Time is running out on the Cleveland Browns
Đã gửi: Thứ 4 14/08/19 15:11LAKE FOREST Ben Banogu Jersey , Ill. (AP)And the idea they could wind up without a win is weighing on quarterback DeShone Kizer. ”You definitely feel it,” he said. A Christmas Eve victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday would be a neat gift and a welcome relief for a team with nothing to celebrate this season. The Browns already hold one dubious distinction. They’re the first team to open consecutive seasons 0-14 after last week’s loss to Baltimore, but the big one is still out there. Drop this game, lose next week’s finale at Pittsburgh and they take their spot alongside the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to go 0-16. Then again, the Bears (4-10) haven’t done much winning lately. They’ve dropped six of seven. They are wrapping up their fourth straight losing season and their fifth in a row without a winning record. Coach John Fox could be on the way out after three years, and losing to the Browns would be another low for a sinking team. ”We won’t be that team,” defensive end Akiem Hicks said. ”It’s as simple as that. We won’t let that happen.” Here are some things to know as Cleveland seeks its first win at the Bears’ expense: HOLIDAY CHEER: Cleveland’s lone win last season came on Christmas Eve – against the then-San Diego Chargers. Coach Hue Jackson is 2-0 in Christmas Eve games, the other win coming with Oakland in 2011. ”Every week you go in thinking it’s a win, but if we can get one this week it will be pretty special,” guard Joe Bitonio said. ”We just got to play all our games on Christmas Eve if we pull this out.” HOME FEELING: Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky meets his hometown team for the first time since Cleveland passed on drafting him with the No. 1 pick this year. While the Browns went with defensive end Myles Garrett, the Bears traded up a spot with San Francisco to take the Cleveland-area product second overall. Trubisky’s 10 starts since replacing Mike Glennon have been a mix, with displays of promise along with lapses. He was at his best and worst in last week’s loss at Detroit, setting career highs in completions (31), attempts (46) and yards passing (314) as well as interceptions (three). He has a chance to put up some big numbers this week Parris Campbell Jersey , considering the Browns have struggled defending the pass. KIZER’S YEAR: For a 21-year-old, Kizer has endured an eventful first season in the NFL. Cleveland’s rookie quarterback won a starting job, injured his ribs, lost his job, got it back and struggled with turnovers. It’s been a lot to handle, but Kizer believes the experience will benefit him in the long run. ”In one year, I have been able to take what most guys get in four and five,” he said. ”That means hopefully once I get over this and learn from this situation, I will be able to be a better quarterback for longer than anyone who has gotten to that level has been.” Kizer enters Sunday’s game with a league-leading 19 interceptions. He has only had one game in which he didn’t throw at least one pick. Jackson has been supportive of Kizer, but this week, he backed off on any talk that he might be Cleveland’s long-term answer at the position. OUT FOX?: Fox could be coaching his final home game at Soldier Field. And if his tenure in Chicago is ending, it might go down as the least successful in franchise history. Fox, who led Carolina and Denver to Super Bowl appearances, is 13-33 with the Bears. He has the second-lowest winning percentage in franchise history (.283) Bobby Okereke Jersey , and two more losses would put him at the bottom. That spot is currently occupied by Abe Gibron, who was 11-30-1 (.274) from 1972-74. CHANGE AHEAD?: Despite owner Jimmy Haslam saying Jackson will be back next season, there remains a belief that if the Browns finish 0-16 the team might make another coaching change. Earlier this week, new general manager John Dorsey said he and Jackson are developing a solid working relationship that he hopes continues to grow. But when asked if he was 100 percent certain Jackson would return, Dorsey deferred to Haslam. ”I think ownership has already spoken on that question,” he said. Jackson is 1-29 in two seasons with the Browns, the worst start for a coach with one team in league history. — GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Matt LaFleur has never been in charge of an NFL team before, and until last year had never called plays for one either.On Wednesday, he took over the Green Bay Packers, who have missed the playoffs two years in a row — and a team with a two-time MVP quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, whom LaFleur must help to get back to playing his best.“I briefly spoke to (Rodgers) prior to accepting the job,” LaFleur said during an introductory news conference at Lambeau Field.“That’s kind of how I had an idea that maybe I was in the running for it.”According to team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst, LaFleur was by far the best of the other nine candidates who interviewed for the job after longtime head coach Mike McCarthy was fired on Dec. 2 Khari Willis Jersey , with four games remaining in his 13th season in charge.“Obviously we cast a fairly large net, much larger than the 10 people that we interviewed,” Murphy said. “Went through the nine (interviews) and quite honestly, no one really stood out. There were a lot of strong candidates, but there wasn’t one that just jumped out at us.“Matt was our last candidate, and we’d heard great things about Matt through our vetting process. A lot of the coaches and others that we talked to talked about his background, his experience. So were really excited going into it.”Murphy, Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball then emerged from LaFleur’s interview Sunday in Nashville even more excited — and agreeing that they had their man, despite having planned to host a second round of interviews.After sleeping on it, they offered the job to LaFleur on Monday, and he arrived in Green Bay on Tuesday night to sign his contract.“It’s always been a dream of mine to be an NFL head coach, but to be the head coach of the Green Bay, it is surreal,” LaFleur said.LaFleur comes to the Packers after one season as the play-calling offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans Josh Allen Jersey , a job he took a year ago because he knew he needed to “challenge myself.”He’d spent the 2017 season as the Los Angeles Rams‘ offensive coordinator under Sean McVay, and Murphy said he believed LaFleur would have been “the hot candidate. He’d be flying all over the country talking to everybody.”Instead, the Packers were the only team to interview LaFleur for a head coaching job since the season ended.“It would have been easy to stay in L.A. You look at the roster and you look at the success they’re having there this year, it certainly could have been easy to stay there,” LaFleur said, referring to the Rams, who’ll face the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC divisional playoffs on Saturday night.“I took the risk because I knew that I needed to get out of my comfort zone and grow as a coach.”Meanwhile, it’ll be vital for LaFleur to find a comfort zone with Rodgers, who is coming off a down season by his standards. Although he threw only two interceptions in 16 games, he also threw only 25 touchdown passes, the lowest full-season total of his career. He also completed only 62.3 percent of his passes, the second-lowest rate of his time as a starter, and finished with a 97.6 passer rating, well below his 103.1 career rating.Rodgers also played all season with a left knee injury sustained in the season-opener against Chicago and left the season finale with a concussion after three offensive series as the Packers finished 6-9-1.It’ll be up to LaFleur to get Rodgers back to the MVP form he showed in winning the award in 2011 and 2014 Jawaan Taylor Jersey , and in rallying the Packers from a 4-6 start in 2016 to a berth in the NFC championship game that year.The Packers lost that game to the Atlanta Falcons, led by quarterback Matt Ryan, who won the league’s MVP that season.Ryan’s quarterbacks coach that year? LaFleur.“I’ll tell you what, I cannot wait to get to work with him,” LaFleur said of Rodgers. “I think he’s equally excited. There’s a lot of work to be done in front of us, but just looking forward to that opportunity.”At the same time, LaFleur will have to coach the entire 53-man team, not just the quarterback. And the Packers are convinced he can both lead the team and reinvigorate Rodgers.“I think we’ve got the perfect candidate to lead us to where we want to go,” Gutekunst said. “There’s one goal — always has been one goal — and that’s to win world championships. We’re excited to get started.”
