VC II - Browns 2024 plus

[Syrinx]

Let me start by appologizing for the delay, and thanks to Subby for updating the site, and keeping people distracted for me

-2024 Off Season-

Starting of with our Evaluation from 2023:
Perf. 90
Value 100
Prof. 100
Diff. 75
Overall --> 95


Please welcome the following players for induction into the Hall of Fame this season:
Burt Milne - Kicker with the Browns for the last 7 of his 19 seasons and currently second all time in FG with 539. (Milne was not inducted into any Team HOF.)
Mario O'Donnell - Bucs QB who won the 2014 and 2019 Super Bowl
Chris Hill - Great Raider and Giant DE who played for 16 seasons and ammassed 163 sacks
Karl Cochrane - Minn. standout DE and number 2 all time sack leader w/ 179.5

We have no players retire, and no starters are unsigned. We do have two Very Good players shoping their wares on the free market. 2016-2022 starting C Antoine Coleman, and 3rd S Arnold Storey who was a number 1 pick back in 2018 but has yet to crack the starting lineup with aging vets Dunkelberger and Foster having never lost a step. We'll tag Storey and renegotiate later in the free agent signing period.

The big news of the offseason however is the dismisal of coach Horace Paniagua. Paniagua's tenure has been filled with seasons of missed chances. Our new head coach is Courtney Joseph. Courtney is a youngster who turned around the Dallas Cowboys, bringing a Super Bowl win to Dallas just last year. Coach Joseph is Excellent with developing the offensive skill positions and is also an excellent play caller on both sides of the balls. And, an area where Paniagua struggled, Courtney Joseph is has Excellent skill at keeping his players healthy.

We ignore the trade offers, including a scrub and the number one overall pick for Cpt. Kirk and a different scrub and the number two overall pick for Lee Clark.

We are currently 3 mil under the cap, and need 20 mil to sign our picks, including three number ones (4, 26 and 29). There's also a great 6 year vet. Tackle I'd like to get in FA to bolster our O-Line. The youngster, Sanderson hasn't recovered from his compund leg fracture yet, and Fleming and Hamilton are starting to show signs of aging. We could also use a backup FB, and a Future superstar Rookie Safety.

We trade overpriced 5th WR and return specialist Raymond Butkus and overpriced 6th CB Winston Mizukami plus our 3rd rounder this year, for KC's first pick next year.

We renegotiate and extend a bunch of contracts, but can't manage to get our salaries down quite enough to be competitive in Free Agency this year. There's no one else I'm really willing to give up to make the salary moves. Let's hope for a strong draft, and I'll look next year if there are any holes I really feel need to be filled. All in all though we are sitting very nicely. According to our scout we have the top set of players in almost every position.


With a very deep draft available to us, we try to trade to the middle of the first, and pick up some high second and third rounders to get players at a veriaty of positions.
We start by dealing our top first rounder (number 4) to the Mission, along with a 4th round pick next year, for the number 9 picks in the first 3 rounds of this year. Next we move up from 26th to 13th in the first by giving up 5,6,7th rounders for 2026, and up from 29th up to 16th giving up our 5th and 6th next year.

We get three nice prospects in the first round(Potentials listed):
9: T Rondell Finch 95/94/94
13: WR Jim Henderson 96/96/100/100/96/x/x/83
16: S Graham Theophilakos 98/100/100/x/x/100

After the first round passes, we look at the board and see some VERY nice prospects left.

We trade our remaining 3rd rounder this year, and in 2026 to get the numebr 3 pick in the 2nd round this year.
We pick up 3 more future impact players (Potentials listed):
TE Jimmie McCullough 100/98/100/100/100/98/100
LB Cole Scarlett 97/100/100/76
FB Brett Jelinek 96/100/96/87/100/100/96/100/71

We massage the cap a bit to get everyone in, and try to extend a few more contracts. We also make a few more trades, our number 4 DE in the last year of an overpriced contract, for a third round pick in 2026, we pick up a 1 year minsal player to fill the roster spot and help the cap a bit more. We trade an extra OT (number 6 on the depth chart) to Miami for a pair of second rounders. We ship off our disgruntled 5th CB Andrew Derby to Buffalo for a future number 1 and number 2.


We are one player over the roster limit, so due to his still being listed as "Out" we place our young T Norman Sanderson on Injured Reserve. I couldn't bring myelf to cut or trade anyone else to free up a spot on the roster this year. We still have 3 active, and one inactive OT's on the roster, with the additoion of rookie Rondell Finch to the team.

Our cohesion is 94/93/100/100 nice and strong.

Clark starts at QB, and the youngster Borders carries the Rock
Porter, Jeffries and Cole are the outstanding Wideouts (with 8, 1000 yard seasons among them and each with a double digit TD year)
Clarence Lee is the longtime starting FB and Bruce Pearson has been the TE for years. New coach Horace Paniagua hopes to make them more active this season.

The line consists of Fleming and Hanson on the left, the youngster Sheldon at Center, and Vanderclute and decorated 13 year vet Hamilton on the right.

Our biggest weakness in the starting lineup is at Left Defensive End where Copeland(83/46/95) starts, and Duncan(61/67/77) comes in on passing downs. Wiese(100/88/100) anchors the other side. Kirk and Swift bottle up the middle.

Gordon, Sapp and "18" Wheeler(Browns career leading tackler with 887) are the hard-hitting Linebackers

The All-pro secondary consists of Whiting, Mathews, Foster, and "The Dunk" who leads Cleveland's active defenders with 7 TD's


We get through the pre-season 4-0 with only a few scratches.

Regular season to come...

[Syrinx]

-2004 Regular Season (Part 1)-

Week 1
Cleveland(0-0)-3 @ Dallas(0-0)
We win a grudge match as the Browns new coach goes against his former team and reigning Bowl champions.
Clark 44/20/391/2/2 and 1 QB sneak for a score
Borders 18/94/2
Jeffries 6/99/0
Porter 5/165/0
Dunk had 2 picks, Foster had 1
Wheeler and Gordon led with 8 stops a piece
Wiese had 2.5 sacks, Swift and Sack had 1 and Kirk added a half
The O-line allowed only 1 sack in 44 pass attempts
Browns 41 Cowboys 34

Week 2
Cleveland(1-0)-3 @ Greensboro(1-0)
It took 2 fourth qtr. field goals to come back in this low scoring game.
Clark 23/18/239/1/0
Borders 23/49/0
Jeffries 7/111/1
Sapp 8 tackles
Dunk and Foster each had another pick
Kirk had a solo sack, and Copeland and Weise combined for another
Browns 16 Generals 14

TE Pearson goes out with a disloacted elbow, the Rookie McCullough will get the start.

Week 3
Cleveland(2-0)-8 vs. Jax (0-2)
A triumphant home opener against an out matched opponent.
Clark 25/14/160/2/0
Borders 9/59/1 in a half of play before sitting with a bruised rib-cage
Beyer 19/153/1 in relief for Borders
Porter 5/82/1
Dunk and Whiting got picks
Foster led w/ 5 tackles
Copeland and Weise combined for the team's only sack
Riley was 4 for 4 in both FG and PAT's
Browns 40 Jaguars 7

Beyer gets the next start, but the slightly injured Borders will play...

Week 4
Cleveland(3-0)-7 @ Baltimore(1-2)
Another dominant game by the Browns, carried by the D who only allowed 6 points and forced 5 turnovers
Clark 31/19/255/2/3
Beyer 24/49/1
Jeffries 5/91/0
Gordon 9 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery for player of the game honors
Dunk, Foster, Whiting and Storey each had a pick
Sapp added an additional sack
Browns 27 Ravens 13

Week 5
Cleveland(4-0)-9 vs. Cincy(3-1)
Our first big conference game, and we crush the opponent
Clark 23/16/216/3/0 and a 3 yard scoring run.
Borders 20/69/1
Jeffries 6/91/2
Sacks: Duncan 2, Wiese 1.5, Kirk .5
Bel had our only Int
But Swift recovered 2 fumbles, and Duncan and Whiting each recovered 1 in another 5 T.O. game
Browns 45 - Bengals 13

After 5 games, our only 2 players who have any injury are TE Pearson and OT Sanderson who is on IR. Let's hope this trend continues for the rest of the season.

Week 6
Cleveland(5-0)-15 vs. Tenn.(2-3)
Another important conference game, and the Browns keep on rolling with their amazing D
Clark 24/14/182/1/1
Borders 22/68/1
Porter 6/66/1
Jeffries 4/76/0
DT Swift led with 8 tackles and a fumble revocery
Kirk had 2 sacks, Gordon had one and Weise had a sack, and a tackle for a safety
Foster had a pick and Dunk had 2
Browns 21-Titans 14

Two more injuries: Copeland and Whiting each go down for an extender period of time.

Week 7 sees the bye.

At 6-0 we lead the division and are one of 3 undefeated teams. We currently domninate in turnovers with a +16 differential (+10 is second place), Dunk leads the league with 7 picks in only 6 games!!

Clark has a 93.8 QB Rating; Porter and Jeffries both have over 400 yards.

More to come tommorow, sorry but I have other matters to attend to...

[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-07-2001).]

[Subby]

Great Off-Season.

First off - it was time for Paniagua to go - he had more than enough time to do something and his insistance on not focusing on pre-grame stretching really hurt the team.

Secondly - GREAT draft. Way to stock the already bulging cupboard.

I dont want to jinx anything, but I think you will finish over 500 this season

[Syrinx]

It's sad, I actually wish I were at work right now, so that I could finish this season, and get started on the next one...

I think you're right Subby, finishing above .500 isn't out of the question

We've scored 40 or more points in at least half of our games, and every game but one was won by at least a TD. *Knock On Wood* This may be the year we go back and win it all.

[WebEwbank]

Great deep draft.

I see a rosy future...by time I get the glovesoft all-leather swivel chair back, these fellows will be seasoned vets...

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

What are the hairballs about the new coach - he sounds like a tremendous improvement over the PanMan ?

[Syrinx]

-2024 Regular Season (Part 2)-

Due to the injury to Whiting, and our lack of a 5th CB on the roster, we have to put him on IR, and pick up a halfway decent min-sal scurb to fill the requirement of 4 CB's. I toyed with the thought of changing return man Stegman from S to CB, but figured this was a bit safer.

Week 8
Cleveland(6-0)-8 vs. Baltimore(3-3)
And the band played on
Clark 25/15/256/1/0
Borders 25/46/1
Jeffries 4/127
Storey, Sapp and the Rookie Theophilakos each had an INT
Storey also had a sack as did Swift
Duncan led a team effort with 5 tackles
Time of possession: 37 min. to 23 min. our favor
Browns 29 Ravens 0

Week 9
Cleveland(7-0)+0 @ Cincy(5-2)
A rematch of the big week 5 game, with a similar outcome
Clark 18/11/285/3/0
Borders 23/137/0
TE McCullough 5/136/0
Porter 2/104/1 (he had an 88 yarder that started the scoring)
Stegmen returned a punt for a score (the first for him this season)
No int's this game
Gordon led with 11 tackles, Foster had 8
Wiese and Theophilakos each had a solo sack, Gordon and Swift combined on another
Browns 44 Bengals 17

Week 10
Cleveland(8-0)-5 vs. Charlottesville(7-1)
The AFC west division leader is our coming off their first loss, and may be our toughest opponent to date.
A great second qtr by them, couldn't be undone by an attempted 4th qtr. comeback
Clark 34/12/230/1/2 - a very inaccurate day
Borders 16/59/0 - didn't have the time to get things going
Jeffries 4/95/0
Sapp had an amazing 15 tackles (perhaps a Browns single game record?)
Dunk had 2 picks, Bell had 1
Gordon recorded our only sack.
Spangels 24 Browns 19

A few more injuries force us to shuffle some personell.

Week 11
Cleveland(8-1)+2 @ Tenn.(4-5)
With our first loss, and a few more injuries, the bookies have sided against us; foolish bookies
Clark 38/21/249/1/0
Borders 16/125/1 and 9 catches for 48 yards
Bell had a pick
Gordon led with 10 tackles and a sack
Duncan and Kirk had 1.5 sacks, Tubbs and Wiese each had a half
Browns 27 Titans 14

Week 12
Cleveland(9-1)-6 @ Jax.(4-6)
Another weak division opponent to beat up on
Clark 29/20/346/2/1
Borders 26/96/1
Jeffries 6/118/1
Riley 4 for 4 FG 3 for 3 PAT
Foster led with 6 tackles and the only Int
Wiese got to the QB 3 times!
We outgained them 476 yards to 112!!
Browns 33 Jaguars 3

Rookie TE McCullough goes out with a broken wrist, Pearson's not ready to come back so we pick up ex-Redskin and 2 time all-pro TE Shawn Salaam.

Week 13
Cleveland(10-1)-6 @ Washington(4-7)
In a game that has nearly no significance the Browns play well enough to down yet another inferrior opponent.
Clark 32/15/175/1/1
Borders 23/170/1 rushing 4/29 receiving - coming on strong in the second half of the season
Stegeman took another punt back for a score
A farily quite second part of the season for Dunk who led with 7 tackles, but again no INT's
Wiese added 2 sacks, Theophilakos and Duncan each had 1 more
Browns 21 Redskins 13

Week 14
Cleveland(11-1)-2 @ Pittsburgh(8-4)
We go visit the second place team in the division, who we will meet again in the season finalle. A win here would lock up the division, and bring us one step closer to home field advantage.
Clark 30/23/315/1/1
Beyer 22/72/1 - replacing Borders who went out with a pulled groin
Salaam 8/145/1
"18" Wheeler led with 8 tackles, and also got a sack
Mathews also added a sack on a CB Blitz
Dunkelberger got his first INT in a while, Gordon also had a pick
And the play of the game, well it would have been if there where more then 3 min. to go and had we not already been up 27 to 6., was an 84 yard Int return by Nickle-back Peterman, his first pick of his 2 year career
Browns 34 Steelers 6

Week 15
Cleveland(12-1)+2 @ Seattle(10-3)
Another dangerous game against an AFC west powerhouse. Based on the Spangles game, we are a 2 point dog... Foolish bookies
Clark 41/25/317/2/2
Beyer 23/127/1
Porter 7/101/0
Cole 6/62/2
Foster led the team with 10 stops, and also grabed an INT and returned it 68 yards for a TD
Bell had another pick
Gordon, Kirk and Tubbs had a sack a piece, Hamilton and Dillon combined for one more
Browns 38 Seahawks 20

Week 16
Cleveland(13-1)-14 vs. Buffalo(4-10)
This game screams upset, screams rest the starters, and so many more things... but I decide to play it like it means something.
Clark 33/18/302/2/1
Beyer 24/146/2 - I think I am going to have an RB controversy when Borders is back
Jeffries 4/95/2
Mathews led with 6 tackles
Dunk had a pick, and also a fumble recovery he took in from the 11
Tubbs and Kirk had 2 sacks, Mathews, Banks and Wiese each had one
Browns 48 Bills 14

Week 17
Cleveland(14-1)-8 vs. Pittsburgh(8-7)
We close out with only our second ever perfect division record. The only other time was back in 2007 (when we won the Bowl!)
Clark 27/16/223/1/1 - in what some whipser may be his final regular season home game
Beyer 22/77/1
Foster led w/ 6 tackles
Duncan had 5 stops, and 2.5 sacks
Banks had another sack; Godon, Kirk and Hamilton each had half a sack
Browns 21 Steelers 17

At 15-1 we have the best record in the league, the Giants are second 14-2
We have an 88 Power rating behind Charlottesville's(11-5) rating of 90

AFC Central
Browns 15-1
Steelers 8-8
Titans 8-8
Bengals 8-8
Jaguars 7-9
Ravens 4-12

Just a note on the comment about Clark, I could see him retiring if we win the big one. After watching the fall of Davies I could see Clark wanting to go out on top. I could be wrong of course.

[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-09-2001).]

[Subby]

So it looks like Paniagua might have been the weak link after all.

The important test will be to see if Clark can get it done in the playoffs.

This team is loaded and dare I say - we might have posted our bet defensive season in the history of the team...

Great season, Syrinx...good luck in the playoffs!

[Syrinx]

-2024 Post Season-

Wild Card
Chicago 14
Carolina 24

Denver 10
New England 35

Philadelphia 7
Green Bay 14

Seattle 19
Indianapolis 9

Quarter Finals

Carolina 20
Detroit 24

Green Bay 11
New York G 14

New England 31 uh-oh
Charlottesville 14

Cleveland(15-1)-9 vs. Seattle(11-6)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It all came down to the fourth quarter. We were tied 11 All going in, after a Clark to Jeffries scoring pass brought us back into the game in the middle of the third. Early in the fourth Seattle got a field goal, but we couldn't do anything on our ensuing posession, as penalties (which plagued us all day) killed our drive. The Seahakws then put together their most impressive drive of the game, going 77 yards in 6 min. and scoring a TD to pull ahead 21-11 with still 5:30 left to go, we needed to do something we hadn't done all day, play solid football. We started off with a pentaly, but then a 33 yard pass to the rookie WR Henderson got us close to mid field. Clark then fired incomplete, then was preassured out of the pocket. On third and 5, the Seattle pressure forced him to throw it away. Coach Joseph decided to punt, feeling our D could give us back the ball with plenty of time. They couldn't, and we got the ball back with less then 30 seconds, and still a 10 point deficit. The last play of the game, Clark heaved a 40 yard hail marry, that was picked off and returned 52 yards for one final humiliating TD.

I guess we were just looking forward to beating the Patriots (winners the day before) to advance to the bowl, we forgot to play this game.

Clark 30/10/153/1/2
Beyer 17/92/0
Dunk, Gordon and Banks each had 9 tackles
Weise had 2.5 sacks, Copeland had a 1.5 sacks
Dunk had a fumble recovery, which was the only turnover we could force
Seahawks 27 Browns 11

Conferance Finals
Detroit 23
New York 31

Seattle 21
New England 27 -those bastards

FOF Bowl
New England 21 -the 10-6 AFC Eastern Champs snuck in another bowl win *grrr*
New York G 9


Season Stats
Team:
Turnovers: +21 (1st by a mile, 3 teams were tied at +13)
Offense
Passing 4245(1) Rushing 2325(1) 3rd Down .372(8) Points 504 (1)
Defense
Passing 2644(1) Rushing 1564(4) 3rd Down .292(1) Points 223 (1) (a browns season record)
One sour note, we were first in the league in penalties and penalty yards.

QB Lee Clark 477/277 58.0% (7), 4141 yards (1) 8.68 avg.(1) 26 TD(2) 15Int 91.7 Rating(1st) 1st Team QB
RB Nate Borders 12 Starts 226carries 980yards(17) 4.3 avg.(12) 9TD's(6)
RB Casey Beyer 4 Starts 162 Carries, 691yards, 4.2 avg, 7TD's
FB Clarence Lee 45 carries, 208 yards, 4.6avg, 5TD's and 27 catches, 246 yards, and 2TD's 2nd Team FB
WR Robbie Jeffries 16 Starts, 65 catches(17), 1209 yards(3), 18.6(2nd) avg 10 TD's(1st) 1st Team WR, League MVP
WR Burt Porter 13 Starts, 45 catches, 843 yards, 18.7(1st) avg, 3TD's
WR Desmond Cole 3 Starts, 38 catches, 532 yards., 14.0, 6TDs
C Leo Sheldon 16 Starts, 32 of 89 blocks (35.9%) 1 sack allowed
PR/KR Gerald Stegeman 8.8 punt return averge and 2 TD's
K Moe Riley 37/48 (2) FG 55/55 PAT (1) 2nd Team K
P Curtis Norris 42.5 average per punt (7)
LB Seth Gordon 91 Tackles, 6 Sacks, 1 Int, 1 Fumble recovery
S Trevor Foster 78 Tackles, 6 Int's (14), 1TD
LB Alvin Wheeler 67 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 Fumble recovery
DE Kurt Wiese 22 Tackles, 13.5 Sacks, 1 Fumble recovery
DT Louis Kirk 29 Tackles, 9 sacks, 1 Fumble recovery
S Gerald Dunkelberger 59 tackles, 11 Int's (1st), 1 Fumble recovery for a TD 2nd Team S

We were again clearly the dominant team, that couldn't go the distance. Maybe as Coach Joseph gets more aquanited with his personell he can put together what we all want, another Bowl Win.

[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-08-2001).]

[Subby]

Wow.

Are we snakebit or what?

Still, the playoff loss shouldnt take away from an EXTREMELY successful season, both transaction- AND performance-wise. Lee Clark finally stepped up, as did our running game. Good to see your Keeper Jeffries garner League MVP honors!

Good luck in 2025!

League MVP for a WR, a rare feat.

As souring as the postseason loss is, at least it wasn't at the hands of the Pats on their way to what their 6th bowl win? We only have 4 guys, we're falling behind!

Great season though Syrinx. The defense was a monstrous force, we had a small RB controversy, my little kicker had a pretty good year, I'm attached to Mighty Moe for some reason.

Perhaps we should begin looking for a new QB and let Clark ride the pine, I'm starting to tire of his inability to perform in the big game. Perhaps he is "playoff impotent" if you will.

[Subby]

In case you miss this - some good reading from the Strategies section with respect to gameday settings:
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000005.html

[WebEwbank]

Tough ending to a great season.

This is starting to remind me of the solo career I'm playing now, where I seem to have had far and away the best talent for two decades in a row, but can't get over the hump - then - bang - 3 out of 4 Bowls. It's coming...

I mean really - #1 in rushing, #1 in passing, #1 in scoring defense, and nowhere in the post-season.

Maybe we do need a QB right now, and it certainly would be a good time to find one in the draft.

[Syrinx]

-2025 Off Season-

Starting off with our Evaluation from 2024:
Perf. 90
Value 100
Prof. 61
Diff. 75
Overall --> 83

Our proffits took a hit in 3 areas: Salaries rose slightly, Coaching costs increased significantly, and even though we were at 100% capacity, somehow Ticket Revenue fell quite a bit.

We are going to raise tickiet prices some to compensate. We also submitted plans for a brand new stadium, with full capacity at every level, including VR boxes. We asked the tax payors to pick up the tab. Our previous proposal was renovations, which apparntly doesn't carry the 15 year limit like a new stadium does. Those VR boxes will be nice for bringing in the extra cash. I'm not too hopeful on this issue passing however, as we probably need a bit more support.


Please welcome the following players for induction into the Hall of Fame this season:
Bernard Francis - Dolphins DE with 178 career sacks
Gino Larimer - Panthers RB who ran more times then any other back, with 3545 carries, ran for the second most yards at 14,999 and was 4th in scoring with rushing 111 TD's.

And welcome to the Browns Team HOF:
RB Rico Rodriguez
- Made a Keeper by Darkiller -
Rico started all 16 games in each of his first 7 seasons. He started 11, and played in all 16 of the regular season games his 8th year. He saw little duty in his 9th year as management went with the younger legs of Casey Beyer. Like his predecessor Donnie Sheen, Rico was a great threat both rushing and receiving compiling nearly 13,000 yards and over 100 TD's. Rico broke 1100 yards rushing in each of his first 8 years, and averaged 4.4 yards per carry.

Again, we have no players retire, and no starters are unsigned. We do have two Very Good players shoping their wares on the free market. Injury fill-in TE Shawn Salaam, who we will not attempt to retain, and fan favorite LB Mel Dillon who was a fourth round draftee in 2020. He has seen very little action, but wanted too much $ last year to extend. If his demands come down he is welcome on the team, although he is currently number 6 on the depth chart, and his future potential is lower then the youngsters below him on the chart. I have no idea why he is a fan favorite.

We will not be designating a Franchise Player.

We are currently $6 million under the cap but need a projected $30 million to sign our 3 first rounders, and our 2 seconds and 2 thirds.

Our biggest need is a young DE superstar Stud. We have the 2nd, 12th and 34th picks in the first round of the draft from previous trades. I'll probably take a DE with the 2nd pick in the draft.

We have some tough decisions in re-negotiations as Beyer's contract is in it's last year, as is Clark's. Borders is currently the starting RB, and Beyer will wants a ton of cash. Roger Brentlinger, our second string QB, is a 5th year up and comer who will want the starting job very soon, his current ratings are all in the 70's (except 3rd down, scrambling and carrying which are currently in the 90's), his potentials are all in the high 90's.

Looking more closely though, there is probably enough room to keep the players I want. Especialy since after the draft, if I need to, I'll probably deal one of the current left DE's either Duncan or Copeland.

We ignore all the trade offers. And start the re-signing.

Looking ahead instead of behind.... the moto for 2025.

[Syrinx]

We let Free agency pass us by, this is deffintly build via the draft time and we don't have the cap room or the need at the moment to make any big moves.

We trade bakup OT Frank Hutton (number 4 of 5 on the current depth chart for the Jets first round pick in 2026 and second rounder in 2027.

Looking at my cap situation, I don't think I can pay for all these picks. I am 15 mil under, but need about 30. I also still have 6 Excellent players only signed through this year, and 3 very good vets I want to keep as well, all of whom want more money then they are getting right now...

I decided to Re-up Clark and Beyers for a few more years. Clark had a great season last year (1st Team honors) and Beyers was outstanding when Border went down near the end of the year. Someone else can deal with this probelem in a few years.

After taking the second pick in the draft, I start trading off some of my remainging high picks for future picks. We are so solid right now, and I had such a great draft least year, I feel comfortable with where we are AND where we are going. I trade the number 34 pick this year to Arizona(owner of this years first pick) and our slot in 2026 for their number 1's in 2026 and 2027, plus a number 2 in 2026. This keeps us at 3 number 1's in 2026 (picks from teams that have the 1, 6 and 10 pick this year) and gives us two 1's in 2027

Trade - 1(12) and 2(34) to Las Vegas for 2026-2 2027-1 and 2
Trade - 3(2) and 2027-1 to San Fran for 2027 1,2,3
Trade - 3(34) and 2027-5,6 to Denver for 4(35) and 2026 3 to move down and get a backup CB later on in the draft then now

Draft Selections:
1(2) DE Reggie Ogden (potentials of 100/96/95)
2 WR Drew Francis
4 CB Alvin Arnold

We also signed an undrafted rookie CB Lincoln Lindsay, who we had been watching all draft and almost took in the fourth.

To make room on the roster for Francis, we trade off WR Emmitt Vance (along with a 6th and 7th) to Miami for their number 1 and number 3 in 2028. Vance was a pickup in 2023 to and played as our number 5 WR last year, he was in the last year of his contract and wanted to much to re-sign. Francis (who wants 5 Million less per year) is better now then Vance will ever be.

In an odd decision, I am keeping the CB I signed after the draft, and not signing my 4th round CB pick. He's not good enough to ever crack our starting line up, and won't sign for long enough to make him worth anything before he asks for stupid money. The other CB has better overall return skills and endurance, and just as good pass protection skills, although he doesn't measure up in INT's and run defense. I just don't think Alvin Arnold has a place on our team.

We also passed our stadium bill, we will have the top stadium in the league in 2030 with a completely new facility.

We renegotiated most of the remaining players who were in the last year of their contract. The only 2 left are T Scott Flemming, and Return specialst Gerald Stegeman who is signed for the vet. minimum. Flemming is a 10 year vet I drafted, who started every game he played in the last 6 seasons, but will be 3rd on the chart this year with the unexpected leap forward 2nd year T Rondell Finch has made. At the moment Flemming wants a sallary jump from that would make hm go from 5.6 mil on the cap to 10.6 mil, which is a little much for a backup tackle. I hope he'll reconsider later on in the season, but he may just get disgruntled instead.


Our cohesion is 97/82/98/100 near the top in all categories but the O-Line. Replacing our 2nd best G and T with our third best in each, the cohesion jumps from 82 to 94.
Starting Line Up
QB Clark 18 WebEwbank
RB Borders 17 WebEwbank
FB Lee 18 Syrinx
TE Pearson 17 Subby
WR Porter 17 Subby
WR Jeffries 17 Syrinx
WR Henderson 16 Syrinx (moving ahead of Cole)
LT Finch 16 Syrinx
LG Hanson 19 Subby
C Sheldon 17 WebEwbank
RG Page 16 Darkiller
RT Flemming 14 Syrinx

Starters not starting due to O-Line cohesion
OG Vanderclute 18 Darkiller
OT Sanderson 15 TheRoyalOne

P Norris 12 TheRoyalOne
K Riley 19 TheRoyalOne
PR Stegeman (92) Syrinx
KR Lindsay (86) Syrinx

LE Duncan 13 Subby
LE Ogden 9 Syrinx (Passing Downs)
LT Swift 17 WebEwbank
RT Kirk 16 WebEwbank
RE Wiese 18 TheRoyalOne
WLB Sapp 19 WebEwbank
MLB Gordon 19 Subby
SLB Tubbs 15 WebEwbank (Wheeler has finnaly left the starting line-up)
CB Mathews 17 WebEwbank
CB Whiting 16 Syrinx
FS Dunkelberger 16 WebEwbank
SS Storey 15 Subby (Replacing Foster as the starter)

We go through pre-season 2-2 with 2 starters questionable for the Season Opener G Page and LB Tubbs.

BUT the big news, is Lee Clark takes a shoulder injury on his throwing arm and needs surgery. He is out long term, and will likely never take another snap for the Borwns as a starter. His ratings fell considerably in many throwing categories.

For the regular season we will be going with Fan Favorite Roger Brentlinger at QB. Brentlinger has 7 starts, and experienc in parts of 25 games in his 4 previous seasons with the Browns. He has a career QB rating of 82.7 w/ and 14TD's to 10Int's. Brentlinger was the fourth overall pick out of the 2021 draft by TheRoyalOne.

This is a heavy blow for the Browns after Clark's great season last year including career highs in Yardage and TD's.

[Subby]

Holy. Shit.

Poor Lee Clark. So much promise. Such bad luck. Maybe this is the best way toput an end to the brewing controversy...

What did that do to our cohesion?

[Syrinx]

Passing cohesion dropped to 81 with the QB Change to Brentlinger

-2025 Regular Season (Part 1)-

Week 1
Cleveland(0-0)-9 vs. Detroit(0-0)
We start the Roger Brentlinger era with an odd but solid win
Brentlinger 7/7/104/1/0 - but then had to sit with a minor pulled hamstring
3rd QB Dwight 15/10/145/1/0
Borders 26/206/1 - running like a mad man for PotG honors
Jeffries 5/65/0
Porter 3/65/1
Whiting led with 6 Tackles
Storey had a pick that he took back all the way
Weise had a solo sack, and combined with Swift for another
Browns 34 Lions 21

We also had a slew of injuries including 2 LB's who are Doubtful, and both our Punter and Kicker, who are also doubtful.

Week 2
Cleveland(1-0)-10 vs. Chicago(0-1)
A close one, wich included 2 Bears TD passes in the last 3 min. of the game
Brentlinger 30/18/230/2/2
Borders 22/99/1
Porter 4/85/1
Dunkelberger had 8 tackles and a sack to lead the D
DT Swift had an INT off of a batted ball
Sapp and Wiese each had a sack, Kirk and Ogden combined for another
Browns 27 Bears 24

PK Riley is now out for the season, we pick up a halfway decent kicker to replace him for the year. That's the second of our '24 All-pros to go down.

Week 3
Cleveland(2-0)-2 @ Baltimore (0-2)
A solid team effort, that was locked up with 2 mid-range scoring passes by Brentlinger in the 3rd
Brentlinger 26/15/240/2/1
Borders 18/61/1
Jeffries 5/82/1
Henderson 4/80/1
Dunk, Storey and Bell got picks
Banks and Sapp each had 7 tackles
Kirk, Storey, Swift and Foster each got to the QB once
Browns 31 Ravens 10

Week 4
Cleveland(3-0)-6 vs. Tenn.(2-1)
The Browns pitch a shutout
Brentlinger 28/20/266/2/0 and a 4 yard scramble for another TD
Borders 27/170/1
Porter 6/96/1
Jeffries 5/74/1
Sapp led with 9 tackles
Whiting and Foster got picks
Dunk, Tubbs and Stoery each had sacks
Browns 32 Titans 0

Week 5
Cleveland(4-0)-10 vs. Pitt(0-4)
A big but costly win over a clearly inferrior opponent led by special teams and D
Brentlinger 6/3/52/0/0 went down early with broken ribs
Benson 9/14/138/0/1 was only decent in relief
Borders 21/117/0
Porter 2/45/0
Stegeman got the scoring going with a 72 yard punt return
Whiting returned an Interception 62 yards for another score
Tubbs led the swarming D with 5 tackles and a Sack
Swift Kirk and Wiese each had a sack a piece
And Duncan racked up 3 sacks, as the Steeler O-Line was overwhelmed
Pitt didn't even get on the board until 1:14 left in the game.
Browns 30 Steelers 3

With our first 2 QB's down for most, if not all of the rest of the season, I need to look into a free agent solution. There are 3 high caliber players available, but 2 of them want over $14 million to play, which is why they are on the sidelines this year. Part of the decision I need to make is who to start, Benson is young, but knows the system, anyone else we brought in may have a hard time leading the team, even if he has better skills. A trade of some kind is out of the question as the deadline has just passed.

An interesting note, acording to the Box Score, Pitt didn't register a single sack, meaning Brentlinger was injured on his only run, or some hit after he got rid of the ball. I can't even blame anyone on our O-line for this.

More to come in the continuing saga of kill the QB...


[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-09-2001).]

[WebEwbank]

Whoa nellie, there be some HITTIN' out dare dis year ! Two QBs down and Benson nervous in the service...

Agree with Subs that this may be the most graceful (sic) way out of the Lee Clark Non-Era, but it's a little bit like watching your pet gerbil step on a land mine.

[Syrinx]

If it makes anyone feel any better, we broke the foot of the Steelers starting QB, broke the finger of their number 1 Wideout and, concussed their starting FB.

Is "concussed" a word?

I just find it helarious, and yes it does make me feel better that we concussed someone Though, perhaps a bit dirty...

[Syrinx]

Some bits of info before I go on.

Durring the 8 years of the Non-Era in which Lee Clark was the full time Starter we made the playoffs each year (100%). Blaine Davies only reached the playoffs in 77% of the seasons he played. Clark compiled a career rating of 86.4 and threw almost 24TD's a year and 3682 yards per season. Which is higher then Blaine's 86.2 rating, 22TD's and a mere 3294 yards per season. Clark got a 1st Team League honors in 25% of his seasons, compared to Davies' making first team in only 22% of his seasons.

And Clark didn't do any of this with the help of League HOF RB Donnie Sheen.

So clearly Lee Clark is a better QB then Blaine Davies... And yes, statistics can be misleading.

Mr. Davies 4 rings tell a little different story.

[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-09-2001).]

[WebEwbank]

Great comparison.

Reminds me of Dan Marino (crybaby loser whose every single drop was the WR's fault, and he let everyone in the stadium know it), great stats, no jewelry.

Sorry I ever drafted the under-performing mo-fo.

Now, having said that, watch him come back as the 3rd QB to win the Bowl off the bench - I bet Syrinx would take that...

[Syrinx]

When you look at things more closely though, I used %'s on purpose.

This skewed many things in favor of Clark's 8 years as the full time starter vs. Davies 18 years of playing (including the year they split time and the first few building years.) This also doesn't include Davies's 2nd Team honor's, League MVP's, OPotY, and league records of which Clark has none. ...and of course the afore-mentioned 4 super bowl rings!

[Syrinx]

-2025 Regular Season (Part 2)-

We sign 4th Year man Jon Walker. Walker started four games for Vegas last year, he was with the Cardinals his first 2 seasons but only threw 20 passes each year. He has 5 TD's to 4 INT's and a career rating of 70.4. Walker was the best talent available not asking for double digit millions. Clark hits IR to make room for Walker.

The scout says go with Walker and a cohesion rating of 73, but I'm going with Benson and the 76 rating. Benson has better short and long passes, and has a much higher potential for growth with this exposure. I am tempted to change the game plan a lot, but will only minorly tweak it for now.


Week 6
Cleveland(5-0)-5 @ Jax.(3-2)
An important conference game to test the mettle of this team, but the offense can't get it done
Benson 27/17/223/0/1
Borders 21/88/0
Porter 4/79/0
Gordon led with 9 tackles, in his return to the lineup
Dunk and Storey had 8, Storey also had our only Int
Wiese had our only sack
We out-gained them 328 to 234 but they out-scored us:
Jaguars 13 Browns 6


Week 7 brings the bye and a chance for us to collect our thoughts.


Week 8
Cleveland(5-1)-2 @ Tenn.(2-4)
We add a touch more focus on the run game, and that helps Benson calm down
Benson 27/15/176/1/0
Borders 34/105/2 and 2 catches for 19 yards and another TD
Jeffries 3/53/0
Dunk, quiet in the INT biz this year, led with 6 tackles
Bell had a pick
Swift had 2 sacks, Weise had 1
Browns 27 Ravens 14

Week 9
Cleveland(6-1)-10 vs. Pitt(1-6)
A rematch of the QB Blood bowl, their QB is back in the line-up
Benson 29/16/191/1/1 and a TD on the ground
Borders 21/51/0 - a dissapointing game
Jeffries 4/71/0
Henderson 4/51/1
Dunk led with 9 stops, and got his second Int of the season
Matthewes and Bell also grabbed Int's
CB Bell(5'9" 190lbs) also combined on a sack with DT Swift(6'7" 289lbs) (I can just picture Bell getting crushed this way)
Pitt QB Tormich was knocked back out of the game half way through
Browns 23 Bengals 13

Week 10
Cleveland(7-1)+3 @ Seattle(6-2)
Underdogs against the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last year. We were up 15-14 in the middle of the fourth, but the Seahawks came up with 10 unanswered ponits to finish us off.
Benson 25/12/161/0/1
Borders 22/108/1 not quite enough to carry us through
Henderson 5/90/0
Banks led with 8 tackles
Gordon had 6 plus a sack
Wiese and Swift also had sacks
We forced no Int's, but did grab a fumble, and block a punt out of the back of the end-zone
Seahawks 24 Browns 15

Week 11
Cleveland(7-2)-5 vs. Jax.(4-5)
A re-match of the Benson debut turns out differently at home, although Benson missed most of the game with an upset stomach and it turned into the Nate Borders show
Walker 25/13/173/0/0 - doing a great job of not loosing the game
Borders 29/112/3 and 3 catches for 20 yards to lead receivers
Jeffries 2/43/0
Storey Whiting and Dunk each led w/ 5 tackles and a pick a piece
Kirk and Gordon had solo Sacks, Swift and Ogden combined on a 3rd
Browns 21 Jaguars 3

Week 12
Cleveland(8-2)-13 vs. Baltimore(2-8)
A game that was closer then it should have been, we won on a sneaky 13 yard draw to backup RB Beyer with :40 left in the game.
Benson 29/13/210/2/0
Borders 17/44/0
Porter 5/118/2
Gordon led with 7 tackles and a Sack
Swift had 6 stops up front and brought down their QB twice
Ogden added 2.5 sacks, Weise 1, and Sapp contributed another half sack to the mugging
Browns 24 Ravens 17

Dunk is going to sit out a week to rest a bruised shoulder, Brentlinger is also claiming he's ready to come back, but we'll give him another week or 2 as well.

Week 13
Cleveland(9-2)+3 @ Green Bay(9-2)
Two playoff contenders battle it out in a great Monday nighter
The packers roll-up a 20-0 lead before Walker is put in to put 10 on the board to late to matter
Benson 25/10/102/0/0
Walker 9/4/94/1/0
Borders 15/75/0 rushing
Henderson 5/80/0
Jeffries 4/51/1
Sapp had 9 tackles
Whiting had 2 picks, Mathews had 1
Weise added yet another sack to his resume
Browns 21 Redskins 13

Week 14
Cleveland(9-3)-5 vs Cincy(10-2)
Our first game against division leading Cincy marks the return of Brentlinger in a losing effort.
Bentlinger 35/18/263/1/2 - one of the INT's was returned for a momentum turning score late in the 2nd qtr.
Borders 14/121/1
Henderson 5/105/0
Gordon had 10 stops
Weise had the only sack
We caught no Int's
Bengals 19 Browns 14

The diviion lead is now almost out of reach, and the playoffs could be in doubt if we don't turn this slide around

Week 15
Cleveland(9-4)-1 vs. Charlottesville(8-5)
A much needed win over a quality opponent!
Brentlinger 18/12/126/0/0
Borders 29/105/2
Porter 3/48/0
Storey led with 8 tackles
Weise had 2 sacks, Kirk 1.5, Gordon 1, and DT Tubbs .5
Again no Int's
Browns 20 Spangels 13

Week 16
Cleveland(10-4)+0 @ New England(8-6)
This game needs no introduction
Brentlinger 35/23/316/3/0
Borders 28/137/1 rushing, 4/13/1 receiving
Jeffries 8/148/1
Gordon led with 7 tackles
Storey had the only pick
Wiese had 2.5 sacks, including one for 2 points
CB Lindsay assisted on one of the sacks
Browns 40 Patsies 30

With this win, we secure a spot in the playoffs, and deny one to New England

Week 17
Cleveland(11-4)-2 @ Cincy(12-3)
The division title is on the line, and Brentlinger's Int's give it to Cincy
Brentlinger 26/8/130/0/3
Borders 24/186/1
Sapp and Kirk had 8 stops
Wiese got another sack
And again none of last season's trademark Int's
Bengals 16 Browns 10

AFC Central
*Bengals 13-3
*Browns 11-5
Jaguars 8-8
Titans 8-8
Ravens 5-11
Steelers 2-14

See you in the post season...

[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-09-2001).]

[WebEwbank]

I don't know how you resisted calling the NE game "bigger than the FOF Bowl". Nice work beating those !@#$%^&*(s. Amazed you piloted us to the playoffs without a real QB - Roger was pretty shaky on his return to action...

I have two things,
one, even if Brentlinger doesn't do anything else for us, he stepped up and KICKED the Pats asses, something that seemed to elude Clark all the time. Granted, he did stink vs the Bengals twice...

Wiese, WOW, did he ever step up his game the 2nd half of the year. I think he ended up with 13.5 but 7.5 in the final 5 games, 5.5 in the final 3. I'm so proud

[Subby]

Nice job avoiding what could have been an utter disaster. Thank god for our defense and running game. Good luck in the playoffs...

[Darkiller]

Great season Syrinx, with all the adversity you faced it's great we made the playoffs. congratulations.

now good luck for the playoffs. we don't come into it as a favourite but this might be better since we lost in recent years though we had homefield advantage.

keep up the good work

I did forget to mention how disappointed I was that the Mighty Moe got hurt.

Good luck in the playoffs

Go Browns

[Subby]

Somewhere I think Martin Force and Harold Paniagua are sharing a Pabst Blue Ribbon and having a good laugh

somehow i doubt that Subby, but it does bring up an interesting question, should you make a section devoted to our coaches and our scouts(pretty much just Johann)?

[Syrinx]

Sorry about getting this posted so late, our Internet connection was down all morning.

-2025 Post Season-

Wild Card

Chicago 3
Green Bay 31

San Diego 7
Miami 17

Greensboro 12
Tampa Bay 17

Cleveland(11-5)-6 vs. Charlottesville(10-6)
A big time rematch of the week 15 thriller!
The cold rain didn't stop the fans from showing up to this great game, 99,900 screaming Browns fans were in attendance.

Charlottesville took the opening kick-off, and drove down most of the field, but their drive was ended with a missed FG. Cleveland took over and showed their game plan early going to Borders on the ground and in the air on 3 straight plays. Although in-effective on this drive, it was obvious they wanted to fully utilize their MVP from the week 15 win over the Spangles. After a 3 and out by Charlottesville, the Browns took over on their 45. Borders was bottled up on first down, Brentlinger then went to the air to take advantage of the Spangles cheating against the run. Cole for 24, then Porter for 9 down to the opponents 25. From their Borders, following a crushing lead block from 2nd year LT Finch, bounced outside and raced all the way in for a score.
Charlottesville responded with a 71 yard scoring drive of their own, to tie the game. Cleveland went 3 and out, and Charlottesville took a 3 point lead on their next drive.
Cleveland went back to the ground game, and on perhaps the play that broke it open for the Browns, on a first and ten from their own 41, Borders took another sweep around right end and was off to the races as he sprinted 59 yards down the sideline for another TD!
Charlottesville failed to respond on their next drive. On our next drive, Borders fumbled in Browns territory, but 2 plays later the swarming D got the ball back as the Charlottesville QB was sacked and coughed up the slick football. Cleveland took full advantage of this fortunate turn of events, drove to the Spangles 39, and from there Borders took it in on another long sweep, this time around left end.

At the half we lead 21-10.

We open the half with another TD drive, this one capped by a Brentlinger to Porter 15 yard strike. The rest of the third is a defensive battle, ending with Charlottesville on our 1.
They open the fourth with a TD, but fail to convert the 2 pointer; 28-16 our lead.
On our next drive Charlottesville scoops up another Borders fumble, and takes it in form the 8. Pulling to within 5.
Brentlinger moves us down the field, and sets up a long FG by Conley. 31-23
The ball goes back and forth. With 2:05 left Charlottesville takes over on their 46, after a missed Browns 56 yard FG attempt. They need a TD and 2-pointer to force OT. Their first play is a 45 yard bomb that takes it own to our 9, where Foster drags down the receiver from behind saving a TD. Our stalwart D then holds, as Charlottesville fails on 4 attempts to get the ball into the end zone! From there we run down the clock, and preserve the win.

Brentlinger 19/14/197/1/0
MVP - Borders 31/184/3 (and 2 fumbles on this rainy day)
Porter 4/76/1
Foster led with 8 tackles
LB Lamar Tubbs and DT Swift each got solo sacks
DE Ogden had 1 solo sack, and combined with reserve DT Riddick Tubbs on another sack
Charlottesville also committed 13 penalties, in this very close game.

Browns 31 Spangles 23

Quarter Finals

Green Bay 20
Dallas 17

Miami 10
Seattle 24

Tampa 10
St. Louis 13

Cleveland(12-5)+1 @ Cincy(13-3)
This is a playoff match-up many were expecting. Cincy is confident after the regular season sweep. Coach Joseph is promising something different, saying that he has identified a weakness in the Bengals after closely studying the game tapes from earlier in the year. We shall see...

Defense prevailed through the first quarter, surprising no one, as neither team even scored 20 points in either of their earlier games.
In the second qtr, Cleveland finally got a FG in, and Cincinnati responded in kind. just before the 2 min. warning, Brentlinger engineered a successful drive, and capped it with a nice 29 yard pass to the TE Pearson. Cincy went three and out, and the Browns came back with another scoring drive, this one for a FG 19 seconds before the half. On the last play before the kick (a run by Borders), Brentlinger went down.

The Browns hold a half-time lead of 13-3, but are concerned with the injury to Brentlinger.

Cincy's opening drive stalled, and Cleveland, led by Benson off the bench, took over. The Browns executed a beautiful 66 yard drive, that ended with another Pearson TD catch. Defense, and Cleveland clock killing ate up the rest of the qtr.
Going into the 4th we held a strong 20-3 lead, against a team that we knew had problems scoring big against us. Early in the fourth we added another FG to our lead, but then Cincy finally mustered a TD drive, to keep the game alive: 23-10.
With only half a quarter left, and the Bengals trying to revive themselves, we knew we had to continue to play mistake free football. We got a good return after the Cincy field goal. Then on a second and 10 from our 45, Borders caught a quick screen, and broke downfield for 29 yards to the 16! From there Benson hit an open Jeffries in the back of the end-zone.
From there Cincy got desperate. Then went for it on 4th, inside their own 20, and failed. We scored a FG as a result. They then failed on another 4th down inside their 20. This time we made them pay with a TD. Cincy then ran one more play, that ended with a fumble on their own 27. We downed the ball to end the game.

Brentlinger 20/11/163/1/0
Benson 12/9/102/2/0
Borders 25/102/0 rushing and 5/60/0 receiving for MVP honors
Porter 5/75/0
Jeffries 5/59/1
Pearson 3/45/2

Browns 40 Bengals 10

Coach Joseph after the game, "We knew that mistakes had cost us the 2 games during the season, so we went with a more high-percentage conservative game plan, taking advantage of mismatches we felt we had over them at TE and RB in the passing game. We had out-gained them in yardage in both of our previous games, and knew we just needed to stop beating ourselves."

Conference Finals

Green Bay 21
St. Louis 34

Cleveland(13-5)+3 @ Seattle(14-3)
Another rematch from the regular season. Seattle's starting QB Donald Wilson, and the league's top rated passer, is Doubtful and not expected to play. Wilson was one of only 2 QB's to burn our secondary for more then 300 yards in his MVP performance in week 10.
Brentlinger is unable to play, and Borders will get the start. Lee Clark is healthy, but unavailable due to his Injured reserve status. Clark and Brentlinger have both traveled with the club to Seattle, for another cold and rainy playoff game.

The Browns open with a 41 yard KO return. Starting in Seattle territory, we quickly take advantage and score 5 plays later with a 5 yard pass from Benson to TE Pearson. The rest of the quarter sees little in the way of offense until Seattle threatens near the end of the quarter. Bringing it all the way to the 4, our Defense stiffens and they have to settle for a FG late in the First.
We take over, and on the last play of the 1st quarter, Benson is forced out of the pocket, makes a great move juking Seattle LB Holmes, he scrambles 39 yards. Deep in Seattle territory Borders takes care of the last 26 yards with 3 runs and a 4 yard play action pass for the score. Seattle goes three and out, and with the help of a poor punt we take over with excellent field position. Borders carries us into field goal range, and a 35 yard chip shot makes the score 17-3.
Seattle gets the ball, but on a key 3rd and ten, DT Brendan Swift makes the Defensive Play of the Game when he bull rushes over Seattle's best lineman, G Leo Knievel and just levels QB Qualizza. The ball comes loose, and Swift quickly drops on it at the Seattle 5 yard line. Borders fails to get it in twice, but on 3rd down Benson goes to Henderson through the air and scores. The Browns take a 24-3 lead with 2:23 left in the half. Seattle goes 3 and out, and Stegeman responds with the Special Teams Play of the Game, returning the punt 60 yards down to the 9. And in Cleveland's second straight possession starting inside the 10, Borders takes it in on try number 3. Seattle can't do anything with their last possession of the half.
Taking a 31-3 lead into half time, spirits are high.
The third qtr. only sees a FG by each team.
Early in the fourth Seattle adds another FG, but clearly need more then FG's with the game nearly out of reach at 34-9 and only 9 minutes left to play. Late in the 4th Seattle threatens again inside our 20, but at the 2 min. warning they fumble and we recover. Beyers takes over clock-killing duties for the winded Borders. Seattle calls meaningless TO's to prolong the inevitable. Then in a bizarre play that epitomizes Seattle in this game, with 14 seconds left we punt, they fumble, and we pick it up and return 48 yards for a completely meaningless TD.

Benson 24/14/106/3/0
Borders 27/76/1 rushing and 3/25/1 receiving for another game MVP
Sapp had 5 tackles
Gordon, Kirk, Wiese and LB Tubbs got a sack a piece
Swift had 2.5 sacks, including the all-important sack, forced fumble and recovery.
Duncan had .5 sack
We had no INT's but forced a total of 3 fumbles.

Browns 41 Seahawks 9


FOF Bowl

Cleveland(14-5)+2 @ St. Louis(13-5)
The NFC West champion Rams had the 2nd highest scoring O, and the hardest D to score against this year. The Rams also have the best turnover margin at +20.

The game starts with us going 3 and out, St. Louis takes over on their 28, and go for it on a daring 4th and one. We stop them, and take over at their 37. This call by aging Coach Andy Cole will probably be analyzed all off-season. We take advantage of the shortened field and FB Clarence Lee scores on a 15 yard run behind TE Pearson. St. Louis recovers and drives down to score a TD on their next drive. 7-7
Both teams stall on their next drives. As the 1st period comes to a close Cleveland is driving towards mid-field. The second period opens with a 15 yard pass to Cole, then a 29 yard Borders run, and finally a flair pass to Borders that he takes in from the 11! 14-7
St. Louis can only manage to get to mid-field, and again are forced to punt. We take over at our 15. Benson completes a total of 5 of 6 and with the help of two 10+ yard runs by Borders the Browns put together a nice 85 yard TD drive, finished up with a scoring pass to Henderson. 21-7
St. Louis goes 3 and out, Thanks in part to a big sack by Wiese. After three plays we have the ball at their 36, where Borders slips past his coverage and grabs a 36 yard scoring strike from Benson. 28-7
With only a 1:33 left in the half St. Louis tries to go to the air, but manage nothing. Cleveland takes over at their 29 with 34 second left. A 40 yard bomb to Cole gets us into field goal range, and Conley connects on a 34 yarder as the half expires.

An unbelievable qtr. of football as the Browns now hold a 31-7 half-time lead.
Coach Joseph warns the team about keeping mistake free, as a big play by the opportunistic St. Louis Defense could turn the ball game around in the second half.

St. Louis comes out firing, burning CB Jumbo Bell (starting for the injured Charles Whiting) with a 40 yard completion to get to the Cleveland 24. 2 plays later they shoot for the end-zone, but Bell redeems himself by snagging an interception, only his 4th on the year. Both teams then go three and out. Cleveland takes over at their 20. 2 Penalties later we are looking at 1st and 25 from the 5. St. Louis is salivating at a chance to come up with a big play and try to get back into this game. The Rams stack the line, and come in hard. Borders takes the hand off and heads to the middle; he then bounces out to the left; FB Lee blocks one defender and Borders races around the end breaking through the arms of a closing Safety. With no one left to beat, Borders races down the field 95 yards for a score! The proverbial nail in the coffin. 38-7
The rest of the game is pretty much moot.
We engineered another TD drive in the 3rd qtr. And they did nothing all quarter. By the end of the third qtr, both teams had their backup QB's in. The fourth qtr. saw only a field goal by each team.

3 Benson 27/19/297/4/0
Borders 14/163/1 rushing, 5/85/2 receiving his fourth straight playoff MVP honors
TE Pearson 4/61/1

Dunk led with 8 tackles
Corners Bell and Mathews each made an INT
Duncan, Wiese and Ogden got QB Sacks

We outgained them 509 yards to 225
The Rams only managed 2.2 yards per rush on 27 attempts and completed only 44% of their passes

Browns 48 Rams 10

FOF Champs once again!!!!!!

Season Stats

Team:
Turnovers: +9 (3rd)
Offense
Passing 3340(27th) Rushing 2230(2nd) 3rd Down .283(36th) Points 364(9th)
Defense
Passing 3357(6th) Rushing 1588(3rd) 3rd Down .294(2nd) Points 240 (2nd)
Power Rating: 76(3rd)

Individual
QB Roger Brentlinger (9 starts) 124 out of 211 (58.7%) for 1727 yards (8.18 ypp, 2nd among QB's with at least 8 starts), 11TD's and 8 INT's for a rating of 86.7 (8th highest rating among QB's with at least 8 starts)
QB Dwight Benson (7 starts) 102 out of 192 (53.1%) for 1346 yards(7.01 ypp), 5TD's and 4 Int's for a rating of 75.5

RB Nate Borders (16 Starts) 368 carries(1st) 1785 yards(1st) (which is a Browns single season record) 4.8 yards per carry (4th) 15 rushing TD's (2nd) as well as 34 catches (4th among RB's), for 264 yards (6th among RB's) and 2 more TD's (tied for 2nd among RB's) Offensive Player of the Year, 1st Team RB, Bowl MVP

WR Burt Porter 41 Catches, 818 yards, 19.9ypc(tied for 1st), 5TD's
WR Robbie Jeffries 50 Catches, 773 yards, 15.4ypc, 4TD's - Jeffries now owns the Browns Franchise records for receiving yardage(9318) and receiving TD's(63)
WR Jim Henderson 50 Catches, 787 yards, 15.7ypc, 2TD's

OT Rondell Finch, in only his second season and the first with any playing time, started all 16 games at left tackle. He made an amazing 43.6% of his 71 block opportunities and allowed 8 sacks.
OG Ben Vanderclute also had an amazing season. With 14 starts, Vanderclute made 37.3% of his 75 block opportunities and didn't allow a single sack.

DE Kurt Wiese led the team with 15 sacks (tied for 6th in the league)
S Arnold Storey (in his first season as a starter) and CB Charles Whiting led the team with 5 Interceptions and 1 TD each

--

I'm tempted to make Borders my keeper, but I want to take one of the kids that I selected in the 2024 Draft, so I'm gong to select T Rondell Finch as my second keeper. I'd love to see him have the kind of long career with the Browns that 17 year vet. G Norbert Page has had. Barring Injury I think it's possible. He probably won't make any HOF's as O-Line rarely does, so I hope I can track down his final career stats from the last Zip file he was active in.

The team is in great overall shape, but the QB situation is quite muddled.

[This message has been edited by Syrinx (edited 01-10-2001).]

[Subby]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!

Greatgreatgreat year. Nice work. Does Borders have an early line on the Ring of Honor? Only time will tell.

Talk about avoiding disaster. Syrinx leads all GMs in winning % now...

[WebEwbank]

1. Fan-tas-tic. If the NFL had this much excitement I'd go back to robbing liquor stores and gas stations to buy season tickets for the whole family !

2. What is it with the weather ? "A dark and stormy night" ? Is this the out-takes from a remake of Jane Eyre starring Meg Ryan ?

3. What can you say ? A composite playoff PF/PA of 160-52 or an AVERAGE score of 40-13.
And done with our #3 - on the depth chart, anyway - QB. Awesome coaching. I bet Force has graduated to crack by now...

4. I think Mr. Borders deserves a nickname, and, in the tradition of Chris Berman, it has got to be "Bookstore", which works either as Nate "Bookstore" Borders, or Nate Borders "Bookstore". Like its owner, a double threat...

5. Somehow, I'd like to bend the rules to make Nate my O keeper, so I guess the best case is that Clark retires next year, or gets hit by a car - which reminds me of the guy who hit Casey Stengel when he was the new manager in Boston (*before he was a genius*) being voted Man Who Did Most for Baseball in Boston This Year. What do you guys think ?

[Subby]

Well,since we are allowed two Keepers, I don't see that as a problem...

2026

Pre-Season

Just trying to get familiar with these Browns:

We really have no weaknesses at this point. Choosing between QBs will be tough though, because while Benson looks better, Brentlinger rates better in the future. Again, though - it looks to me like Benson is the better potential. We shall see...

Herb Score: 87 (100/100/65/74)

Profitability killed us,although we WERE able to turn an 86 million dollar profit.

Retirements:

A moment of silence, please. Three greats have decided to call it quits.

Trevor Foster, S (keeper): 14 years, 57 Ints, 5 tds, 2 time allpro, defensive roy (2012).

Phillip Hamilton, DT: 14 years, first 12 as a starter. 468 tckls, 89 sacks. First pick in the 2012 draft.

Norbert "Grandaddy" Page: 17 years, 34.2% career block %.

Ticket Prices:

We decide to leave them alone. They'll get jacked up in three years.

Franchise Player Designation:

We toy with franchising Scott Fleming, but with a good backup already their and an eye on the cap, we decide no.

Coaching/Scouting:

Yeah right.

Free Agency:

We receive trade offer for G Hansen, DT Swift and Keeper T Finch. No,no, and no. We arent really wanting for anything, but we keep an eye out for affordable backups along the lines, as well as a great Punter.

We cant do anything, though, because our salary budget for draftees is too high (we have 9 picks in the upcoming draft). We trade our 2 3rds and our 4th for Oakland's 2nd (1). We continue to consolidate, trading two second round picks (31 and 36) to Philly for their 2nd (3). We then offer our 1st (18), 2nd (18), and 4th in 2027 to Milwaukee for their 1st (6). We now have the following picks: 1(6), 1(9), 1(13), 2(1), 2(3), 2(5). Cap room doesnt loosen too much, so we look trade a high-priced veteran. We take advantage of our depth at WR and trade former 1st rounder WR Cole and the 13th pick in the 1st round to Vegas for the 5th pick overall. The logjam at WR starts to clear.

We sign 5th year backup G Brady Moore (48/65/58) and also sign 6th year backup T Edward Knight (72/60/69) to a 3 yr 9 mil contract. We clear some more room by trading our 3rd string TE Bell and 3rd string RB Rose KC for a 2nd round pick in 2028. They both give us experienced and inexpensive 4th string depth.

Draft:

Bad news. I have 6 great picks, but this may be the worst draft I have ever seen. So I am going to try and parlay my picks into more picks to use as trade bait. My objective? Get young starters at the following positions: T, G, DT, S, WR.
+We trade the 1st round pick (5) to Buffalo for their first rounders in 2027 and 2028.
+We trade the 1st round pick (6) to Carolina for their first rounders in 2027 and 2028.

But I look again and we are so stacked I am not sure we CAN improve...so while I keep the radar up, I move to the draft. Amazingly, the starting S we liked, but didnt want to draft as high as 5 or 6, falls to 9th. We grab him. One down.

1. (9) Al Pettine, S, LSU (92, 97, 76, x, x, 96). One of only two 8.0s on the board this year, he will be ready when Arnold Storey starts to fade in a few years. He'll also give us a formidable one-two punch with fellow Safety Graham "The Greek" Theophilokas for money years to come - on par with the glory years of the great Trevor Foster and Gerry Dunkleberger.
2. (1) Sammie McKnight, QB, Tulane (96,85,98,74,92,100,98,96,100). McKnight will be our third string QB, meaning that whomever loses the job coming out of training camp will get dealt.
2. (3) Darryl Hutchins, CB, Michigan Tech, (100,97,100,x,x,87). Possible future starter at CB.
2. (5) Ian Reese, P, Boise State, (59,97,88). Now we have a quality Punter!

Trade offers for DE Wiese, T Finch, and DT Swift are rejected.

We do some housecleaning and trade former starting Punter Curtis Norris to the Las Vegas Hitmen for a 4th round pick in 2027.

After Training Camp:

Now for the QB Controversy. Our Scout now likes Benson better than Brentlinger over the long term. Clark has healed to the point where he is rated higher at the moment than the other two. Passing cohesion with Clark would be 92. With Benson it would be 75 and Brentlinger a 78. In the end we decide to go with Dwight Benson - its a move I may regret the next two years, but I think it will pay off in the long run...and Benson has a real chance to be great. We give Benson a 4-yr 16.8 million dollar deal and we immediately trade QB Roger Brentlinger to the Washington Redskins for 1st round picks in 2027, 2028, and 2029. We have 13 first round picks over the next three years at the moment. Coming off a Bowl win and the future looks bright.

Exhibition Season:

Cleveland @ Green Bay W 16-10
San Francisco @ Green Bay W 16-14 (WR Robbie Jeffries out 2-3 months)
Cleveland @ Tampa Bay W 28-6 (LB Seth Gordon out 2-3 months, QB Benson 3-5 weeks)
Cleveland @ Minnesota W 28-21 (no injuries)

Ok, so we make it out of pre-season minus just two starters - and we will probably start Clark the first game and in any game where Benson is hurt. Let's hope Nate "The Bookstore" Borders can carry us through!