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Browns season taking on a familiar look

There is a feeling of deja vu that is starting to envelop the Cleveland Browns as they prepare to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Browns are coming off a surprising win over an AFC North Divisional rival, are showing surprising signs in the passing game, and are struggling mightily to stop the run on defense.

If this all seems familiar to you Browns fans, it is because we saw all this just one year ago.

To see what we mean, visit our latest post at Dawg Pound Daily.

(Photo courtesy of clevelandbrowns.com)

Browns at a loss to stop the losing

The Cleveland Browns on Sunday did what has come naturally to the team since its return to the NFL in 1999.

After dropping a 30-27 decision to San Diego, the Browns have now lost four in a row to the Chargers, and seven of their past 11 meetings. Cleveland has also lost three of its first four games to open the 2015 NFL season, eight of its past nine dating back to last year, and has now lost 175 times in total since returning to the NFL in 1999.

As much of a constant as the losing has been an ongoing list of coaches and players who have been unable to stop the crashing waves that continue to swamp the team.

For the rest of the story, visit our latest post at Dawg Pound Daily.

(Photo courtesy of clevelandbrowns.com)

Browns fall to Chargers on late field goal, 30-27

They did it again.

Just when it looked like the Cleveland Browns were going to potentially have a chance at a win that would change the narrative surrounding the club, the “same old Browns” made their untimely appearance against San Diego.

The Browns looked to have the momentum following a 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive and two-point conversion to tie the game at 27 with just a little more than two minutes remaining.

All the team needed was a defensive stop, with the worst case being the game would go into overtime.

To read the rest of the story, visit our game recap at Dawg Pound Daily.

(Photo courtesy of clevelandbrowns.com)

Browns vs. Bills: 5 things to watch for

The Cleveland Browns host the Buffalo Bills tonight in the second preseason friendly of the season.

The Browns had 20 players miss practice on Tuesday against Buffalo and 17 of those 20 were out because of injuries. The injuries, combined with the Browns having a nine-day break until their next preseason friendly, on Aug. 29 against Tampa Bay, has head coach Mike Pettine scrambling a bit to come up with an appropriate plan for tonight’s game.

“We feel like we are close to getting some of our guys back, and also with the long break to Tampa, that is kind of a nice luxury to have,” Pettine said. “We will get some of our guys back. We feel we will be much better off headed into that [game], assuming we can get through Thursday night pretty clean.

“I think what we would like to do is time it up for Tampa that we can have as many of our ones and key backups out there and get some quality work then. We are looking to get some solid work done Thursday night.”

While tonight’s game may not be as important as next week’s traditional “dress rehearsal,” there are several storylines to follow as the Browns continue preparing for the opening of the 2015 NFL season.

To see what we’re looking for out of the Browns, check out our latest at Dawg Pound Daily.

Can the Browns score enough in 2015 to win?

The Cleveland Browns will play what many consider one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this fall.

According to CBSSports.com, the Browns will face the ninth-hardest schedules as they take on the NFC West and AFC West, whose teams combined for a record of 138-116-2 last season. Of course, with 14 common opponents, everyone in the AFC North is in the same boat, with Pittsburgh (No. 1) and Cincinnati (No. 2) topping the rankings, and Baltimore coming in two spots behind the Browns at No. 11.

Much can change between now and when the Browns take the field this fall, of course, as teams deal with injuries, dissension and the ups-and-downs that come with the typical NFL season. At this time last season, many experts expected the Browns to struggle against New Orleans and Atlanta, but Cleveland ultimately went 3-1 against the NFC South.

So what do the Browns have to do on offense this fall? Find out in our latest post at Dawg Pound Daily.

Thumbs up, thumbs down on Browns first preseason game

The Cleveland Browns made it through the opening preseason friendly of the 2015 season without sustaining any injuries, which is the most important part, and did a few things right during a loss to the Washington Redskins.

But they also showed that there still is a lot of work to do before they take the field on Sept. 13 for the season-opening game agains the New York Jets.

Even if head coach Mike Pettine doesn’t necessarily agree. (Although he probably does, he just didn’t feel the need to make it public.)

“Overall, I think it’s a start that we’ll be pleased with when we watch the tape. I’ll reserve final judgement until then, but I thought we did some good things,” Pettine said. “I was pleased we didn’t have our first penalty, I think, it was early in the fourth quarter, ended up with three for the game. Also, it just a credit to some of the guys that got extended [reps] because the injuries we have. (We had some) good coaching moments that come out of it, and hopefully, we can gain some momentum from this moving forward.”

Let’s take a look at what worked, and what didn’t, on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in our latest post at Dawg Pound Daily.