Week 9: Baltimore (4-3) at Cleveland (4-4)
Our chance to get back atop the division standings, and to exact a little revenge. We get our big game, with a 137 yards from Stewart and 3 TDs from Brock, and take the 34-21 victory. Much needed.
Week 11: Cleveland (5-4) at Cincinnati (3-6)
Cinti was expected to be a solid team this season, but have disappointed. But they rise up this week, and nip us, 34-31. Another OT field goal, and we come back to .500 on the year.
Week 12: Cleveland (5-5) at St. Louis (5-5)
The “good” Cleveland team shows up this week, and we rout the Rams 40-9 behind two TDs from safety Kenneth Eskridge. God showing, and now we need to keep it up.
Week 13: Cleveland (6-5) at Indianapolis (3-8)
A late TD wins this one for us, 24-20 – without much margin for error. With 88 yards and a TD catch, TE Karl Sellers is back atop our receiving stats for the year, just ahead of sophomore split end Don Pritchett. It looks pretty unlikely, though, that either one will break the seemingly impenetrable 1,000-yard barrier this year.
Week 14: Seattle (4-8) at Cleveland (7-5)
With this win, a solid 24-0 pounding, we keep our one-game lead in the division over both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. It looks like we’re mainly shooting for the division win, as a bye week is almost out of the question.
Week 15: Cincinnati (7-6) at Cleveland (8-5)
Big divisional game, and again the Bengals – who are now red-hot – manage to get the better of us, this time 37-31. Now we will really have to fight – as the division is a three-way tie.
Week 16: Arizona (8-6) at Cleveland (8-6)
The “good” Browns team shows up again, and we roll the Cards 40-3. TDs by safety Kenneth Eskridge and corner Ty Enochs make it a blowout, but we played well across the board. TE Karl Sellers, with another big game, gets to 913 yards, with one game yet to play. It’s possible, but not too likely, that he could break the 1,000-yard mark.
Week 17: Cleveland (9-6) at Pittsburgh (9-6)
I cannot untangle the playoff race, other than to feel confident that the loser of this game is out. The winner may not make it in either, but at least has a shot at either the division title or the last wild card. So, we treat this like a playoff game, and have to win or go home. Baltimore upsets Cinti in the other division game, so the winner here will take the division title.
Fortunately, it’s the “good” team who shows up this week, and we secure a 44-20 win to get into the postseason for the eighth straight season. Kenneth Eskridge continues his monster season with yet another interception return for a score. We end up as the #4 seed in the AFC, which is fine – we’ll take the home playoff game in our opener, and be happy with that.
Code:
2019 Regular Season Standings
AC North W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Cleveland 10 6 0 .625 436 296 6-6 3-3
Pittsburgh 9 7 0 .563 417 400 6-6 3-3
Cincinnati 9 7 0 .563 410 367 6-6 3-3
Baltimore 8 8 0 .500 419 390 5-7 3-3
AC South W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Tennessee 10 5 1 .656 356 277 9-3 3-3
Jacksonville 9 7 0 .563 367 345 5-7 3-3
Indianapolis 5 11 0 .313 284 368 4-8 4-2
Houston 5 11 0 .313 262 380 5-7 2-4
AC East W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Buffalo 11 5 0 .688 380 330 8-4 4-2
Miami 7 9 0 .438 342 405 7-5 4-2
New England 6 10 0 .375 322 367 5-7 2-4
New York J 5 11 0 .313 255 354 5-7 2-4
AC West W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Kansas City 11 5 0 .688 360 312 8-4 5-1
San Diego 10 6 0 .625 352 322 7-5 2-4
Denver 9 7 0 .563 331 297 6-6 4-2
Oakland 6 10 0 .375 316 338 4-8 1-5
NC North W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Minnesota 9 7 0 .563 304 314 8-4 6-0
Chicago 9 7 0 .563 336 264 7-5 3-3
Detroit 6 10 0 .375 314 359 5-7 1-5
Green Bay 4 12 0 .250 202 373 3-9 2-4
NC South W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Tampa Bay 10 6 0 .625 374 300 7-5 4-2
Carolina 10 6 0 .625 357 310 8-4 4-2
New Orleans 10 6 0 .625 369 263 7-5 2-4
Atlanta 4 11 1 .281 303 377 3-9 2-4
NC East W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Philadelphia 12 4 0 .750 388 290 9-3 4-2
Dallas 11 5 0 .688 343 336 8-4 3-3
Washington 9 7 0 .563 365 286 6-6 3-3
New York G 7 9 0 .438 310 293 4-8 2-4
NC West W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Arizona 8 7 1 .531 266 314 7-4-1 3-2-1
St. Louis 6 10 0 .375 256 345 5-7 3-3
Seattle 5 10 1 .344 248 346 4-7-1 3-2-1
San Francisco 4 12 0 .250 310 336 4-8 2-4
Interestingly, Pittsburgh sneaked in, despite the loss in the finale against us. We will host San Diego in the opening round, and at least get home field. I don’t think we have the look of a champion this year, but at least we do have a shot.
Code:
2019 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 10-6
Winning Pct.: .625
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 462 9 (T)
Rushing Yards 1917 12
Yards Per Carry 4.14 19
Pass Attempts 477 29
Completions 302 24
Passing Yards 3792 14
Yards Per Attempt 7.94 4
3rd Down Conversions 38.5 23
Points Per Game 27.2 1
Turnovers 19 8 (T)
Turnover Margin +8 7 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 419 6
Rushing Yards 1541 3
Yards Per Carry 3.67 4
Pass Attempts 583 32
Completions 326 21 (T)
Passing Yards 3918 28
Yards Per Attempt 6.72 10
3rd Down Conversions 44.0 26
Points Per Game 18.5 7 (T)
Turnovers 27 7 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 27 at BAL 30
2 12 at SFO 9
3 26 KCY 9
4 27 at BUF 30
5 30 PIT 27
6 17 MIA 19
7 13 NYJ 14
8 16 at NED 14
9 34 BAL 21
11 31 at CIN 34
12 40 at STL 9
13 24 at IND 20
14 24 SEA 0
15 31 CIN 37
16 40 ARI 3
17 44 at PIT 20
$$WC SDO
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
2 Brock QB 469 296 3757 8.01 27 10
**Team --- 477 302 3792 7.94 29 10
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
39 Stewart RB 315 1379 4.37 9
37 Sims RB 73 310 4.24 2
44 Barker RB 44 158 3.59 0
**Team --- 462 1917 4.14 11
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
80 Sellers TE 100 77 923 11.9 260 7
89 Pritchett WR 103 55 969 17.6 292 10
86 Harmon WR 84 48 696 14.5 131 3
39 Stewart RB 69 46 418 9.0 201 0
82 Pendleton WR 40 22 258 11.7 17 6
83 Tilton WR 29 20 256 12.8 38 0
**Team --- 475 302 3792 12.5 1067 29
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
50 Upshaw ILB 119 32 0.0 0 2 6
20 Eskridge S 96 34 2.0 1 9 12
24 Weed S 83 35 0.0 0 2 8
55 Wallace ILB 66 27 5.5 8 0 4
46 Caston CB 63 10 0.0 0 1 11
91 Dodge OLB 52 17 3.0 3 0 4
99 Allen DT 45 17 9.5 12 0 0
28 Enochs CB 37 15 1.0 0 3 9
40 Cottle CB 36 7 1.0 1 1 1
95 Jaramillo DE 34 14 11.0 33 0 0
90 Rogers DT 28 18 4.0 11 0 0
52 Upshaw OLB 26 10 5.5 3 2 1
71 Quinn DE 25 13 4.0 4 0 0
58 Regalado OLB 22 5 0.0 1 0 2
85 Nichols TE 20 0 0.0 0 0 0
44 Barker RB 16 0 0.0 0 0 0
**Team --- 853 265 51.0 91 21 62
In the second half, our running game lost a bit of its effectiveness, despite the nice showing from rookie Daryl Sims (rapidly becoming a favorite of mine). The passing game, though, clicked nicely, and kept our offense on track. WR Don Pritchett had a really big final game against Pitt, and nearly got the 1,000-yard mark—but came up just shy like so many before him. We’ve now seen 12 seasons over 800 (by nine different players!), but not a single one over 1,000.
Defensively, our run defense was again near the top in the league. Ranking 10th in pass defense is a surprise to me, I would have guessed we did more poorly than that. S Kenneth Eskridge pt up numbers that will surely get him to his first All-pro game, and perhaps even get him Defensive POY consideration. Great year, just as he’s about to make a ton of money under his current contract.