Eventually, Browns remembered who they were
Seriously now…
Did it really seem like the Seahawks might lose?
Honestly?
Nah.
The obvious game plan was to keep on banging heads until the Browns hit the self-destruct button.
Sure, that description is a little facetious, but hey…
Were you worried?
Throughout the second half of an inevitable 32-28 victory, I kept thinking of our high school basketball coach.
Whenever we played a team that was clearly inferior but had jumped into a surprise early lead, he’d say: “Just stick with it. Eventually they’ll remember who they are.”
That’s the Browns.
They have a roster dotted with talented players, but as a group…
From Baker Mayfield on down, that looks like a team that will find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Speaking of Mayfield, he’s managed to make America hate him — but that’s not his biggest problem.
The guy just isn’t an accurate passer.
WHEN YOU see Russell Wilson moving around to buy himself a little time, he’s eventually going to deliver a ball on target — or heave one into the crowd.
Russ rarely, rarely, rarely throws too high or behind a receiver, those danger places where safeties lurk — and where you might get a tipped ball.
Wilson’s passes are almost always out in front or down low.
We’ve come to take that for granted, because it’s just everyday stuff now.
But if you want the secret to Wilson’s wow stat of chucking 14 touchdown passes so without an interception, there you go.
I can’t even remember when he’s had a pass ALMOST picked off.
Meanwhile, Mayfield missed too many simple throws to win an NFL game.
He wasn’t at fault for all three interceptions — his receivers collided on one of them — but he certainly has to take the blame for that game-clinching pick by K.J. Wright.
It was yet another pass thrown to the back shoulder of somebody running full speed. That’s the kind of pass that yields a great catch or potential disaster.
Even on throws that weren’t intercepted but simply fell incomplete, Mayfield routinely released the ball on time to a receiver who had separation — and simply missed him.
Amazingly, Mayfield was off target despite the Seahawks offering almost an invisible pass rush.
Seattle had no sacks and wasn’t even credited with a hit on the quarterback.
The only time someone actually made contact with Mayfield, it was Jadaveon Clowney coming late and being called for roughing the passer.
That’s a flashing red light with a siren blaring for Seattle, which has just 10 sacks in six games.
You can get away with that against Baker Mayfield, maybe, but there could be danger down the road if the Seahawks continue to allow various QBs time to read a novel before deciding where to throw.
JUST ONE more note about that lack of pressure…
Last Monday night, the 49ers sacked Mayfield four times and got clean hits on eight more passing attempts.
Pete Carroll insists his new edge rushers, Clowney and Ziggy Ansah, are just now understanding the Seahawks defensive concepts and soon will begin causing havoc.
Maybe he’s right, but it’s amazing that the Hawks are 5-1 without any meaningful pass rush.
That’s another tribute to Wilson, who was running from large, angry gentlemen all afternoon in Cleveland — yet he still made the critical throws when needed.
It also tells you that the makeshift offensive line — missing Duane Brown and D.J. Fluker — deserves some applause for helping Chris Carson hammer out 124 yards on 24 carries.
One final little bright note: Wilson is beginning to get on the same wave length as rookie DK Metcalf.
Russ clearly now trusts the gifted rookie, too, as you saw on that sideline throw for the monster first down that locked up the game.
All of these things matter (as does the Achilles injury to tight end Will Dissly) in the brutal NFC West — where the 49ers have turned out to be the real deal, and the Rams aren’t likely to go away.
Those aren’t teams that will hand you four silly junior high turnovers just for showing up.
Unlike the Browns.
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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason. The weekly edition will begin Nov. 5.