Cleveland Browns Week 8: Studs and duds
By Randy Gurzi
Dud: Greg Joseph, Kicker
The Cleveland Browns had a shot to win their first two games of the season. In Week 1, they settled for a 21-21 tie against the Steelers. In Week 2, they lost 21-18 to the New Orleans Saints. In those games, the blame fell on kicker Zane Gonzalez, who missed three field goals and two extra points. He was released after the second debacle of a performance and the Browns brought in several players for a kicking competition.
They ended up going with Greg Joseph, the rookie from FAU. It was a shocking move considering Joseph made just 69.5 percent of his kicks while in college. However, he was making his kicks to start things off, but they were ugly.
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Joseph knocked in a couple kicks that looked like they came off the hand of a knuckleball pitcher — including one in overtime to defeat the Baltimore Ravens. Still, he was 8-of-9 on field goals and 6-of-7 on extra points entering Sunday’s contest. That fell apart against Pittsburgh.
After he made two ugly kicks in the first quarter, Joseph started misfiring. He started out the second quarter with a missed kick, which could have put the Browns up 9-0. He later missed an extra point after an Antonio Callaway touchdown made in 16-12. That one would have made it a field goal contest, but instead, it deflated their momentum once again.
It seems like the Browns may be considering making a change once again here.