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  2027 Cleveland Browns

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Preseason

Herb says:

90/100/84/74 : 90

HOF Inductees (no Rico)

Raymond Gardner
Justin Reynolds
Harvey Covington
Tony Fisher
Rico Huntley
Neal McNeil
Todd Boticario
Cornelius Jennings
Kris Gutierrez
Skip Sizemore
Arnold Barton

Retirements

DT Louis "Capt" Kirk, DE Clifton Duncan. Both of these guys played at a high level for a number of years. Good chance Kirk will make our team HOF.

Unfortunately, the guys I wanted to retire (Wheeler, Copeland), didn't.

We dont set a Franchise Player, but I would like to point out that we are allowing 2 longtime starters (now backups) to test FA: LB Eighteen Wheeler and CB Charles Whiting. We will probably lose both, unfortunately - but we need the 30 million in cap room the move affords us.

As it stands now, our Cohesion (93/100/100/100) is far and away the tops in the league - so we try not to mess that up.

Our profits increased by close to 50% - without raising ticket prices!

We are keeping an eye out in FA, but with silly amount of picks in the upcoming draft, we are more likely to deal.

Free Agency
We get offered the number one pick in the draft for Borders. I said no

We have 6 firsts, 5 seconds, 3 3rds and a 4th in the upcoming draft, BTW.

We let Wheeler and Whiting go - we try to bid, but we need 50 mill for the draft (that will change). We shall miss those guys...theyllbemaking 5 mill a year and get to start - more than they could get from us.

Draft

+We send a 1(30), 2(34), 3(34), 3(27), 4(25) to Jacksonville for their 1(7).
+We send a 1(27), 2(27), 3(18) to Kansas City for their 1(8).
+We send a 2(3), 2(19), 2(25) to Greensboro for their 1(9).
+We send a 1(23), 1(25), 5 in 2029 to New Orleans for their 1(5).
+We send a 1(18) to New Orleans for a 1 and 4 in 2029.

We now have picks 5.6.7.8.9 in the first round.

Darkiller has 5 1st round picks next year and 3 in 2029.

Of course the computer is being a little bitch about letting me trade picks for players. Sigh.

We decide not to spend 5th pick money on anyone on the board, so...

+We send a 1(5) to Houston for their 1st rounders in 2028 and 2029.

Finally! We clear enough room to get the bookend WR on the Cowboys we have been eyeing. Now WR Jim Henderson will have a buddy just like Burt Porter had in Robbie Jeffries.

+We send a 1st in 2028, 1st in 2029, and 5th in 2028 to Dallas for WR Raymond Etaton (99,92,95,96,99,56,56,96).

1(6) Dale Still, LB, Rutgers (95,96,97,100)

Looking to upgrade our stellar o-line, we make the following trade for the best Tackle in the game - we have 100 cohesion there, so hopefully we wont drop too much:

+We send 7th year T Norman Sanderson, a 1st(7), and 2nd and 3rd picks in 2028 to St Louis for T Herb Dill (100,100,100 - thats actual) and a 1st(10).

Jealous of Detroit's number one pick, though not jealous of the signing bonus, we offer the following trade to fill DT and DE gaps caused by retirements:

+ We send T Stanley Hamilton, our 1st(8) and a first in 2028 (Washington) to Detroit for the #1 pick in the 2026 draft, DE Gene Woodson (93/94/95).

Last trade:

+We send LB JB Banks, G Brady Moore, 1st(9), 1st pick in 2028 (CAR), 6th pick in 2029 for T John Barber (2nd year potentials - 90,72,87), G Antonio Dela Cruz (2nd year potentials - 60,74,65), DT Mark Chapman (2nd year potentials 75/89/71)

Finally we pick:

1(9).Jim Rich, LB, Arkansas, (96,96,80,95)

We sign them and go into training camp with 50 playerson the roster, 28 million under the cap and a cohesion rating of: 96/94/98/100.

Here is a recap of our new accquisitions:

Finally! We clear enough room to get the bookend WR on the Cowboys we have been eyeing. Now WR Jim Henderson will have a buddy just like Burt Porter had in Robbie Jeffries.

WR Raymond Etaton (3rd year from Dallas) (99,92,95,96,99,56,56,96).
LB Dale Still (Rookie) (95,96,97,100).
T Herb Dill (7th year from STL) (100,100,100 - thats actual).
DE Gene Woodson (Rookie) (93/94/95).
T John Barber (acquired from KC)(2nd year potentials - 90,72,87)
G Antonio Dela Cruz (acquired from KC) (2nd year potentials - 60,74,65)
DT Mark Chapman (acquired from KC) (2nd year potentials 75/89/71)
LB Jim Rich (Rookie) (96,96,80,95)

That was fun

After Training Camp our cohesion stands at 99/93/93/100. Without Clark starting at QB passing cohesion drops to 84 - not bad - but we'll give Clark another crack at it since he finished so well in the playoffs...

Exhibition

Cleveland @ Charlottesville W 23-17.
Washington @ Cleveland W 27-24
Detroit @ Cleveland W 24-21
Cleveland @ Atlanta W 32-3

We finish 4-0 with no significant injuries.

Regular Season

Week One

Dallas (0-0) @ Cleveland (0-0) -9

The offense never gets going and we fail to have a 100-yd rusher for the first time in 12 games. Clark is mediocre at best and will get one more chance before the hook comes. The defense, on the other hand, plays well - our starting LB Corps combines for 26 tackles.

Dallas wins 13-6.

Clark 13-22-112-0-1
Borders 22-77-0
Reese 6punts 48.5avg 3in20
Sapp 11tckls
Gordon 8 tckls
Rerun Tubbs 7 tckls
Wiese sack

Injuries: none.

Week Two

Philadelphia (1-0) @ Cleveland (0-1) -8

We need a win here or there will be a big shakeup. Our running game is still not clicking, but CLark has a masterful game and Mighty Moe Riley manages to not get injured. The defense plays a dominating game, allowing but 190 total yards.

Cleveland wins 13-7.

Clark 20-23-232-0
Borders 29-68-0
Etaton 6-100-0
Riley 2-5FG
Sapp 8 tckls
Wiese, Ogden sack

Injuries: None.

Week 3

Cleveland (1-1) -2 @ Jacksonville (1-1)

Our first division tilt of the year after two against the NFC East. We owned Jax last year. We owned pretty much everyone last year. Guess what? The offense finally woke up! The defense was already awake - and we dominate Jacksonville in almost every sense of the word. Actually, let me rephrase that - Nate Borders dominated Jax in every sense of the word.

Cleveland wins 38-3.

Clark 16-21-215-1-0
Borders 29-168-4-0 (OPOW)
Etaton 3-50-1
Storey 3ints
Wiese, Ri Tubbs sack
Hanson 6 KRB

Injuries: 2-3 mos.: FB Jelinek (future starter)

Week 3

Pittsburgh (1-2) @ Cleveland (2-1) -11

Another important Conferene matchup - we arent pulling away from the field like we did last year. We are up 21-6 at halftime and coast on the shoulders of Lee Clark! Our defense is tenacious again, allowing but 10 yards rushing. They also gotseven sacks,two ints,and a fumble recovery. If our offense can keep up, we might just have a good football team this year.

Cleveland wins 38-20.

Clark 16-33-289-4-1 (100.8 rating so far)
Borders 20-68-0 (100-381-5 sofar)
Beyer 6-40-1
Etaton 7-126-1
Gordon 8 tckls
Wiese 3.0 sacks (6.0 on the season)
Ogden 1.5 sacks

Injuries: 2-3 mos.: FB Jelinek

Week 4

Cleveland (3-1) -2 @ Baltimore (3-1)

Four teams sit atop the AFC Central with 3-1 records. We need this game early in the season. With 2:51 left in the 4th Q, Baltimore kicks a FG to take a 3-point lead. We take the ball and move it past mid-field, setting up a 4 yard Moe Riley FG attempt. The kick is good. Forty-two seconds areleft on the clock. The game goes to overtime. Overtimes give us a nervous tic after last year conference final and now I remember why. Baltimore goes 77 yards on two plays and gets the win. Ulcer city. Nate Borders gets his nose broken and is out for 3-5 weeks. We'll see if his well-compensatedcounterpartcando any better.

Baltimore wins 23-17 (OT).

Clark 11-16-148-0-0
Borders 21-56-2
Gordon 9 tckls,1 sack

Injuries: 2-3 mos.: FB Jelinek (future starter), 3-5 weeks: RB Borders, TE Pearson (now a backup).

Week 6

Cleveland (3-2) @ Tennessee (4-1) -3

First time in two years we have been the dog (I think). The Titans are co-leaders of the AFC Central with Baltimore at the moment. We got torched for 350 yardsin the air last week, so we put the Greek in the starting lineup to shake things up. We get shellacked anyway. We have the best roster in the league, 100/98/96/98 cohesion, the same game planas last year,and all seems to be falling apart. Ugggh. Clark's 4 turnovers (2 ints, 2 fumbles) should tell the story, because we gained 377 yards of offense. Thank god next week is a bye week.

Tennessee wins 40-13.

Clark 13-29-190-1-2 (he'll be benched next game)
Beyer 12-62-0
Etaton 5-66
The Greek, Gordon 7 tckls
Ogden 1.5 scks

Injuries: 2-3 mos.: FB Jelinek, 3-5 weeks: TE Pearson.

Week 7

Bye week. Baltimore wins this week and stands at 6-1. We stand at 3-3.

Week 8

Cleveland (3-3) @ Pittsburgh (3-3) -3

Borders is still Q, so we go with Beyer again. Benson gets his first start of the year. The Greek stays in the starting lineup. We like Pittsburgh. The Steelersscorefirst then we rip off 31 unanswered points for the win. Our defense is back in form and Casey Beyer reminds us why he was the team MVP last year. Benson doesnt turn the ball over, which is about the best I can say for his performance - I guess he won too, thoug.

Cleveland wins 31-7.

Benson 7-15-81-0-0 rushing: 9-41-1
Beyer 24-195-2
Rid Tubbs 1.5 sacks
Gordon 6 tckls
Ogden 1 sck

Injuries: 2-3 mos.: C Sheldon (HUGE LOSS), 3-5 weeks: FB Jelinek, DE Wiese.

Week 9

Baltimore (6-1) -1 @ Cleveland (4-3)

We're a home dog for the first time in ages - giving the players a little extra incentive. We pull this out with two touchdowns in the last minute of the game. Our defense came to play - our offense? Yuck. We also lose sack leader Kurt Wiese til the end of the season.

Beyer 23-63-1 (whither the magic?)
Benson 9-25-112-1-1
Dunleberger 10 tckls, int for td (DPOW)
Swift 3.0 scks
Wiese 2.5 scks

Injuries: Playoffs: TE McCullough 2-3 mos.: DE Wiese, 3-5 wks: CB Matthews, C Sheldon, FB Jelinek

Week 10

We have a bit of a prob at WR, as Keeper Rob Jeffries is Disgruntled. We have to keep him relatively happy - so the moment he becomes unhappy we'll have to stick him back in the starting lineup.

Cleveland (5-3) @ Charlottesville (5-3) -2

Are they all must wins from here on out? Borders goes back in the starting lineup. We tweak the pass distance prefs to try and play a bit more to Benson's strengths (his medium passing hasnt developed much yet). The moves works - mostly because The Bookstore plays like he is supposed to play.

Cleveland wins 30-23.

Benson 16-23-166-1-1
Borders 32-177-1
Storey, Dunkleberger 5tckls, 1 int a piece
Vanderclute 6 KRB, 0 scks allowed

Injuries: Playoffs: TE McCullough 2-3 mos.: DE Wiese, 3-5 wks: CB Matthews, C Sheldon, FB Jelinek

Week 11

One game out of first. Baltimore, Cincy, Tennessee all 7-2. We have three games remaining against Tenn and Cincy. We can't rely on the Wildcard either - too many good teams. Our scoring defense (147) is #1 in the league. Scoring offense (213) tied for 10th.

Tennessee(7-2) -2 @ Cleveland (6-3)

Tennessee spanked us 40-13 in Week 6, even though we outgained them 377-281 on the ground. Hopefully we wont have 5 turnovers again.

Down 7-3 in the 4th quarter, we decide to do the smart thing and give the ball to Nate Borders. We win! Operation Smashmouth really showed its head to today...51 rushes for 167 yards - and we allowed them but 162 yards of total offense, while garnering 4 sacks and a pick. Dwight Benson (incidentally the second african-american qb to start for the Browns. can you name the first?) plays solidly again, making few mistakes. Now just 1 game out of first. Borders pulls a Moe Riley and gets hurt again...this time a sprained ankle will keep him out next week (he's questionable).

Cleveland wins 20-14.

Benson 13-19-132-0-0
Borders 38-110-2, rec: 4-28
Rerun Tubbs 5 tckls, .5 scks
Swift 1.5 scks
Ogden 1.0 scks
Dill, Barber 4 krb

Injuries: Playoffs: TE McCullough 3-5 wks: C Sheldon, DE Wiese

Week 12

Jacksonville (2-8) @ CLeveland (7-3) -13

Division leading Cincy gets Baltimore this week. Did I mention yet that this is an important game? Well - I told the team anyway. And guess what? We won and Baltimore won! Meaning that the Division now looks like this:
[pre]
AC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Baltimore 8 3 0 .727 245 217 5-2-0 5-3-0
**Cleveland 8 3 0 .727 257 164 6-2-0 7-2-0
Cincinnati 8 3 0 .727 300 238 4-2-0 6-3-0
Tennessee 7 4 0 .636 245 207 5-3-0 6-3-0
Pittsburgh 4 7 0 .364 197 246 1-6-0 2-7-0
Jacksonville 2 9 0 .182 140 252 1-7-0 1-8-0
[/pre]

Cleveland wins 24-3 (behind a defense that gives up just 182 total yards).

Benson 12-20-95-1-0 rushing: 7-18-1
Beyer 25-162-1
Sapp 9 tckls
Ogden, Swift sack a piece

Injuries: Playoffs: TE McCullough 3-5 wks: DE Wiese

Week 13

Cleveland (8-3) @ Washington (7-4) E

Tough out-of-conference road game for us. Beyer has the hot hand and starts. Benson again gets the start for us (he's 6-0 as the starter). The QB for Washington is the former QB-in-waiting for the Browns, Roger Brentlinger. This game is kind of a referendum on whether we kept the right QB. No pressure on Benson or anything Well we're down 20-7 with 6:41 left in the 4th quarter and Johnny Unitas enters Dwight Benson's body. 34 yards to Jeffries, 26 to Porter, draw, scramble, and a 4-yd pass to Etaton - its 20-14. 3 and out for Washington and we have the ball at the our 45. 8 plays later and we've stalled. Its 4th and 15 and our season comes down to this. Benson hits Jeffries on a slant, Jeffries avoids the tackle and goes in for the score! Moe Riley makes it 21-20. Washington tries to answer but CB Bell intercepts Brentlinger and returns the ball 44 yards for the score.

Cleveland wins 28-20.(6th straight win behind Benson)

Benson 15-22-221-3-0 (Brentlinger 18-39-183-1-1)
Beyer 23-78-0
Jeffries 6-113-2
Sapp 6tkls, sack
Ogden sack
Finch 4 KRB, 0 sacks allowed

Injuries: Playoffs: TE McCullough 3-5 wks: DE Wiese

Week 14

Cincinnati (9-3) @ Cleveland (9-3) -3

We take our 6 game winning streak into the most important game of the year. A win puts us in sole posession of the division. A loss puts our playoff hopes in jeopardy. Storey intercepts a pass in the first quarter and the rout is on. Cincy can only muster a 53 yard field goal as time expires in the first half. We smashtheir passing game into submission - 6 sacks, 2 ints, as they go 15-44-200-0-2.

Cleveland wins 34-3.

Benson 14-24-164-0-0 (no mistakes)
Borders 24-89-3
Reese 7 punts, 45.4avg, 2in20
Storey 6 tckls, int, td
Woodson 2.5 sck

Injuries: Playoffs: TE McCullough 3-5 weeks: FB Jelinek

Week 15

Denver (11-2) @ Cleveland (10-3) -4

Revenge would be nice here. Number one offense (them) versus number one defense (us). We play them well, but our o-line allows 8 sacks and Denver breaks our losing streak. Baltimore and Cincy win, making another three way tie for first.

Denver wins 23-17.

Benson 20-36-210-2-0
Borders 20-78-0
Etaton 8-112-1
Riddick Tubbs 8tckls

Injuries: 3-5 weeks: FB Jelinek, TE McCullogh

Week 16

Cleveland (10-4) -4 @ Milwaukee (5-9)

We need to win our next two games to get a first round bye. Milwaukee is an inferior opponent and our top ranked defense treats them as such. Baltimore and Cincy also win, setting up a season-ending showdown with Cincy. Our defense holds them to 239 yards, gets 2 sacks and 5ints. The Bookstore is open.

Cleveland wins 34-9.

Benson 16-25-162-1-0
Borders 33-191-3 receiving: 3-21-1 (OPOW)
Sapp 6tckls
Matthews 3 int

Injuries: 3-5 weeks: FB Jelinek, TE McCullogh

Week 17

Cleveland (11-4) -1 @ Cincinatti (11-4)

Wiese is back at full health for this one. Cincy scores with 14 seconds left to get the win. We'll play them in the first round of the playoffs.

Cincinatti wins 28-24.

Benson 9-21-113-1-0
Borders 26-118-1
Lindsay 2 punt returns for 83 yds and a td
Ogden 2 sacks
Wiese 1.5 sacks
Sapp 7 tckls, .5 sacks

Injuries: Done: TE McCullogh, G Vanderclute Questionable: FB Jelinek

Playoffs

Wildcard Round

St Louis 17
Chicago 13

Green Bay 23
Philly 17

New York Jets 24
Miami 16

Cleveland (11-5) @ Cincinnati (12-4) -1

Down 31-16 in the 4th quarter, we manage to cut it to 31-23. We drive to our 45. 2 and 7. Incomplete. 3 and 7. Incomplete. 4th and 7. Benson looks down field...everyone is covered...he tucks the ball under and takes off...for a yard. Ball goesover on downs, Cincy runs out the clock and our season ends quickly.

Cincinnati wins 31-23.

Benson 12-26-159-1-0
Borders 17-79-1
Etaton 2-41-1
Sapp, Tubbs 11 tckls

Quarterfinals

Cincy 28
Baltimore 26

St Louis 3
Carolina 27

New York J 13
Denver 19

Green Bay 15
Minnesota 34

League Finals

Carolina 17
Minnesota 10

Cincinnati 31
Denver 21

Bowl

Cincinnati 17
Carolina 37

End of Season

Honor Roll

G Ben Vanderclute 40-88-45.4% KRB 5 SkA 1st Team Guard
T Herb Dill 33-101-32.6% KRB 4 SkA 1st Team Tackle

Key Players

QB Dwight Benson 10 GS 133-233-1482-10-3 85.1 rush:43-164-2
RB Nate Borders 11 GS 302-1224-17 rec: 23-199-3 (20 tds in 11 GS!)
RB Casey Beyer 5 GS 146-724-5 rec: 11-98
WR Raymond Etaton 52-761-4
WR Burt Porter 44-541-1
LB Gary Sapp 91 tckls, 1.5 scks, 1 int
LB Seth Gordon 73 tckls, 1 sack
DE Reggie Ogden 11.5 scks
DE Kurt Wiese 9 GS 10.5 scks
S Arnold Storey 57 tckls, 9 ints (robbed)

 

Team Stats

Scoring Offense: 394 (T-4)
Scoring Defense: 246 (1)

Rushing Offense: 158.6 (1)
Rushing Defense: 83.2 (1)

Passing Offense: 168.2 (36)
Passing Defense: 196.0 (5)

Turnovers: +16 (1)

3rd down: .386 (3) .309 (3)
Penalties: 115-788 (19)


     
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