Kareem Hunt will play out his contract with the Browns after he wasn't traded before Tuesday's deadline. Hunt answered questions after the game wearing The Joker mask he brought to the Halloween festivities. (Cleveland Browns)
Second thoughts: Kareem Hunt didn’t get his trade wish granted, and that is a good thing for the Browns and him
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Second thoughts on Browns’ 32-13 win over Cincinnati Bengals …
1. Ten trades beat the NFL deadline of 4 p.m. Tuesday, and it should not be surprising that Kareem Hunt, Greedy Williams or any other Brown whose contract runs out this year were not among the players switching teams. After the season-saving win over the Bengals, GM Andrew Berry could not afford to trade Hunt or any other player for a middle- or low-round draft choice. The message to the locker room would have been that the front office doesn’t believe the team can make a belated run for the AFC North title or an AFC wild-card berth. Berry chose replacements for Hunt (Jerome Ford) and Williams (M.J. Emerson) in the 2022 draft. So there definitely was a chance either could have been swapped if the Browns had lost the game and fallen to 2-6. I believe Hunt could have landed with the Eagles or Rams if the circumstances were different.
2. After the game, Hunt did not appear particularly enthused about the prospect of playing out the season with the Browns in his backup role. He addressed reporters at his locker wearing The Joker Halloween mask he brought to the game. “I’m down for whatever,” Hunt said after the game. “I’m a football player and it’s a business. I’m ready to do whatever they decide with me. I love the game of football.” Despite expressing his desire to be traded in training camp, Hunt’s play has never suffered this season. The two-game drop-off in his touches of the ball prior to the Cincinnati game was not his doing. Against the Bengals, Hunt was his usual physical presence running (42 yards on 11 attempts), catching (four for 30 yards on four targets) and picking up blitzes. Over the second half of the season, Hunt may realize the old line – “Sometimes the best trades are the ones not made” – may apply to him. If he helps the Browns make a run at the playoffs, he can restore his value and hit the free agent market in March on a high note and be able to pick his next team. Everybody in the league knows he can still be a No. 1 back. Plus, he’ll be able to complete his time with his home-town team as a teammate of good friend Nick Chubb on his own terms. I just hope the Browns don’t lose sight of their run identity when Deshaun Watson comes off suspension for the last six games.
3. When speaking of the Browns’ identity, the scope of it should not be limited solely to Chubb and Hunt. The Browns’ true identity as a team includes the offensive line, which was showcased for all its power, mobility and depth in the Bengals’ game. All eight linemen active for the game saw action as coach Kevin Stefanski and line coach extraordinaire Bill Callahan used backups Michael Dunn and James Hudson multiple times in creative, short-yardage plays. On Chubb’s first touchdown, Dunn and Hudson came in on a seven O-line jumbo package, on which Chubb took a direct snap after Jacoby Brissett motioned to a wide receiver position. A Cincinnati penalty prior to the PAT enticed Stefanski to try for two points from the 1-yard line. The Browns added guard Drew Forbes as a fullback in a super jumbo package. On the play, Hudson moved left in motion from the right wing position and pancaked linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither as Chubb burrowed over the goal line for the two-point conversion. Not too many teams are running old-school plays like these, which gives the Browns an edge. “Yeah, it could be,” Stefanski said. “I think there is always that element where you are trying to give the defense something they have not seen or make them prepare for something. It is unique. They enjoy it. It gave our players a lot of energy – just watch James Hudson running off the field after that two-point conversion. It really goes to show you how much those guys love competing and love to play that physical brand of football.” Right tackle Jack Conklin said, “You see just the power and the physicality of it. That is what we pride ourselves on, and that is what we want to be as a team.”
4. Although the Browns were missing David Njoku, they still dressed three tight ends. But not a single target to any of them in the passing game – a first for a Stefanski-coached offense. “That was unusual for us,” Stefanski said. “You don’t go into the games thinking you are not going to target those guys in the pass game. It is just kind of how it shook out, but they were a big part of why we were able to do what we did last night.”
5. It often gets pointed out that Myles Garrett hasn’t had the closing power in the fourth quarter as do other game-wrecking pass rushers such as T.J. Watt and Aaron Donald. But Garrett affected this game from the beginning. In fact, Joe Burrow cited Garrett’s tip of a pass that was intercepted by cornerback A.J. Green on the Bengals’ first series as the game-changer. “That was really the start of a long day for us,” Burrow said. In that respect, the tip/interception was similar to Denzel Ward’s 99-yard Pick 6 in the Browns’ big win in Cincinnati last year. Garrett also had a drive-stopping sack of Burrow on the Bengals’ second possession, and he was pressuring Burrow when linebacker Sione Takitaki stripped the ball loose on the Bengals’ fifth possession.
6. Ironman of the game: With Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah out, Takitaki logged a season-high 45 snaps (85 percent) and turned in his finest game of the year. Besides the strip-sack, Takitaki led everyone with 13 tackles and was extremely active in containing Joe Mixon when the Bengals sought to establish a ground game early in the absence of go-to receiver Ja’Marr Chase (hip injury). Mixon touched the ball nine times in the first half (five runs, four receptions) and netted 16 yards. “They were great tacklers today,” Burrow noted. Overall, it was vindication for coordinator Joe Woods, who’s been on the hot seat externally all season but orchestrated real good defensive performances in back-to-back games against the Ravens and Bengals. “Heck yeah, man,” Takitaki said. “We had a great gameplans the last two weeks, especially this last week Coach Woods and the defensive staff put together. I feel we were mixing it up and showing a lot blurry looks for Burrow. We got them on their heels early and it was hard for them to recover.”
7. Second guess: The Chubb pitch-back to Amari Cooper resulting in an interception when Cooper couldn’t abort the play with a throw out of bounds was merely reduced to a laugh track after the big win. Cooper called it “an abomination” of a throw. Brissett said the play’s already been ejected from the playbook. Stefanski said, “Obviously, when they don’t work, you ask yourself why you called that. We have had trick plays work before … It is what it is. Again, won’t stop us from trying to be aggressive in the future.”
