The Cleveland Browns are 1-1-1 thus far during the preseason, defeating the New York Jets in the Hall of Fame game before losing to the Washington Commanders and, on Thursday night, playing to a tie with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Not that any of that means anything or is a reasonable barometer for what they will look like or how they will perform during the regular season. QB Deshaun Watson, for example, has only played one series thus far in 180 minutes of football, which stalled on the opposing 1-yard line.
Yet there are many who have upheld them as a strong dark horse candidate or wild card in the upcoming season. The argument is that they have a lot of talent on the roster; it’s just unclear how it all comes together. CBS reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala is among them, and issued a sort of warning for those who don the Black and Gold.
“It is the right of every Steelers fan to denigrate, dismiss, discount—whatever the word is—the Browns”, she said on 93.7 The Fan recently with Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “It is the right of every Steelers fan to think that anything positive said about the Browns is much hullabaloo about nothing. But I will say to my beloved Steelers fans, my husband, you, everybody in the city: discount this team, diminish this team at your own peril”.
Her husband, in case you were wondering or did not know, is a diehard Steelers fan. She has done extensive reporting work throughout the AFC North, especially in Pittsburgh and in Cleveland, though to say that Steelers fans have soured on her in recent years would be a tremendous understatement.
She does make regular appearances on the PM Team broadcast on 93.7 The Fan, however, as she did on Thursday talking Browns football. She was not relying upon the argument for the progress of QB Deshaun Watson, however. “Oh, let me tell you, this defense…”, she said.
And then she didn’t tell us about the defense, but they do have talent, not the least of which being DE Myles Garrett, now paired with Za’Darius Smith. They also have Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II at cornerback and Dalvin Tomlinson in the trenches, with a solid group of off-ball backers including Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
They should have a better defense than last season, of that I have no doubt. And they still have the best runner in all of football in Nick Chubb. Theoretically, the offense should be better—they’re banking on it given what they paid for Watson.
But are they better than the Steelers? Amari Cooper is a nice asset, but will George Pickens truly break out this year? How do their tight ends, led by David Njoku, compare to Pittsburgh’s? They have the edge at running back. Pittsburgh is hoping to make the offensive line conversation interesting this year. They won’t have to wait long to test each other out, as the two teams play in the second week of the season.
