NEW ORLEANS – The glimmer of hope in the dark gray cloud that was the The brown ones Sunday’s 35-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints came from their schedule.
There won’t be three more days to reflect on the loss in New Orleans when you have to play again on Thursday. Of course, those three days could be about a home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers if that’s what happens in four days, but that remains to be seen.
When the record says you’re between 2 and 8 years old, like the Browns“The record says it is, the glimmers of hope are a little harder to find. The Browns themselves would tell you conflicting things about how bright that glimmer of hope can really be for a team .
“Losses are never good,” quarterback Jameis Winston said. “So I wouldn’t say better, but I agree with your point of view that we have a big opponent coming to our home that we have to be ready for because they are a good football team. We don’t So we don’t have time to dwell on this match, we must concentrate on our next match.
The Steelers will come to Cleveland as they so often do. This means that while the Browns may be enduring another dismal season, the Steelers are among the contenders in both the AFC North and the AFC as a whole.
Pittsburgh opened a two-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North with a two-point win over the Ravens on Sunday. That pushed the Steelers to 8-2 for the season, good enough for the third-best record in the AFC behind the back-to-back Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs at 9-1 and the Buffalo Bills, leading the AFC East, at 9. -2.
The Browns will limp home to Cleveland and will have to deal with the loss, as well as the physical toll it took. They will lose at least one left tackle with Dawand Jones now lost for the season with a left ankle injury, as well as a number of others who carried various ice blocks into the locker room postgame .
This is also the other factor of the short week.
The flip side, however, is that the Browns are not expected to play again after Thursday’s game until their Dec. 2 “Monday Night Football” game against the Denver Broncos, assuming it is not rescheduled for the Sunday after -noon.
“Yeah, I’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “We have a divisional game. We have Pittsburgh. They’re obviously playing well. I don’t know if they won or lost today. (I said they won.) They won, they won. They play really well. It’s always a challenge, so it’ll be good for us, but I know we can focus on them and hopefully the guys will come out that week and be focused, try to win a divisional game. »
The Browns have won only once in two months, against the Ravens on October 27. At this point, even after snapping a five-game losing streak and going 2-6, one could squint and see something to play for in terms. playoff hopes this season.
Now, Cleveland is facing a two-game losing streak and is two losses away from the 22nd losing season in 26 seasons since the 1999 expansion season. They will face a Steelers team that can achieve its 21st straight undefeated season and its 24th undefeated season since 1999.
So, at the end of the day, what’s at stake for the Browns, not just on Thursday, but for the rest?
“Legacy,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “I play this game to be the best there is. I expect everyone else to play it because they love it, to play it because they want to be remembered thing whether we are 2-8 or 8-2, it will be remembered for years to come. There will be movies, people will talk about you and you will have to look in the mirror knowing that your efforts and what you. recorded will decide what will happen for your career and for years to come.
“And when I step foot in there, I expect to do the best job I can, and I expect that of everyone who’s with me.”
Nick Chubb finds space to take on the New Orleans Saints defense
Speaking of positives, the Browns got what they thought was the best performance from running back Nick Chubb since returning from his knee injury. He rushed for 50 yards on 11 carries, for an average of 4.5 yards per carry.
Neither the number of yards nor the number of carries were highs for Chubb, who played in his fourth game this season. However, the average per run was 1.2 meters higher than the previous record.
So was Chubb at the best of his season so far?
“Yeah, I thought so too,” Bitonio said. “I mean, we’ll see the tape. He’s working hard. He’s still there. He’s still getting better. I think the more games he plays, he’s going to continue to feel better and the more there are will have live match representatives, there I will find this feeling again.
“I mean, no one has come back from his comeback, from his two injuries. So everything he does on the field is impressive.”
Jameis Winston shows up in style in Big Easy’s comeback against the New Orleans Saints
Winston was quite the returning hero upon his return to the city he played in from 2020-23. This was demonstrated by the various pre-game handshakes he participated in, and by the wedding reception line former Saints teammates who waited after the game to talk to the quarterback.
Between the two, Winston had a 395-yard, two-touchdown performance. The only problem was that it was a loss to New Orleans.
So while Winston acknowledged the love of his old city, he couldn’t help but also dwell on his current employer.
“I’m just beyond grateful for the love and support I’ve received from this city,” Winston said. “It’s definitely not the outcome we wanted, but we’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to keep getting better and we’re going to keep looking inward and being the solution.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Learn more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article was originally published in the Akron Beacon Journal: Browns have a quick turnaround after Saints’ loss to Steelers: Takeaways
