Back before the start of the season, I wrote a blog entitled, Some Twisted Predictions on the Browns’ Season.
As another dismal season came to an end, I re-visited my predictions. How did I do? I can summarize my performance using the eloquent words of anchorman legend Ron Burgundy…
You be the judge. My September predictions are below, with my post-season verdicts following them in bold type:
So l am gonna make some 2015 Browns’ predictions from a little different angle…
*Number of games Josh McCown will start this year: 10.
*Number of games Josh McCown will start if he continues to boycott sliding like in his last pre-season game: 2
Josh ended up starting 8 games this year, sitting out week 2 after suffering a concussion vs. the Jets when he got helicoptored going for a TD (and fumbling). He later got injured in week 8 vs. the Cardinals. He returned in week 11 for their Monday night game vs. the Ravens, where he broke his collarbone to end his season.
*Chance that we will see the 2013 version of McCown that threw 13 TDs, 1 interception, and had a 109 QB rating for the Bears: 28%
I was completely wrong here. Old Man McCown balled this year, putting up big numbers: 2,109 yards, 12 TDs vs. only 4 interceptions, 64% on completions, 93.3 QB rating. In a three-week stretch, he threw for 341, 356, and 457 yards vs. the Raiders, Chargers, and Ravens, with 6 TDs and 1 pick. I am more to happy to have him on the roster next year, whether as a starter or a back-up and mentor. As for our other QB…
*Number of games Johnny Manziel will start this year: 5
Johnny got 6 starts in this year. He led the team to a win over the Titans in week 2, then played in games 9 and 10 at Cincy and Pittsburgh before getting put in time-out for 2 games by Papa Pettine (see below). He then came back for a win over the 49ers and losses to the Seahawks and Chiefs, where he was concussed.
*Number of Johnny Manziel sideline TV shots for the opening Jets’ game: 37
*Number of Johnny Manziel sideline TV shots for the opening Jets’ game where he is half-grinning while talking to someone: 13
- wsj.com
*Say what you want, but Johnny definitely is one cool cat, even when riding the bench! He could probably go toe-to-toe with the guy in those ‘The Most Interesting Man Alive” commercials!
The past few months indicate that Johnny is much more interested in taking over “The Most Interesting Man Alive” role in the those beer commercials for this aging hipster…
than being an NFL QB.
OCTOBER 16th: Johnny is pulled over on the highway on an early afternoon. He admits to have been drinking, though he was not intoxicated. He and his girlfriend scuffled some. Eyewitnesses claim that he was driving on the highway shoulder to pass cars at very high speeds.
NOVEMBER 24th: Johnny is benched again for violating the team’s trust by publicly partying in and out of Ohio, then lying about it. I think Coach Pettine also took away Johnny’s phone and car keys for a week.
JANUARY 2nd: The USA TODAY just reported that Johnny was dining and gambling in Las Vegas yesterday. This was days after the team announced he would not be playing that Sunday because he was put on the NFL concussion protocol from last week’s game. That report also says that Johnny put a picture of him and his dog at home on his Twitter account with the hash tag, ‘#SaturdayNights’ and the picture location as Avon, Ohio. UNBELIEVABLE!
I have another role that would fit Johnny…
I think Johnny is gonna have a lot of Sundays off in the in the next year or so.
*First game where a ‘Fail for Cardale’ fan sign will be shown on TV: game #6 vs. Broncos
Things didn’t work out as hoped for for Ohio State and quarterback Cardale Jones. He likely would have been a first round pick if he came out last year. Now, he’s looking like a late round pick.
*Percent chance that someone other than McCown or Manziel will start the last game vs. the Steelers: 32%. Remember that Connor Shaw (2014), Thaddeus Lewis (2012), and Bruce Gradkowski (2008) all made their starting debuts for the Browns in the season finale.
Nailed this one. Austin Davis continues this wonderful Browns January tradition.
*Mystery QB that might start the last game vs. the Steelers: Kenny Guiton (that was for all you Buckeye fans!)
Wrong on this reach, but another Buckeye (see the next prediction) was the back-up QB for the final game.
*Number of TDs scored by Terelle Pryor: 4 ( I guess Ray Farmer didn’t pass out copies of my recent keep Terrelle Pryor blog to his staff on the way out the door to his month-long time-out).
Terelle caught his first pass as a Brown in this last game!!! A clutch 42-yarder on 4th down! He later earned a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with the Browns inside the 5-yard line. That’s a 27-yard profit, though!
*Number of games where Solomon Wilcots will be a TV announcer: 4
No Solomon sightings after the pre-season. Maybe the CBS network read my blog???
*Number of Christmas cards that Solomon Wilcots will receive from Dwayne Bowe and Ray Farmer: 0
Solomon’s criticism of Bowe (the big free agent signing in the off-season) in pre-season game #4 was right on the mark.
*Chance that Dwayne Bowe will win the 2015 Keith Hernandez bad over-the-hill veteran contract signing award: 29%
*Chance that Dwayne Bowe will top his 2014 TD total of 0: 78%
I think 5 catches for the entire season while earning $9 million in guaranteed money will get the award re-named after Mr. Bowe.
*Chance that Ray Farmer with text to the Browns’ sideline this year: 0.01%
*Ray Farmer’s most used phone app this year on game day: Snapchat
Ray was laying very low once his suspension was over. I think things are gonna get a bit lower for him in the next few days.
*Best chance for a big upset win this year: The Broncos. Peyton Manning is almost 40!
The Browns wasted a couple of ugly late-game Manning interceptions before falling to the 5-0 Broncos 26-23 in overtime.
*Most exciting win of the year for Browns’ fans: whatever NFL game that ends the Steelers’ season.
Still waiting for this moment. Thanks Jets. And Browns.
*Price for cheap seats on StubHub the week of the Dec. 13 game vs. 49ers: $10 (a couple years ago, I took my boys to a December game vs. the Jaguars for $8 a pop. And we snuck down to the 10th row bench the Jaguars’ bench for the whole 2nd half. Shhh. Don’t tell the ushers!)
I bought some Nov. 1 tickets to the Cardinals game in 60-degree weather for $15. The San Fran tickets were in the single digits during the game week. Then on the day of the game, I checked the StubHub website and saw that various people had their nose-bleed seats priced at $1,000. Gotta appreciate a sense of humor!
*Number of times the Browns go orange popsicle look (orange pants, jersey, and helmet): 1
- espn.go.com
I like the orange jerseys the best! The Brown ones need some tweaking.
Not one orange popsicle in sight all year! Not even orange pants with white jerseys, ala the Kardiac Kids of the the late 1970s and early 80s. Way too much of the Brown pants for my liking.
*Most likely to be the new sponsor for the Browns’ offense: Dunkin’ Donuts
I think it’s gonna be a dink and dunk passing offense this season. During the preseason, McCown had an impressive 92.8 QB Rating, going 29-for-38 (76% completion percentage) with 3 TDs. But all of those completions accounted for only 207 yards. That’s 5.4 yards per attempt, and 7.1 yards per completion.
Whether you liked Hoyer or not, he usually made for good TV. He wasn’t afraid to throw the ball down field. He averaged 7.6 yards per attempt, and 13.7 yards per completion!
Way wrong on this one (see my earlier shout out to Josh McCown).
*Number of 2nd halves where I will fall asleep on my couch watching the ‘dink and dunk’ show: 3
(No offense to McCown. I have nodded off on my couch to Couch, Dilfer, Delhomme, Weeden, Quinn, Anderson, Frye,…)
That number seems about right. I know that I got much better with my fast forward DVR button during those 2nd halves.
Here’s my overall season win-loss prediction. I like to do it in chunks, since the Browns always lose some they should win, and win some they should lose. And remember, every other NFL fan looks at their own schedule and counts the Browns’ game as a win for them.
Sept. 13 at Jets, Sept. 20 TITANS, Sept. 27 RAIDERS:
Win 2, lose 1 (they went 1-2)
Oct. 4 at Chargers, Oct. 11 at Ravens, Oct. 18 BRONCOS:
Lose all 3 (2-4 overall) (went 1-2. Great win over the Ravens!)
Oct. 25 at Rams, Nov. 1 CARDINALS, Nov. 5 at Bengals, Nov. 15 at Steelers:
Win 1, lose 3 (3-7 overall) (went 0-4)
bye week, Nov. 30 RAVENS, Dec. 6 BENGALS, Dec. 13 49ERS:
win 2, lose 1 (5-8 overall) (went 1-2, thanks to the Ravens returning a blocked field goal at the final gun)
Dec. 20 at Seahawks, Dec. 27 at Chiefs, Jan. 3 STEELERS (home)
lose all 3 (nailed it)
5 wins and 11 losses. Just bad enough to possibly fire a head coach and general manager. Just good enough not to be able to get a good QB in the draft.
They finished 3-13. I guess that prediction shows that I am pretty much a glass half-full kind of guy! As for the head coach and general manager, their glass looks pretty empty.
At least we earned the #2 spot in the draft!
ONLY IN CLEVELAND.
(nailed that line).
Prove me wrong, Brownies!!!
They didn’t.
ONLY IN CLEVELAND.