Happy Victory Monday! Our Brownies are 2-1 and headed for prime time. After their second interconference upset win in two weeks, are you in yet on Monken’s young bunch? The stat sheet wasn’t pretty (12 penalties, and fewer yards and first downs than the Panthers), but the Browns made key plays when it counted. They thwarted Carolina three times on fourth down and scored the only touchdown of the first three quarters on a fourth-and-goal connection to Harold Fannin Jr. The tight end from BGSU recaptured the lead in the game’s final two minutes with a 14-yard score. For the second straight week, the defense stopped a QB drafted first overall from staging any last-minute heroics.
Our own QB (for this year, anyway), Deshaun Watson, moved nimbly and managed the game well enough to win. In front of the understandably fickle home crowd, he avoided turnovers and returned from a tough hit to convert on the game-winning drive. Are you in yet on this three-time Pro Bowler leading the offense of all-new linemen and a slew of first- and second-year skill players?
The Browns’ D came up big in this one, spearheaded by DT Mason Graham and amply supported by green-haired veteran pickup Quincy Williams and Denzel Ward’s lockdown coverage of the dangerous Tetairoa McMillan, last year’s offensive Rookie of the Year, who had just two catches and 17 yards on five targets. Graham, with four sacks in three games, is on an early pace to set an NFL record for most sacks by a defensive tackle.
Among our watch party crowd of 26 at the Northville Sports Den, John Beres came up with the correct trivia answer to our second-string question, since the first one stumped the house. Here are both questions, starting with the toughie (answers below):
- This Ohio native joined the Browns coaching staff this year, continuing a long and illustrious career that included serving as the Carolina Panthers’ first head coach.
- The Carolina Panthers have only retired one jersey number in their history, honoring which player who started his NFL journey in the Browns training camp for two straight years but failed to make their roster?
Our enthusiastic Backer group included five guests from Cleveland, and one of them, a young man named Lincoln, won the raffle prize, a limited-edition print of a vintage Browns huddle.
Thanks also to stalwart fan Dick Nolan, our Backer of the Week, for sharing stories of seeing Otto Graham play at the old Stadium in 1955 and attending the 1964 NFL Championship Game. He also gave away a few pieces of memorabilia, including some vintage football cards from his more-than-complete collection of the “original” Browns’ 50-year run.
CLUB NOTES
We still have our new club T-shirts and other handmade Browns accessories available for purchase at our viewings. Shirts can also be ordered directly from designing dawg Meredith Degenhardt, at mereditch131@gmail.com or this Google Form.
And please DON’T DELAY in reserving your place at our 20th anniversary celebration on Feb. 7 featuring special guest “Top Dawg” Hanford Dixon. This special event will be our first post-season banquet since before the pandemic, and a great program and menu is planned. Don’t miss this unique chance to celebrate our mutual and enduring fandom and catch up with club members spanning two decades of dedicated spirit and service. Are you in yet????
WEEK FOUR PREVIEW
It’s Steeler week, as the Browns host their gangrene-and-urine-clad archrivals this Thursday night at 8:15 p.m. We’ll be at the Den with special giveaways for those who join us to witness the Browns take sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Please represent! We’ll have more trivia, and a 50/50 raffle and “Change for Charity” collection in support of a worthy and apropos cause, Dementia Friendly Services.
Somehow, the Browns are listed as slight underdawgs again, despite defeating the despised Pittsbuggers all four times they’ve played on Thursday night in Cleveland. We here at SEMBB are not hedging our heart’s bet, not withholding our participation until the bandwagon beckons, not missing a moment of this ascending young team, whose success — however unlikely, however nascent — is already proving worth the early effort. Are you in yet? If so, you’re not alone.
Bark hard, keep the faith, have a great week, and we’ll see you soon.
Brownsgirl (Susan) and Ace Davis (Dave)
https://maybethisyear.com/ P.S. trivia answers: Dom CapersSam Mills |