New York Jets

Cleveland Browns Must Beat New York Jets

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The 0-7 Cleveland Browns must notch a win over the hapless New York Jets to avoid facing a disastrous winless campaign.

The Cleveland Browns must defeat the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday in NFL Week 8. It cannot be stressed enough. The biggest game Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson has faced in his brief tenure with the club occurs on the final Sunday of October, and that contest could represent a restart point for a team that lost its first seven games of the season.

It could also, all things considered, be the beginning of the end for those running the club when all is said and done. The Browns are undeniably the worst team in the NFL this fall—but the Jets are not that much better. Like the Browns, the Jets are dealing with a variety of issues on the field during games and off the field throughout in the middle of the week.

The saga involving quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has taken multiple wacky twists and turns since the end of the 2015 NFL season. Fitzpatrick and the Jets were involved in a public slap-fight over a contract until the two entities came to terms on a deal in late July. The 33-year-old veteran journeyman was then largely lackluster during the first six games of the season. So much so that Geno Smith started ahead of Fitzpatrick last Sunday.

That experiment ended after a little more than a quarter, as an injury sidelined Smith for the rest of that game and, subsequently, for the rest of the season.

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Both clubs have experienced problems in their secondaries. Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden has played in only nine games since the start of the 2015 season and he has been slowed by a groin injury the past few weeks. New York veteran Darrelle Revis, meanwhile, recently admitted his body is “breaking down,” per Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday.

Both the Browns and Jets may soon be shopping veterans before the upcoming trade deadline. Left tackle Joe Thomas and tight end Gary Barnidge are only two players who could be traded by the Browns following Sunday’s game. The Jets may have to consider trading wide receiver Brandon Marshall and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson if they somehow lose to the winless Browns this Sunday.

Jackson and the Browns received good news earlier this week when veteran quarterback Josh McCown was cleared to return to practice following a collarbone injury that kept him off the field for over a month. No disrespect meant to rookie Cody Kessler, who has played well while filling in for McCown and the injured Robert Griffin III, but McCown is currently the best QB on the Cleveland roster.

Sep 18, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson talks with Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) during the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Ravens defeated the Browns 25-20. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

McCown can do everything Kessler has done over the past month. The veteran has good vision and he’s a warrior who has no problem sacrificing his body. However, he must do better at protecting himself at the same time. Unlike Kessler, though, McCown can throw the ball down the field, throw targets open, and also spread the offense in a way we haven’t seen from the Browns since both McCown and Griffin went down.

The Browns need to see what the club has in Kessler, who has suffered injuries to his chest and ribs and also a concussion. That being said, starting McCown is ideal in Week 8. Cleveland needs a win and he gives them the immediate best chance to do so.

The “schedule game” is all too familiar to fans of the Browns and one could not blame a passionate Cleveland supporter for shedding a single tear upon looking at the remainder of the team’s schedule for the season. The Dallas Cowboys are, far and away, better than the Browns. Cleveland could hang with the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10, but that’s a Thursday Night Football game on the road.

Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants could throw all over the Cleveland secondary. The Cincinnati Bengals made light work of the Browns last Sunday. A road game against the defense of the Buffalo Bills will present multiple challenges. Perhaps the San Diego Chargers will be caught sleeping when they have to play at Cleveland on New Year’s Day. Cleveland then completes the regular season in Pittsburgh.

An optimistic Browns fan could maybe find three more winnable games on the team’s schedule after October comes to an end.

It’s understandable that fans of the Browns want the club to lose as much as possible so the team can earn the highest draft pick and then select the player who will hopefully be Cleveland’s future franchise quarterback. With that said, the difference between a rookie coaching staff and rookie front office winning only a couple of games and that club failing to post a single victory cannot be described in mere words.

Going 0-16 would be the lowest of the lows and the biggest embarrassment in the history of a once-proud franchise that has routinely shamed fans since it returned to the NFL in 1999. Coaches and, in some cases, players don’t recover from going winless. It’s the type of infamous achievement that forever remains on a resume and that follows a coach throughout his career.

Anybody out there want to make Rod Marinelli head coach of their favorite NFL team in January?

Yes, Cleveland fans should want the Browns to go 2-14 or 1-15 to continue what is inevitably going to be a painful and long rebuilding process. The Browns must beat the Jets on Sunday, because the alternative brings with it some scary realities for a lousy team that could play the rest of its home games this year inside of a half-full stadium.

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