Cleveland Browns were who we thought they were

The Cleveland Browns may not have liked Delanie Walker saying they are who we thought they were. But the fact is, they are still a good team.

Tennessee Titans three-time Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker summed up their titanic 43-13 win over the Cleveland Browns by saying: “They were who we thought they were. Y’all can crown them if you want to crown them. Still got to play football.”

Walker of course was channeling the late Denny Green’s epic rant as coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Green’s point was that his opponent, the Chicago Bears, were highly respected and that his team did not underestimate them, but nevertheless the Cardinals were good enough to beat the Bears.

“Still got to play football.” Those words sting because they are true. The Browns always win the preseason. They always have the best draft and have a new quarterback every year. The problems start when the bell rings.

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Yet there is another, more positive aspect to the Denny Green rant. The Browns are who we thought they were. That means they are still the talented team we thought they were. The Browns still have Baker, Nick, Myles, Denzel, Jarvis, Odell and all those terrific players.

They acquired tremendous talent via free agency this year, with Odell Beckham, Oliver Vernon, Sheldon Richardson and especially because Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb are starters on offense on opening day, in place of Tyrod Taylor and Carlos Hyde.

This is an improved team, despite the fact that Tennessee took them behind the woodshed and gave them a rude education. This debacle was not due to lack of talent or a conspiracy among the game officials. Nor was there a supernatural curse or jinx. This is a case of a young team badly misunderstanding what they needed to do to win.

Still got to play football.

The most devastating aspect of the Browns’ loss has nothing to do with the talent. Greg Robinson symbolized the alternative goal of expressing rage and frustration, which he allowed to take precedence over playing football. He did serious damage to a unit that was struggling on the field and was already weakened by three linemen on IR (Kyle Kalis, rookie Drew Forbes and Lo Falemaka).

By getting ejected from the game, Robinson massively shifted the balance of power. Chris Hubbard had to shift to unfamiliar left tackle, and then Robinson’s replacement Kendall Lamm went out with an injury. Justin McCray had to come in, having had less than one week of practice with the team.

This unit was not able to protect Mayfield–nor should anyone expect otherwise–and at that point the Tennessee Titans were the superior team on the field by far.

If anyone held the illusion that the Browns could move the ball and protect the quarterback with only a makeshift offensive line, that illusion has been destroyed. This is proof positive that they need to have their best players, and they need to be disciplined as a unit in order for the team to have a realistic chance to win. There are no easy ballgames out there.

It is very clear that the young Browns were awash in their own hype. They relied too much on emotion and not enough on discipline and athleticism. A case in point is that many of the penalties especially early on, were assessed on the defense after the play was over.

Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has the reputation of being a disciplinarian, but his charges were anything but disciplined. Late hits helped to extend drives time after time. This is false want-to, and made up for Tennessee shortcomings on offense. Late hits do not intimidate anyone, it just makes them mad.

Next. Studs and duds from the Week 1 loss. dark

They will still win games this year. But they learned that they are not unbeatable and the NFL does not give away W’s based on talent level. Delanie Walker could not be more right..

Still got to play football!

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