News

Playoffs here we go! Congratulations to those teams that won league championships as well as those that have qualified for week 11. No matter what the seed and who you play, everyone should feel like they have a chance to win whether it is expected, or if it would be a big upset. Good luck to all in the “second season”.

I almost experienced my perfect football weekend. While my Canton South Wildcats played great and lost a close one to a very good Northwest team, my other schools all won! Saturday Mount Union beat Ohio Northern, then later that day my alma mater, BGSU beat our rival Toledo in a huge win at the Glass bowl. And on Sunday the Browns won – yes they won! What fun football was for me the past few days. Sorry I was not with you Saturday for the Massillon-McKinley game and thanks to Thom
McDaniels for stepping in for me. It is always a highlight of the year to do that game but family took the front seat as I watched my grandson play flag football in Lima and then saw Mount Union play at Ohio Northern. Thanks to Pam and the guys for keeping me informed with score updates.

Just about everyone I’ve seen since the Browns beat the Ravens yesterday has asked me why there was such a change in the team from previous weeks. There were some obvious differences – new QB, new play caller, offensive line was healthier, Nick Chubb was one week closer to his old self. I discount Ken Dorsey calling plays rather than Kevion Stefanski – I saw the same plays being used, they just worked better. Admittedly the O-line pass protection was much better. A big part of that for me was Winston throwing the ball earlier. I saw a QB that hit his last step in the drop and the ball was thrown. He is not a runner so he was not relying on scrambling. The offense just seemed to “fit” better. Now my time to share an opinion. With Watson at QB I believe the Browns tried to run plays that fit him, not necessarily the team. The team was built as a power running, QB under center, drop back pass team. For instance, Chubb is a power runner, the O-line is best at power run blocking and pocket pass protection. But with Watson we saw a shotgun, movement passing game that invited scrambling by the QB. It just didn’t work. Last year when Watson got hurt, Flacco stepped in and lead the Browns into the playoffs. This year Watson gets hurt (and I know it is only a 1 game sample size) and Winston leads them to a win over the Ravens. What is the common
denominator? Both Flacco and Watson are drop back guys that compliment the power run game. For it to happen twice is not a coincidence. However they can get it done, it is time to move Watson.