Kicking problems, injuries don’t detract from the force the Browns’ defense is becoming
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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.
KANSAS CITY, MO
Perhaps Cade York did the Browns a favor.
He missed his first PAT badly and another chance at a game-winning field goal even worse. There were extenuating circumstances on both tries, but ... still.
His right shin was hit right after he swung through on the PAT and his last field-goal try was credited as a block but it was low and diving wildly to the left. It’s plain to see the kicker’s struggles are too risky to take into the season-opener against Cincinnati on September 10.
York made three PATs and a 40-yard field goal in between his epic misses in the Browns’ 33-32 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. So York completed his troubling, second preseason with a record of four field-goal makes and five misses. Three attempts at game-winners were painful to watch.
York stole the storyline for the second consecutive game despite another exciting performance by the Browns’ defense, which scored before the offense for a third game in a row with a Juan Thornhill Pick 6, and added a Rodney McLeod interception that set up a touchdown and a Caleb Biggers Pick 6 – all coming in the first half when the Browns built leads of 22-3 and 29-16.
True, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and other Chiefs offensive starters didn’t play. But the sheer force of Jim Schwartz’s defense is impossible to deny.
As for York, he is as flummoxed as everyone else about his game-day troubles.
“To be honest, people gave me pats on the back and crap like that, but I hate pity,” he said afterward. “Pity pisses me off. I want to be a weapon. I know how good I am. That's been the most frustrating thing the last month, struggling with that. So, real game starts soon. Just trying to take a running start into the season and just start putting them through all the time.”
It is not in York’s mindset, apparently, to think his job is in jeopardy. Part of that stems from the confidence in him continually expressed by GM Andrew Berry, who drafted York and will decide his roster fate, and coach Kevin Stefanski.
But ask Joshua Dobbs about comments made by the Browns’ decision-makers, these days. Stefanski said he was the team’s QB2, until Berry hand-delivered him to former Browns QB coach Drew Petzing, now the offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals, for what amounts to a sixth-round draft pick. Stefanski wasn’t even aware the trade was in the works. Dobbs was stunned when it happened.
Compounding York’s mystifying game-day performances are his almost-perfect practice sessions.
“It's been super frustrating,” York said. “I watch film and I work on it in practice and it looks great in practice, so there's been plenty of self-diagnosing.”
Pressed about considering a move at kicker, Stefanski finally conceded, in his own Stefanski-speak, “I think any roster decision, at any position, those are things that we’ll talk through.”
Cade York missed a PAT and another potential game-winning field goal in the Browns' last preseason game. Now the Browns have to grapple with the consequences. (Cleveland Browns)
Elsewhere, the Browns concluded their preseason super-excited about their defense and encouraged about the direction of the offense.
But it was a dagger to the team’s spirit to see return specialist Jakeem Grant go down with a significant knee injury on the opening kickoff of the game. It was the first time Grant touched the ball in a live game this summer after working his way back from Achilles tendon surgery last August.
Cornerback Denzel Ward also ended the day in concussion protocol, per Stefanski. And linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk left the game with a knee injury.
As for the defense, Thornhill’s homecoming to Kansas City served as a message to the reigning AFC and Super Bowl champions that perhaps the Browns’ defense should be the reason to take Cleveland seriously this year.
“I mean, we don’t even have all our pieces out there and we’re making a lot of plays, so I think this unit’s going to be very special, and I’m excited for it,” said Thornhill.The safety picked off Chiefs QB3 Shane Buechele, who gave Mahomes the day off, and returned it 34 yards for the touchdown. In the end zone, Thornhill chided Chiefs fans with the tomahawk chop, before pounding his heart to profess his love for the four seasons he spent in Kansas City.
“I wish [Mahomes] was out there just so we could get the full look at the starting offense,” Thornhill said. “But hopefully we’ll see them later, down the road and get to play against these guys [in the AFC playoffs].”
Schwartz’s defense concluded the preseason with two safeties and two Pick 6s in the final three exhibition games.
“I like when the defense scores. Write that down, double underline, exclamation point,” Stefanski said. “That’s what we’re about, that ball. Anytime it’s in the air, we’ve got a mentality that it belongs to us. We’ve been ball searching, so we like to score points any which way we can.”
Offensively, the Browns weren’t spectacular.
Watson played 18 snaps and produced two TD drives – a short one after McLeod’s interception, which resulted in a 10-yard scoring toss to tight end David Njoku, and a long one spring-boarded by a 53-yard connection to Amari Cooper as Watson extended a play to avoid pressure.
“When I get outside the pocket, I'm not really looking to pretty much run,” Watson said. “I'm looking downfield. So I think teams got to respect the legs and once they step up, the idea is to have somebody to go deep and get a big play. So whatever I can do to continue to extend plays and make it positive is good.”
Other than that hook-up with Cooper, Watson was 4 of 9 for 39 yards, including the nice toss to Njoku. Watson continues to flash a sly grin when asked about the finished product he expects from the offense when the real games start.
Running back Nick Chubb didn’t play, of course, and his substitute on this day, Jordan Wilkins, fumbled two exchanges with Watson, one of which was turned over to the Chiefs.
“It's going to be real great,” Watson said of the offense. “I think Kevin is, like I said, he's been on the edge of wanting to call some things, but there's a lot of things that's going to look very, very different. So we got two weeks, or however, 10 days, to get that tuned up and ready to go and once September 10th comes around and Cleveland Stadium, it's going to be fireworks and that's the plan. Don't hold anything back and just let it all loose and just go out there and have fun doing it.”
On another note, newly-minted QB2 Dorian Thompson-Robinson failed to put any points on the board in his three series. The rookie wasn’t pleased. Clearly, the Dobbs trade blind-sided him, too.
“What a whirlwind,” DTR said. “The call came in when I was half-asleep. We just got off work. It's moving fast, but I'm trying to take it all in and stay locked in with whatever the quarterback room needs me to be.”
The speed of the season is about to turn up a big notch now.
