How quickly things can change in the National Football League.
The Cleveland Browns were flying high a week ago following a dominating performance against division rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers. Any good feelings Cleveland fans had as a result of that victory were erased this past weekend when the Browns failed to show up against the lackluster Jacksonville Jaguars. All it took was one loss for fans and some analysts to believe that the 2014 edition of the team will be “Same Old Browns.”
It will be on Cleveland to prove that isn’t the case when the Browns host the Oakland Raiders this coming Sunday.
Cleveland Browns Week 8 NFL power rankings: Pat Kirwan
Ranking: 23
The NFL insider for CBS Sports dropped the Browns seven spots in his latest NFL power rankings after Sunday’s events. “Losing to Jacksonville the way the Browns did is unacceptable if they are to be taken seriously,” Kirwan wrote. “They better win the next two games or it’s the same old Browns.”
He’s right. Just about everybody had the Browns at 6-2 heading into a Thursday Night Football showdown with a Cincinnati Bengals team that has been very beatable as of late. That, of course, is no longer possible now that Cleveland is at 3-3. Brian Hoyer had better step his game up against winless Oakland, or it will absolutely be Johnny Manziel time for a Browns team that is eying a playoff berth this fall.
Cleveland Browns Week 8 NFL power rankings: Hank Gola
Ranking: 19
“Now this is a franchise that can’t stand prosperity,” said Gola of the Browns, a team that fell four spots in his NFL power rankings. That will be the perception of Cleveland until the club provides reasons to believe otherwise. The Browns came out flat as could be at Jacksonville, and that one game could be what keeps the team from playing January football.
Last Sunday was not just a “bad game” for the Browns. It led some within the team to wonder if Johnny Football shouldn’t be given a chance to show that he can outperform Hoyer in games.
Cleveland Browns Week 8 NFL power rankings: Pete Prisco
Ranking: 22
Prisco reminds us all that the NFL can be a cruel, cruel world: “So much for all that playoff talk and the rush to give Brian Hoyer a long-term extension? One loss can do that.”
You can be sure that any and all contract negotiations regarding Hoyer’s future with the Browns have been halted. Hoyer believes he should be starting in the NFL past 2014, but he is currently completing under 50 percent of his passes during his latest stretch of play. That doesn’t get the job done at any level.
Cleveland Browns Week 8 NFL power rankings: Frank Schwab
Ranking: 18
Schwab explains in his latest NFL power rankings why we didn’t see Manziel at Jacksonville last weekend: “There are reports the Browns briefly thought about benching Brian Hoyer for Johnny Manziel as Hoyer struggled on Sunday. There’s a simple reason they didn’t do it: Once you do that, the controversy begins again.”
That’s unacceptable if true. Anybody watching that game could see that Hoyer just didn’t have it in Jacksonville. Leaving him on the field was the Cleveland coaching staff not doing whatever necessary to win, and that cannot happen again.
Cleveland Browns Week 8 NFL power rankings: John Dudley
Ranking: 18
The Erie-Times News columnist is yet another individual saying that the Browns cannot “handle success.” Cleveland has a new front office, new coaching staff, several new players who have won in college and in the pros, and yet the song remains the same for the organization.
Will the Browns figure out how to get out of their own way this time around?
Related
