Cleveland Browns, chaotic AFC North all tied up in knots
The Cleveland Browns are in first place, and tied for last after two weeks.
The Cleveland Browns should be okay if they can play the third-string quarterback every week, while the Bengals can apparently handle second-string quarterback Justin Fields of the Bears but not first-string ex-Bengal Andy Dalton. Also, the Steelers were bombarded to death by first-string David Carr of the Raiders.
In terms of point differential, the Browns lead by a whopping six points, while the Ravens are the worst at five under. All in all, it was a sorry performance by a division that many were calling the toughest in the NFL.
Even the Ravens, wounded by an incomprehensible number of injuries, and who played with tremendous heart, were extremely sloppy and handed Kansas City the tools to beat them. Somehow, the Ravens prevailed on the back of Lamar Jackson, who is the clear MVP of the division. It’s incomprehensible that the severely injured Ravens can continue in this fashion, but Jackson specializes in the incomprehensible. The rest of the division was just bad in Week 2.
The Browns, of course, were very fortunate that second-string Tyrod Taylor couldn’t stay healthy, as a pulled hamstring took him out of the second half of the game. Taylor absolutely torched his former team for 10 completions on 11 pass attempts and a passer rating of 144.3. Incredible!
Mad respect for this Pro’s Pro, but this performance was totally ridiculous. Wide receivers Brandin Cooks, Chris Conley, and Nico Collins were uncoverable by Browns defensive backs. It was just a question of Taylor locating the open man and hitting them in stride.
There is no evidence that the Browns were capable of stopping a professional quarterback. Versus Kansas City, the presumption was that Patrick Mahomes is actually an Asgardian walking the earth and that it was not their fault that they were unable to stop him. However, the suspicion is that Taylor is actually just a talented mortal, and the Browns may really not be able to defend against the pass. The defense may have talent, but right now they are just bad.
They were acceptable against a rookie third-round draft pick Davis Mills (eight for 18 with a TD and an INT, 102 passing yards, 58.1 rating), but the Browns still allowed him to appear to be one of the outstanding representatives of the 2021 draft class.
Just to put Mills’ performance versus the Browns in perspective, they allowed him to outplay Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Justin Fields on this day. Wilson was a disaster, throwing four picks with a passer rating of 37.0, Lawrence managed to throw two while completing only 42.4% to his own teammates and passer rating of 37.2, and Fields threw an INT without a TD pass while completing only 46.2% of his passes and compiling a passer rating of 27.7.
With a 58.1 passer rating, Mills dwarfed most of his competitors. Only Mac Jones, leading the Patriots over Wilson’s Jets, truly had a better day than Mills.
To understand the 2021 NFL quarterback drafting class, just go to my cousins’ farm and watch them slop the hogs and observe how aggressive the hogs are at the trough, pushing each other out of the way. Two possible conclusions fit the data: first, the food might be really, really tasty. Second, the hogs might just be really, really greedy. You figure out which situation fits the Jaguars, Jets, and 49ers. Conversely, coach/GM Bill Belichick and the Patriots patiently waited till 15th overall, and the Texans held off until the third round.
By rights, the Browns should have demolished a rookie quarterback taken in the third round. Not taking anything away from Davis, but the fact that the Browns did not out-and-out dominate him suggests that they are a very weak defense at this point in time.
On a positive note, they did a very good job versus the run, holding ancient Mark Ingram to only 41 yards from 14 carries (2.93 yards per carry), and David Johnson to 25 yards on six carries (4.17 yards per carry). As a team, the Texans gained only 82 yards on 28 carries, an average of 2.93 yards per carry.
The Dawg Pound was rocked by Grant Delpit’s debut as he produced a sack in 26 snaps (43% of the defensive plays on Sunday), but overall the defensive secondary was an underperforming unit. There is really nothing good to say about them. Hopefully, there is some physical explanation, minor injuries that they were not revealing to the press, or something that could explain their ridiculous performance. If so, they might recover in time for the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens are the most injured team in the NFL and they had to play the defending AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs.