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When the Cleveland Browns selected Bernie Kosar in the 1985 Supplemental draft, few knew just how much that would impact the next decade of Cleveland Browns football. They were coming off of a rough patch, but had a long history of winning. The fans were passionate and ready to support a winner.
What happened next was a decade of ups and downs the likes of which were dramatic enough that it often seemed like a Hollywood script was unfolding before our very eyes. There was a drive, a fumble, even retired quarterback Don Strock made his return straight off of a golf course. Beloved coach, Marty Schottenheimer, left and Bud Carson arrived to take the Browns back to the verge of the Super Bowl in 1990, only to fall short, once again being defeated by the emerging icon, John Elway, wearing number seven for the Denver Broncos.
Bill Belichick would arrive soon after in 1991, a visionary before his time that never quite got it with the Browns, and by the time he departed, cut a hometown hero and was the captain of sinking ship as Modell announced the move on that dreadful November day. One could wonder what would have happened had the Browns not left Cleveland in 1995, but no one can dispute the absolute thrill ride the hometown boy, Bernie Kosar, from Boardman Ohio took us all on for ten glorious years. This is the story of Cleveland Browns, the passionate fans and a decade that truly was the last great era in Cleveland football.
Interviews include Brian Brennan, Reggie Langhorne, Tommy Vardell, Leroy Hoard, Matt Stover, Ed Sutter, George Lilja, Felix Wright, Brian Kinchen, Brian Hansen, and Michael Jackson
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BALTIMORE, Maryland – The Cleveland Browns added insult to injury with a dreadful 41-17 loss in Baltimore today as the Ravens Franchise honored their 30th anniversary of dashing out of Cleveland in 1995. Here just a few of the good and bad decisions that led to today’s result.
Good decision by Coach Jim Harbaugh for punting the ball in punt-able situations as Jordan Stout punting in the first half kept the Cleveland Browns with long fields to work with.
Baltimore Ravens punter Jordan Stout had a heck of first half punting, which kept the Cleveland Browns looking at long fields all half. His punts were as follows.
58 yards, 48 yards, 57 yards and 57 yard for a nice average of 55 yards per punt, which consistently flipped the field in Baltimore’s favor.
Good Decision at the end of the first half to go for the field goal by Kevin Stefanski.
Head Coach Kevin Stefanski made the right call to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt. This boosted the young man’s confidence and put the Browns on the board at halftime, only down 10-3 at that time.
Bad Decision by Joe Flacco not to throw the ball away
Only down 13-3, after coming off of a big stop, the next Browns drive resulted in disaster when Joe Flacco scrambled out of the pocket and should have thrown it away. Instead, he forced a pass to David Njoku in traffic that was picked off by Nate Wiggins and returned 61 yards to the Browns 3 yard line.
Good Decision by John Harbaugh going for 7 over 3 early in the second half.
After back-to-back goal line stops by the Browns, the Ravens who had settled for a field goal the first time, went for it the second time and got it! The Ravens had just settled for a field goal on their last drive that was halted at the goal line, so moments later, they faced the same situation on fourth down after three straight Browns stops when Harbaugh went for it and it paid off.
It resulted in a Lamar Jackson to Devontez Walker to the right for 2-yard touchdown. This extended the Ravens lead to 20-3 with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, but for all intended reasoning, put the game away.
Good Decision nu Kevin Stefanski to challenge the Harold Fannin drop in the third quarter.
Instead of taking the chip shot Field Goal by Szmyt, Kevin Stefanski challenged the call of a dropped pass by Harold Fannin Jr. He won the challenge but it was still fourth down when he decided to go for it instead of the field.
It paid off when a pass by Joe Flacco was tipped by Marlon Humpries into the hands of Cedric Tillman for a touchdown. The Browns were bailed out with fluke luck, but it brought them to within 10 at 20-10 with 5:02 left in the third quarter.
Good decision by Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski to get Dillion Gabriel some playing time
A rough day for the Cleveland Browns signal caller as he went 25 of 45 for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Truth be told, his one touchdown pass should have been picked off as well. His interception led to a touchdown and later on his fumble led to a touchdown for the Ravens as well.
Today’s Flacco is far from the one who had 5 consecutive 300-yard games when he arrived in 2023 to lead the Browns to the playoffs. At this point, the Browns may be staring a 0-6 start to the season right in the face.
He only played one full drive in garbage time, but Gabriel went 3 of 33 for 19 yards with a beautiful touchdown pass to Dylan Sampson. It may not be time to start him until week 7 against Miami when they have their first winnable game, but Kevin Stefanski needs to use times like the today when the game is completely out of reach to get him experience.
Not decisions but quick hits
The Browns have lost the turnover battle in the first two weeks by a stunning 0-4 margin. When you are as bad as Cleveland is, you need turnovers to have any chance. Those 4 turnover have led to 17 points against them.
There was no running game to speak off yet again. If take away Judkins garbage time run for 31 yards against all backups, he would have finished with 9 carries for 30 yards. Dylan Sampson had 4 carries for 6 yards.
Where has David Njoku been? He was Flacco’s to target the last time Joe was here, but this season has not bee the same case. Threw two games, Njoku has been held to 7 catches for 77 yards. Meanwhile, the rookie Harold Fanin Jr has shined with 12 catches for 111 yards.
