the play continue like they should’ve, the refs would’ve seen the fumble and recovery by the Browns. That screw up costs the Browns a turnover and possibly a TD.
Good, Bad, The Browns
If that play wasn’t bad enough, the referees waited till there was 1:34 left to play to make the most ridiculous call of the entire game.
And of course, it goes against the Browns.
Despite all the good and bad moments, the Browns had as a team, they were still in position to pull out the victory.
Raiders had burned all 3 of their timeouts; so now all we need is one 1st down, and the Browns win. It’s 3rd and 2, the hand-off goes to Carlos Hyde. He drives into the line, twisting, turning and backing his way towards the 1st down marker as he is brought to the ground. The referee spots the ball and signals 1st down.
Now all the Browns need to do is kneel a couple of times and that’s it. Mayfield gets his first win and the Browns win 2 in a row for the first time in I don’t know when. But wait a minute!! This IS the Cleveland Browns and the referees now say that the previous play is under further review.
“After further review, the runner’s elbow was down prior to the line to gain.”
So, no first down, game is not over, and you know the rest. In true Cleveland fashion we lose to the Raiders; but I can honestly say that this one feels a little different.
Optimism For What’s Ahead
Not just because we were robbed by the officials. But instead of being angry at this loss, I was heartbroken. I was heartbroken because I had, for the first time in a long time, the hope of the Browns actually winning the game. See in previous seasons we knew going in that we weren’t a very good team. But this year things are different. The feeling is different. And even though we lost Sunday it is definitely something to build on as we move forward and get ready to host the Baltimore Ravens next week!
