Well, that certainly did not go the way the Cleveland Browns drew it up.
The Browns lost their season-opening game on Sunday against Miami in a very familiar fashion. The loss was the team’s ninth consecutive to open the season – the longest current streak in the NFL – and the Browns are now 1-14 to open the season since 1999.
After a complete off-season of working with new offensive coordinator Norv Turner, the offense came out and looked just like the same offense we saw in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009.
The first offensive drive ended in an interception when wide receiver Travis Benjamin did not fight hard enough for the ball; second series was three-and-out; third series ended in an interception when Greg Little could not catch a ball that hit him in the hands; fourth drive was stalled by an Oniel Cousins penalty; the fifth drive was another interception on a bad Brandon Weeden pass; and, well, you get the idea.
At some point the Cleveland Browns had to sign a kicker. Billy Cundiff, it's your turn in the box. Thankfully they signed Cundiff before Sunday's kickoff against Miami. But it was always iffy whether they'd get it done, wasn't it? With the Browns, where hope has been its only strategic plan for more than a decade, it's never wise to presume anything.
A little more than eight months after we last saw them in real game action, the Cleveland Browns return to the field on Sunday to open the 2013 NFL season.
What a treat you guys are in for today. Because not only do the Browns kick off their season today, but the TCF writing staff has put together a voluminous article expressing how they think the season will go and what they're looking for out of the Browns when the home town team kicks it off Sunday.
After about 6 months of largely ignoring the sporting universe, I'm back on the gambling horse in a big way now that football has returned. Fantasy football, picks against the spread, elimination leagues... I'm ready and eager to lose money in multiple ways.