The Ultimate Sports Blog's
2015-16 NFL Preview
2014-15 Record: 7-9
Last Playoff Win: 1994 Wildcard vs. New England Patriots
Last Playoff Appearance: 2002 Wildcard vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last Super Bowl Win: None
Last Super Bowl Appearance: None
Head Coach:
Mike Pettine (7-9 all-time in Cleveland, 0-0 in playoffs)
Offensive Coordinator: John DeFilippo
Defensive Coordinator: Jim O'Neil
2014-15 Team Leaders:
Passing Yards: Brian Hoyer (3,326 yards, 55.3% completions, 12 TD's, 13 INT's, 76.5 QB rating)
Rushing Yards: Terrance West (171 attempts, 673 yards, 4 TD's)
Receiving Yards: Andrew Hawkins (63 receptions, 824 yards, 2 TD's)
Tackles: Donte Whitner (106 tackles)
Interceptions: Tashaun Gipson (4 interceptions)
2014-15 Team Rankings:
Passing Offense: 20th in NFL
Rushing Offense: 17th in NFL
Points Per Game: 27th in NFL
Least Points Allowed Per Game: 9th in NFL
2014-15 Potential Starters:
Purpe - Elite Starter
Blue - Above Average Starter
Green - Average Starter
Orange - Below Average Starter
Grey - Rookie
Red - Disgusting, Awful, Horrible, E.J. Manuel
Offense:
QB: Josh McCown
RB: Isaiah Crowell
WR: Brian Hartline
WR: Dwayne Bowe
TE: Gary Barnidge
C: Alex Mack
OG: John Greco
OG: Joel Bitonio
OT: Joe Thomas
OT: Mitchell Schwartz
Defense:
DE: Desmond Bryant
DE: Randy Starks
DT: Danny Shelton
LB: Paul Kruger
LB: Barkevious Mingo
LB: Craig Robertson
LB: Karlos Dansby
CB: Tramon Williams
CB: Joe Haden
FS: Tashaun Gipson
SS: Donte Whitner
2014-15 Schedule:
(September 13) vs. @ New York Jets
(September 20) vs. Tennessee Titans
(September 27) vs. Oakland Raiders
(October 4) vs. @ San Diego Chargers
(October 11) vs. @ Baltimore Ravens
(October 18) vs. Denver Broncos
(October 25) vs. @ St. Louis Rams
(November 1) vs. Arizona Cardinals
(November 5) vs. @ Cincinnati Bengals
(November 15) vs. @ Pittsburgh Steelers
(November 22) BYE WEEK
(November 30) vs. Baltimore Ravens
(December 6) vs. Cincinnati Bengals
(December 13) vs. San Francisco 49ers
(December 20) vs. @ Seattle Seahawks
(December 27) vs. @ Kansas City Chiefs
(January 3) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Overlook: It's kind of ironic that the the NFL team in Cleveland is named the "Browns" because they have been a shitty ran NFL franchise for as long as I can remember. I don't mean to be so harsh to start things out in a preview, but can we cop a clue already Browns? Your team is in one of the toughest divisions in football and your defense is actually pretty good on paper. However, for years you have been lacking the one thing that a football team needs in order to win consistently in this league. A good quarterback. It's become such a joke that there's an actual Browns jersey in a store window somewhere that has a LOOOOONG list of all the Cleveland Browns QB's the franchise has had over the last few seasons and it's ridiculous. Unfortunately for Browns fans, the list got even longer this off-season as the team traded out the crappy Brian Hoyer for the even crappier Josh McCown. Ya, good move Browns. Way to take a step back while everyone else in your division is inching towards a Super Bowl title.
Let's try to be positive for a second here though. Like I mentioned earlier, the Browns actually have a pretty good defense on paper. Their biggest weakness is their defensive line, but I'm a HUGE fan of rookie Danny Shelton and I think he's going to be a force in the NFL. Hopefully for Browns fans, Shelton's presence alone will help make the other two lineman better, because they need to be, The strength of Cleveland's defense will be their secondary. Joe Haden is one of the best corner's in the league and the Browns signed Tramon Williams from the Packers in the off-season. Williams isn't an elite corner, but he'll definitely be an upgrade to what the Browns had there last year. Anyway, like I already said, Cleveland should be fine on the defensive side of the ball. It's the other side that should worry everyone.
I've already gone into detail about how much Luke McCown sucks and will be a downgrade (although not a major one) from Brian Hoyer. The Browns had better hope and pray that Johnny Manziel can find "it" this year, because if he doesn't...he may never and if the Browns are forced to play McCown all-year long, I may have been a little generous giving them five wins. The rest of the offense (outside of the offensive line of course) is nothing to get excited about either. The Browns running backs are all mediocre. Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe are far from being effective every down NFL wide receivers and the tight end position is a mess. The offensive line is one of the NFL's best though so that unit alone could help the offense squeak out an extra win or two along the way somewhere. Isn't it unfortunate that an elite player like Joe Thomas has had to play in Cleveland his entire career? Can we get that guy a new home?
Anyway, as you can tell....I don't expect much from the Cleveland Browns this season and you probably shouldn't either. Unfortunately we are still going to hear a lot about them though because for some reason, people are still obsessed with Johnny Football, even though the guy isn't good enough to even see time on an NFL field. GO BROWNS!!!!
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