Cleveland Browns bump Cowboys, prove they’re America’s Team

The Cleveland Browns prove, again, that they’re America’s Team

How the mighty have fallen, as the Cleveland Browns  versus New York Giants game has knocked the once-mighty Dallas Cowboys versus San Francisco 49ers off their ratings off their ratings perch. NBC has decided to not televise the Cowboys-49ers game as originally scheduled on Sunday Night Football December 20, and instead your Cleveland Browns will be on national television, aided and abetted by the New York Giants and their massive television market.

At least for the next 15 minutes, the Cleveland Browns as well as the Giants can legitimately say that they have overtaken the Dallas Cowboys in terms of national popularity.

People want to see Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb and Baker Mayfield, not Andy “The Red Rifle” Dalton and Zeke Elliott. Who do you think is going to buy products advertised in commercials starring Andy Dalton? Give us a break. We know who the star is now. It’s Baker Mayfield, and the reason why sportscasters are going on TV telling him he has to stop making entertaining commercials is because they are green with envy.

It’s the same with Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. These are the interesting young men that the viewing public wants to see.It’s not Andy Dalton or anyone else from the Cowboys team.

The resurgent Browns are on a roll with sackmeister Myles Garrett and insurance spokesperson Mayfield as their unquestioned leaders on the field. They are currently 9-3 and will be no worse than 9-4 when they face the Giants on December 20 in the Big Apple. The Giants, on the other hand, were given up for dead after losing Saquon Barkley due to a season-ending knee injury, contributing to a 1-7 start.

However, behind a solid defense and steady quarterback play by young Daniel Jones (another fellow we will be seeing more of on television) the Giants have reeled off four straight wins and are actually contending for a piece of the NFC East title. A record of  5-7 in the weakest division in football would not be worth much in most parts of the country, but in New York it is enough to inspire talk of Joe Judge winning Coach of the Year for the NFL. In fact, they may elect him mayor.

This has got to be killing Jerry Jones, who prides himself on having a large nationwide following. Rightly so, for the Cowboys organization was one of the most solid franchises in history by the time Jerry Jones took over in 1989. Over the course of his career, he has made a lot of money and accomplished a lot for himself and the league, but he has finally managed to run the team he loves into the ground this season. Front office meddling,  well-intentioned no doubt, in the form of large contracts for his favorite players, has paralyzed the team’s salary cap for the next several years.

Overpaid defensive players have simply not produced this season. As a result, the Cowboys are the laughing stock of the NFL. They are setting records this season for giving up yardage and points. Some pundits suggest that the 2020 Cowboys may have  one of the very worst defenses in NFL history. They are simply not capable of playing competitive football. Perhaps if Ohio State is forced out of the NCAA football playoffs, there may be a role for the Cowboys this season, but they probably would not get the votes.

Fans are so disgusted they do not want to watch this product on television. Hence it was an easy decision to make.

It is certainly not the fault of the 49ers, who remain an interesting and compelling story, even after a rash of injuries set them back early on this season. In many ways, this has been one of their finest seasons, as they have had to make up for the loss of several impact players. Reaching 5-7 in the toughest division in the NFC is itself a remarkable achievement because of what they have been through.

Dee and Jimmy Haslam of the  Browns suffered some of the same problems, though in recent years Dee Haslam has helped to clarify the functions and boundaries between ownership and the front office. They were burnt badly enough by the Johnny Manziel episode that they became willing to learn from their experiences, in this writer’s estimation.

In the 1990s, this would have been considered impossible, when it was Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin against Steve Young , RIcky Watters and Jerry RIce. That was the hottest ticket in town, and in fact there was semi-serious talk about rewriting the rules to somehow allow Dallas versus San Francisco to face each other in the Super Bowl.

In the days of Kosar, Mack and Byner, the Browns also had a nationwide and even international following, as Browns Backers clubs were everywhere. They started to thin out a little after years of repeated losing, but perhaps now we will see them come back. People like the Browns because they have a blue collar mentality. It’s a working persons’ team. They are owned by a very rich family, but one that got their start working at a truck stop. They seem to identify with regular people.

As for Browns football, it’s not really fancy. It’s natural turf, cold weather football. Sometimes it rains or snows or the wind blows. Next Sunday’s game will be played at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, which is awesome, but I hope that next year they take the NFLPA’s advice and grow natural turf.

The Browns-Giants rivalry used to be a big deal, going back to the days of Jim Brown versus Sam Huff. It will be awesome to renew this rivalry on the national stage, like in the old days. In many ways, this a triumph for a resurgent old school, with two classic football teams battling it out in late December for a shot at the playoffs and ultimately the Super Bowl.

At least for the next month, these two teams will be infinitely more interesting the Boys from Arlington, as Jerry Jones’ team continues its slide into mediocrity and irrelevancy.