The Cleveland Browns remain winless. But they are great in one area – finding ways to blow a point spread cover. They did it again on Sunday.
But even with the Browns leading the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers, 21-7, in the fourth quarter I never felt comfortable even though I had Cleveland plus 3 1/2.
Of course the Packers tied the Browns with 17 seconds left. I was hoping against hope the Packers would try to win in regulation by going for two points. Decide the game right there. Nope. Here comes overtime. Still, myself and all the other forlorn Browns bettors still had six of the seven possible overtime combinations covered.
If no team scores we win. If any type of safety occurs we win. If the Browns kick a field goal we win. If the Packers kick a field goal we win. If the Browns score a touchdown we win. If the Packers score a touchdown we lose. I don’t have to tell you what one thing happened.
Still, last week was a turning point in history for the Browns. They finally made a right move. They hired John Dorsey to be their general manager. That is a tremendous hire.
Dorsey inherited a 2-14 Chiefs organization in 2013. During his four years as GM there, the Chiefs went 43-21 making the playoffs three times. Dorsey learned his craft from one of the all-time greats, Ron Wolf. Dorsey is a tremendous general manager. The Chiefs were fools to let him go. If it came down to Dorsey or Andy Reid for me, I would have shown Reid the door.
The Browns have a decent defense, three athletic receivers and a power running back. They just need a quarterback who doesn’t make the killer mistakes DeShone Kizer does. Dorsey can address that as the Browns have not only their own No. 1 pick – which likely will be the first overall choice – plus Houston’s No. 1 pick. That’s going to be a high choice, too. Cleveland also has three second-round picks, one third and two fourths.
Dorsey kinows what he’s doing. I can’t say the same for Hue Jackson. But Browns fans should know they are going to turn the corner soon. I just wish it would have happened Sunday.
