Well, that was a dud. The Cleveland Browns had a chance to stay in control of the AFC North against a Houston Texans team that was in disarray. Instead, they came out and really did nothing. With the Bengals win against New Orleans, they lost their hold on first.
The offense was nonexistent, which will reignite the Johnny Manziel debate. That's annoying. I'm sure the sports talk shows have already been hearing it.
The defense, with Phil Taylor back out of the lineup, this time for the rest of the year, allowed themselves to get run over. Do you see what a team sport the NFL is, how one man out of position or playing poorly can affect everything? And if anything I saw today that really concerns me, it's the health of that front seven.
I'm not overreacting to this loss. It was an ugly game, as ugly as the Jacksonville game. And we saw how that loss was not some indication of the team's state. When you're this flat, it's hard to be too judgmental about it as some overall statement.
It was ugly, it was boring, and for one Sunday, it was deflating. But I'm not freaking out. I wish I didn't have to wait 7 days to get the taste of this one out of my mouth, but that's the NFL. Next up is the stumbling Atlanta Falcons, and the Browns will have Josh Gordon and, hopefully, Jordan Cameron.
I expect to see this team bounce back. There's nothing over their body of work, 10 games, that says that today's performance is indicative of who they are. I know we live and die with each Sunday, but I just don't have it in me to die today. The Browns are 6-4 and a half game out of first place with six games to go.
Let's just hope the week passes quickly.
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