Daily Dawg Tags: Clock is ticking on Browns finding a win
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns have eight games remaining to pick up a win this season. Are they up to the task?
The Cleveland Browns will open the second half of the 2017 NFL regular season on Sunday when they face the Detroit Lions.
The Browns, of course, enter the game at 0-8 for the second consecutive season and 1-23 under head coach Hue Jackson.
Sunday’s game marks the first of just eight more opportunities for the Browns to avoid becoming the first team since the 2008 Lions to finish a season at 0-16.
The second half of the season is not a particularly attractive one, especially for a team that is struggling to find not only a win, but also relevancy.
In addition to Sunday’s game against the Lions, the road schedule includes match ups with the Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears and the apparent NFL-mandated season-ending trip to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whether or not that game is subsequently followed by the not required but possibly recommended firing of the head coach, remains to be seen.
The home portion of the schedule is equally bleak, with visits from the Jacksonville Jaguars, which people in Jacksonville don’t even want to watch, the Aaron Rodgers-less Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Ravens. Maybe it is a blessing that the Browns only have three home games remaining, the last of which takes place on Dec. 17.
It is exceedingly hard to go an entire season without winning a game in the NFL. Every break, every call, every bounce of the ball has to go against a team. But the Browns, along with the San Francisco 49ers, sitting at 0-9, are definitely giving it their best efforts.
Cleveland Browns news:
The Browns and the myth of a quick turnaround
The Cleveland Browns are not looking for shortcuts in their latest rebuild, which is something fans should be happy about.
Cleveland Browns fans had a relaxing Sunday of football during the bye week, hopefully enjoying the time away from the winless first half.
While victories have been tough to come by for the Cleveland Browns the past couple seasons, don’t let that stop you from winning Christmas with these awesome presents for the Browns fan in your life.
Browns midseason snap counts. Who’s leading the way? (clevelandbrowns.com)
"The bye week gave us some extra time to crunch the numbers and now we’ve got a clearer picture of how the Browns have deployed their roster over the first eight weeks of the season."
NFL news:
Deshaun Watson to undergo surgery on Wednesday (NFL.com)
"Houston Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson will undergo surgery on his injured knee on Wednesday, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports. Watson suffered a torn ACL during a non-contact play in practice last week. Garafolo adds the procedure will be done by Texans team doctor Walt Lowe."
What the Vikings QB situation looks like with Teddy Bridgewater (ESPN)
"Teddy Bridgewater will reach another milestone in his recovery from a horrific knee injury on Wednesday. The Minnesota Vikings are expected to take the quarterback off the PUP list and move him to the 53-man roster for the rest of the season, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported. To create room for Bridgewater on the 53-man, Minnesota has to make a roster move. The first question the Vikings have to answer is whether they want to keep four quarterbacks on the active roster or go down to three."
2017 mid-season All-Pro Team (Pro Football Focus)
"With half of the NFL season in the books, and every NFL team now at least eight games into their schedule, it’s time to take a look at the PFF All-Pro team for the first half of the season."
Rams, Bills, Jaguars succeeding with new coaches (AP)
"Of the half dozen first-year NFL head coaches, Vance Joseph inherited what was widely considered the best situation: a team just one year removed from a Super Bowl parade with a championship-caliber defense and a renovated offense. Yet, it’s the Broncos (3-5) who are spiraling with five losses in their past six games while Sean McVay’s Rams (6-2), Doug Marrone’s Jaguars (5-3) and Sean McDermott’s Bills (5-3) are primed for playoff pushes."