As I’m sure you know by now; the Cleveland Browns won a football game for the first time in over 600 plus days. Now not only did the Browns get win, but myself, Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy start Week 3 off 1-0. Schaumburg Stu was the only won who picked the New York Jets; so he’s starting the week off 0-1.
With the Browns down 14-0 nd starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor out of the game with a concussion it was time for the #1 overall pick Baker Mayfield to make his NFL debut.
Mayfield led the Browns on two drives that ended in field goals to make it a 14-6 game. Mayfield almost threw the first touchdown pass of his career, but Jarvis Landry was brought down on the 1 yard line leaving it to Carols Hyde to pound it in to make it 14-12. The Browns decided to go to 2 and it was Landry and Mayfield involved in the play, but the other way around. Landry threw to a wide open Mayfield in the end zone to convert the 2-point conversion and tie the game at 14 all. The Jets turned around with their rookie quarterback Sam Darnold and kicked a field goal to take the lead back at 17-14. Now it was Mayfield’s turn again to try and see if he could lead the Browns down the field and to that first win. Now this is Cleveland; so I’m sure everyone was expecting them to find a way to lose the game, but not this time. Mayfield did lead the Browns down the field and again it was Hyde who scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to put Cleveland ahead 21-17. Now with 2:04 left in the game the question was; can Cleveland hold on? The Jets first comeback attempt ended when Joe Schobert picked off Darnold with 1:27 left to play. The Jets had all 3 of their timeouts left and with the Browns unable to generate a 1st down Darnold and the Jets where going to get one more chance to try and win the game with 56 seconds left. The Jets drive started with a 31 yard completion to former Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor for 31 yards, but after an incompletion the Jets where down to just 15 seconds. Darnold took a shot down the left hand side of the field for Robbie Anderson, but Terrance Mitchell intercepted the pass and sealed the win for the Browns.
Mayfield went 17 for 23 in the game for 201 yards. While he didn’t throw a touchdown pass he also didn’t throw any interception, but he was sacked 1 time. He also caught the pass to complete the Browns 2-point conversion.
The Browns are now 1-1-1 on the season, but could easily be 3-0. In Week 4 Cleveland travels west to face the Oakland Raiders and the question now is; do Mayfield be the starting quarterback for that game? I don’t think that anyone was surprised when Cleveland’s head coach Hue Jackson said he wouldn’t announce a starting quarterback until next week.
This is an interesting decision because if the Browns decide to go to Mayfield under center I think they have to stay with him as their starting quarterback for the rest of the season.
I’m also sure that you’ve heard the term in football that you don’t lose your job because of injury and to be fair Taylor has been solid at quarterback in his three starts. He’s 41 for 84 (48.8%) for 462 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Taylor is also a very mobile quarterback as he’s ran the football 16 times for 125 yards (7.8 yards per carry) with 1 touchdown. Taylor is actually the Browns 2nd leading rusher.
Now Mayfield truly did look ready to take over the Browns quarterback job, but remember all the talk there was about Darnold after Week 1 when he looked so good against the Detroit Lions.
If you’re Hue Jackson what do you do? Are you starting Taylor or Mayfield in Week 4?
The Colorado Rockies went into a 3-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers five days ago with a 1/2 game lead in the NL West. The Rockies left Los Angeles in 2nd place after the Dodgers swept them in that three game series to take a 1 1/2 lead in the division.
The Dodgers have won 7 of their last 9 games and with the sweep over the Rockies showed that they are the best team in the NL West, but will they win the division?
Now Colorado is 2-5 in their last 7 games, but did get a win last night against the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rockies look to have the tougher schedule down the stretch. Colorado has two more game with Arizona before wrapping up the season at home against two NL East teams. They’ll host the Philadelphia Phillies for 4 games and then finish the season with 3 games against the Washington Nationals. All three team the Rockies will play have fallen out of their respective playoff races, but they’re still quality teams.
The Dodgers have 2 more games against the San Diego Padres; who they lost to last night 5-3. After the Padres series the Dodgers not only go on the road, but stay in the division. The head to Arizona for 3 games before they wrap up the season with 3 games against the San Francisco Giants. The Diamondbacks are the only team over .500 that the Dodgers will play, but you have to think that if those final 3 games against the Giants mean anything that San Francisco would want to do everything they can to knock their rival out of the playoffs.
Down the stretch; who do you got, the Dodgers or the Rockies?
The NL Central is set up the same way coming down the stretch. The Chicago Cubs have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs are now dealing with an off the field distraction as their shortstop Addison Russell was placed on leave after allegations of abuse from his now ex-wife surfaced in a blog. How will the Cubs deal with the Russell situation and a pennant race?
It didn’t start off good for the Cubs as their crosstown rival the Chicago White Sox roughed them up 10-4, but the game wasn’t that close. The Cubs will close out the season with 2 more games against the White Sox. Then they’ll play their last 7 games at Wrigley field. The Pittsburgh Pirates visit for 4 games and then the season ends with a visit from the St. Louis Cardinals who might need those games to get into a wild card spot.
Milwaukee picked up some ground on the Cubs with an 8-3 win over the Pirates. The Brewers have 2 more games against the Pirates before they head to St. Louis for 3 games against the Cardinals. Milwaukee heads home to wrap up their season with 3 games against the Detroit Tigers.
Just like in the NL West; who are you going with to win the NL Central, the Cubs or the Brewers?
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