CLEVELAND — After the Cleveland Browns rallied to beat the Cincinnati Bengals last week to improve to 5-2, so many of us dared ourselves to dream about the team possibly making its first playoff appearance since 2002 this season.
However, the Las Vegas Raiders brought everyone back down to earth on Sunday with a physically dominating win over the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium.
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The Browns not only will limp into the bye week with this loss, they may also point back to it down the line as the game that cost them a potential berth in the postseason. Remember, if it comes down to head-to-head matchups in a tie-breaker, the Raiders obviously now own that advantage.
But there were other things that happened on Sunday that were a concern as Jim Donovan and I got together for another edition of Donovan & Dino. We discussed the following:
- The Browns defense could not get off the field on numerous 3rd down and long situations.
- Injuries are continuing to mount to key players. Chubb, OBJ, Hooper, Teller, and Myles Garrett, who was only able to play about half of the snaps. (Thankfully, the news on Garrett is promising.)
- When the offense did have opportunities against the Raiders, there were too many miscues. Dropped passes, fumble, false start penalties, etc.
If the Browns do want to make it to the playoffs, they'll probably want to be at 10 wins at the end of the season. On the surface, you think, 'no problem, they went 5-3 already. They just have to go 5-3 again and they have an easy schedule, right?'
Here's the problem: Three of those games are against the Ravens, Steelers, and Titans. The Browns have already been blasted by both Pittsburgh and Baltimore and will not be favored against Tennessee. So that means your margin for error is incredibly small.
All that said, the Browns are 5-3 as we hit the midway point of the season. That's something to feel good about despite the loss. My last question to Jimmy centered around what have been the most exciting and memorable moments of this season for him to call thus far.
Click here to check out more from Jim Donovan on the loss to the Raiders with Jimmy's Take.
You can watch Donovan & Dino in the player above or on YouTube below: