The Cleveland Browns are 7-8 on the season and can’t seem to win games against good teams. Much like was true against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Las Vegas Raiders and the first game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Browns were close but no cigar against the Green Bay Packers.
A nuanced conversation is hard to have in print as the easy finger-pointing goes to Baker Mayfield, Kevin Stefanski and the kicker (for this game it was Chris Naggar). All three played roles in the outcome of the game.
A Christmas Miracle that was denied for Cleveland. The Browns remained without a number of players on the reserve/COVID-19 list as well as due to injury. The list of starters or key contributors is startling to look at:
- Jadeveon Clowney
- John Johnson III
- Greg Newsome II
- Troy Hill
- Ronnie Harrison
- Malik McDowell
- Jedrick Wills
- J.C. Tretter
- Kareem Hunt
- Chase McLaughlin
No excuses but it is a staggering list to see.
So what did we learn from the loss? At a base level, it wasn’t good enough but it was darn close. The nuanced discussion is a little more detailed.
