Cleveland Browns Suffering From Mad Dawg Disease?


For some NFL teams, Sundays bring victory. For the Cleveland Browns, Sunday brought defeat by the Oakland Raiders to the tune of 27-20.

The loss in yesterday’s game brought the Cleveland Browns up to two losses, and one win (28-14, Tennessee Titans); their preseason games are mostly losses as well, with, again, one win. Since Oakland seems to lose the majority of their away games, fans are wondering if Cleveland is to blame. Conor Orr of NFL may or may not be keeping track of Oakland’s

“It had been 2,121 days since the Oakland Raiders have won a game in the Eastern time zone. Then again, it had been more than 2,000 days since Oakland has looked this good while simultaneously playing a team this out of sorts.”

Are the Dawgs not playing up to their potential? What in the world is happening here?

Cleveland Browns Suffering From Mad Dawg Disease?

“Hard to say at this point,” mused coach Mike Pettine.

Cleveland carried the ball 14 times, for 39 yards…which equals out to less than 3 yards per carry.

Cleveland started on defense after Oakland loses the coin toss, and not even seven minutes into the first quarter, Oakland nabs themselves three points on Sebastian Janikowski’s 23-yard field goal. By the end of the first quarter, neither score had budged.

Somehow, by the time the halftime show hits, Oakland is boasting 17 to Cleveland’s 3.

The third quarter draws to a close with Oakland leading, 20-10.

Cleveland’s Travis Benjamin fumbled a punt, and it landed in the hands of Oakland’s Neiron Ball. Later, Benjamin offered his take on the fumble.

“It had good hang on it, wobbled a little, I felt a body on me and I bobbled it.” He is quick to state that it was a fellow Dawg whose touch he felt.

At the end of the game, it looked like Cleveland had been dragged behind Oakland, and the final score checked in at 27-20.

According to Coach Mike Pettine, the team watched and critiqued the video of the game today.

“I spoke to the team about it today. We’re just not that team that’s going to be at the opposite extremes where we don’t play well then we rally back and then play well. As a result of that we take a step backward. The psyche of a football team cannot be fragile and that’s something we need to work on.”

On Sunday, October 4, Cleveland will face the San Diego Chargers, and the Chargers will have the home field advantage. The Dawg Pound will be there cheering Cleveland on, hoping for anything but a repeat of this Sunday’s loss.

[Photos by Joshua Gunter and John Kuntz for Northeast Ohio Media Group]

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