Browns 1st and Goal Report: Myles Garrett speaks up…hope Browns are listening 

 

It’s the battle of Ohio, as the Cleveland Browns will take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon. Both teams have struggled this season. The Browns have a putrid 3-11 record, while the Bengals have a 6-8 record, still clinging to an outside shot at a playoff berth.

These two teams played several weeks ago in Cleveland. In that game, Deshaun Watson went down with an injury, probably ending his career as a Brown. Cincinnati won that game, so Cleveland will look for some revenge on Sunday.

Here’s this week’s first and goal report where we tackle more issues and questions for our beloved Browns. 

1st and goal: Myles Garrett speaks up and puts the Browns on notice

Myles Garrett, the Brown’s best defensive player and leader of the pack spoke the other day about his future with the Browns. He certainly indicated that he wants to continue his career as a Cleveland Brown, but emphasized the need for Cleveland to get on the same page as an organization and not go backward and have some type of rebuild. 

The elephant in the room, obviously is Deshaun Watson, whose contract has taken this franchise back several seasons. 

There was no mention of Watson by Garrett in his presser, but he wants to make sure that the Browns try to move forward and win now.

Garrett’s in his eighth season with the team and certainly a player that the Browns would need if they want to seriously contend for a Super Bowl.

There are a lot of indications that Watson will not be here with the Browns, or at least on the field of play again, even if he continues to be under contract with the team. 

So the next steps will be determining who the Browns bring in to help quarterback the team in the immediate future and what they do in this draft. 

Hopefully, owner Jimmy Haslem and general manager, Andrew Berry are hearing Garrett’s words of advice and will push to continue to win now.

2nd and goal: Will DTR be able to give the Browns offense a spark?

The Browns offense has been pretty pathetic for most of the season. They did get a spark temporarily when James Winston came in after Watson and the team started scoring more points.

But for this team to get over 20 points has been a chore all season long. So can Dorian Thompson Robinson help reverse the team’s fortunes? He’s propelled this team win games in the past. Can he do it again?

I think he can and will use his skill set including his ability to run with the ball and create positive moments on offense. 

The team will be without Nick Chubb, who broke his foot last week but they will have Jerome Ford taking most of the carries in this game. He did have a nice long touchdown run a week ago. Will he be able to carry that momentum into this game against the Bengals who have given up a lot of rushing yards to teams this season?

Also, this Bengals defense has given up 27 points or more over the last six games. So, what we’re saying Browns fans is that we got a chance!  If DTR makes good decisions and doesn’t turn the ball over and has time in the pocket then the Browns might win this one.

3rd and goal: Kirk Cousins anyone?

There’s been a lot of talk this week about the veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins potentially being available to the Cleveland Browns this off-season. Cousins has been the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons this season but had struggled the last few weeks. He was benched recently.

His contract could be one that the Falcons release later this spring and Cousins could come at a very inexpensive price of around $1 million if he were to consider coming here to Cleveland.

Cousins worked with Kevin Stefanski when he was the offensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings several years ago. So there is a relationship between the two already

I would not be surprised if this actually happens and Cousins is the team’s starting quarterback. 

I also think the Browns will consider drafting a quarterback in the upcoming draft this spring.

There are other veteran quarterbacks out there too including Sam Darnold, the current quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings. He could potentially could be available. Or Cleveland could bring back James Winston at a pretty inexpensive price so stay tuned!

4th and goal: A Domed Stadium in Brown’s future will be a franchise-altering moment for the good

There has been a lot of discussion about the new domed stadium projected to be built in 2029. It will be built in Brook Park a suburb of Cleveland. While there are many who oppose this next step in the franchise’s history it makes sense for too many reasons to not build it.

It’s getting built and Browns fans should try to unite around this new state-of-the-art facility

This past week architects of the planned dome described some of the unique features of the building. 

Among many things, it will have the masses of fans in very close proximity to the field in the lower bowl. The design contain an upper deck  but limited compared to most stadiums today.

According to the plans, this will allow for large concourses around the venue and then become a destination for many fans for a variety of events, including football.

The new Dawg Pound is said to be set at a 34° incline to where the fans are literally feeling like they’re on top of the players on the field. I’m not sure I’m prepared as a fan to sit in that location. But it should make for some intimidation and a benefit to the home team.

I hope the fans over the next several years can wrap their heads around this new beautiful venue. And continue to support the team that you’ve always loved.