Tag Archives: Cleveland Browns

Thank You Taylor Blitz Time Readers!

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Thank you Taylor Blitz Times readers as we had a record month in December that has drawn in more readers than ever before. 30,424 to be exact. To those new readers  who subscribed there are 725 articles covering all the players, teams, and historical articles. So please go to the search bar or subject categories and look for a particular team, player or subject, you’ll be surprised what you’ll find.

This endeavor was started to highlight defensive football and offer an alternative look at the game through the eyes of a historian. Most football shows have deevolved into staring at stats and only talking through the lense of a Walter Mitty type talking about the quarterback position. All the patterned nuance of hitting and visceral football that you and I both grew up playing gets lost. That essence that made us fall in love with the game.

So why The Chancellor of Fooball? Its simple… the love of the game is to cover every single football team and player throughout history, not just my Buffalo Bills. The American Football League and NFL teams before the merger. Writing and talking about your favorite team is too easy to me. It became a challenge to cover every single team with the same fervor than just who you are a fan of. That was my challenge to myself.

The new goal is to see Taylor Blitz Times hit our 1,000,000th read! So yes share the article, comment, agree with points or disagree with points, just be respectful while doing so. I want someone showing their son, nephew, or daughter a player from the past without stumbling across rancor in the comment section. Its not what I built here and as I curate my work its fun seeing articles showing up in places with youngsters because of such. Now you’ll see an occassional cute model for some eye candy but that’s all. Hey if the networks do it why can’t I? But no mudslinging back and forth you see on Twitter, Threads, or Youtube.

For those that are new here I want to encourage you to look around and there were several projects from the past that will be reissued this month. Some are having additional videos or pics loaded up with them to give them a fresher look. Then there are several projects from years gone by you’ll find interesting

Top Ten Single Season Defenses – An 11 article offering where the top 10 received their own article and my list of those that almost made the cut. Criteria? What were they ranked for the season, record vs ProBowl QBs, how many teams held under 10 points in their season and how they did against Top 10 offenses that year. There are 10 more criteria and too much to cover. This link takes you to the “honorable mention” once there go to the bottom and hit next to cycle through the 10 articles.

Where were you when Dwight Clark made “The Catch” to begin the 49ers dynasty of the 1980s? What about the hit in the 1990 NFC Championship that took out Joe Montana for two years? Well you can hear from Giant Leonard Marshall & Mark Collins and their thougts clicking the link. And Joe Montana , I loved seeing him get absolutely decked but this last link is for appreciating the greatest QB in the history of the game? Wouldn’t it be cool to see videos and NFL Films to show you how they were thought of at the time? Click the link… you’ll be right there.

What about The Pro Football Hall of Fame? Well I can tell you my first two subjects Robert Brazile & the late Kevin Greene were written on the same night. Kevin & his lovely wife Tara had me at his 2016 PFHoF induction and I was in attendance for Mr Brazile in 2018. I had the chance to meet him since I had been invited by Jerry Kramer to the induction ceremony in 2018.

With Kevin Greene after the Induction ceremony.

All of this stems from advocating for players and coaches who I believed belong in The Pro Football Hall of Fame. In all 14 of the 22 I’ve written about and sent letters for have been enshrined. I’m still connected with each family and its not lost on me as we head to Super B0wl LX in San Fran not to remember Kevin & Tara learning he had made it in San Francisco before Super Bowl L.

Who did I hear he had made it into Canton? NFL Network? ESPN? No Alicia Kramer, Jerry’s daughter after the disappointment he didn’t get in again. Which made this picture and the trip to Canton in 2018 so special! Very emotional hug right as Rich Eisen was telling everyone to sit down as The Gold Jacket broadcast was seconds from beginning. She was her father’s presenter on Saturday inside the stadium.

What about retrospecives on Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum, OJ Simpson, Dick Butkus, or the legendary Johnny Unitas? I just gave you 14 links to articles out of 726 or 1.92% of all the articles compiled here with video and personal touch commentary. What other players or stories or conjecture pieces are in the other 712?? Thats for you to go and look for whatever you want to look up. Pay attention to the comment section also you never know what former players have stopped by to leave remarks.

Grab your old man and ask him who Jaguar Jon Arnett was and show him this.RIP he was a friend to Taylor Blitz Times and commented often. As did Chris Burford, do you know who that was? The first ever player signed by Lamar Hunt to play for the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs. Another friend to Taylor Blitz over the years.

Well enjoy and remember: If you enjoy or learn something like sometthing. Comment on it let me know you were here and what you thought. If you do that go ahead and share then subscribe.

Hey….another one of those cute football ladies again.

I’m off to have a dirty Martini with the Mrs. Thanks and I hope you come back and tell your friends to look up Taylor Blitz Times.

 

 

 

The Soul Of The Game: 1986 Conference Championships

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Article reissue from 11, August 2012

When we say “The Chancellor never sleeps”, we mean there is always football on. Whether we’re talking about the Hall of Fame exhibition game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints, or a former landmark game, there is always football on in the imagination. Although I’m writing a football book based upon the Super Bowls, my favorite week are those of the AFC and NFC Championship Games.

There you will find the last of the games between passionate fans of the home teams versus the sterile groups that attend the Super Bowl. The season ticket holder who has been cheering and screaming for 4 months… it leads to a contrast that can’t be matched by the corporate Super Bowl ticket holder.

86TaylorWhen the home team wins the conference championship the celebration reverberates throughout the stadium. The fans don’t want to leave and in some instances players take a victory lap long after the cameras are gone. On the other hand the silence that can overcome a stadium when the home team goes down can be deafening. It’s almost like something has gone wrong with your ears. How can 80,000 people go that silent?? Yet you remember last January how quiet it got in Candlestick Park when Lawrence Tynes kicked the New York Giants to the Super Bowl.

In 1986, the Championships were two tightly fought games. The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 17-0 and did so based upon good field position with a fierce wind in the first quarter. In Cleveland a defensive battle gave way to John Elway coming of age with “The Drive”. From there the Broncos, who had gained 216 total yards throughout the first 54:00 of the game, drove 98 yards to the tying score. Then won it in overtime.

These fiercely contested game made Super Bowl XXI anti-climactic. They had intensity that bordered on the Hatfields and the McCoy’s and all four defenses played terrific football that day. The two games before the Super Bowl are normally better games than the Super Bowl and my love for the conference finals started with these fiercely fought games.

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Shedeur Sanders Survived A Railroading

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Taylor Blitz Times is sharing this to remind you what happened and dodge ignorant rhetoric being thrown around.

Sheduer Sanders was the Big XII OPoY & Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the best collegiate quarterback. He should never have fallen to the 5th round or be forced into the make it or break it fiasco he faced sitting behind mediocre Dillon Gabriel.

Gabriel is 34th (dead last) in yds per attempt in the NFL with 5.1… Sanders is 10th at 7.46 and didnt practice with the 1st team offense for the 20 weeks Gabriel was able to. Sanders survived a railroading.

Go show them what you’re made of these next 4 weeks.

Thanks for reading… like & subscribe and fire Coach Kevin Stefanski

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w/ Black Quarterbacks: Shedeur Sanders Take 3! Killing The Noise!

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One thing has jumped out with Shedeur Sanders play with the Cleveland Browns over the last few weeks, he has been their best quarterback all year. In yesterday’s 31-29 loss to Tennessee, Sanders’ threw for 364 yards 3TDs while rushing 3 times for 29 yards and another score. In doing so became the 2nd rookie QB in the Super Bowl era to throw for more than 350 yards 3TDs while galloping for another score since Joe Burrow in 2020. Thats it, just those two and ironically Burrow’s game came against the Cleveland Browns in a 37-34 shootout with Baker Mayfield.

He has passed the eyeball test and in his 3rd start has shown more than Bo Nix, Drake Maye and Jaxson Dart did in any of their games during their rookie campaigns. Analyzing the Browns, in their last 3 games with Dillon Gabriel the Browns averaged a paltry 148 yards passing. Its risen to 224 yards per game in Sanders 3… and remember Sanders has had 3 weeks of 1st team reps in practice where Gabriel had them in QB Camp, mini camp, preseason and 11 NFL regular season weeks.

We’re also fresh from the Tik Tok controversy of Gabriel’s fiance Zo Caswell claiming “Everyone in the building wants (Dillon) to play.” Oh really? When he had the lowest yards per attempt of every NFL quarterback by a full yard and worst since 1968 in the NFL! That Dillon Gabriel?

Pssst… Sanders has 769 yards on 103 throws for an average of 7.46 yards per attempt. As a measure… every Super Bowl winner has averaged 7-9 yards per attempt or he’d be 10th just behind Matthew Stafford & Dak Prescott with 7.5. Just last week several had Dak in the MVP race…right??Stafford??

This is what this has become as Black America sees Shedeur, one of our own, being dragged, nistreated and to see all the comments stifling black advancement from MAGA types who have made Dillon Gabriel the Anti-Shedeur. Yet have done so with total disregard to the x’s and o’s or onfield performance. Filling post after post about why he should be behind on the bench as the 144th selection completely remiss of football nuance and has been very racist in tone and spirit.

This has been the root of the problem when observing Head Coach Kevin Stefanski as well. Delivering racist tropes “Dillon is like a super computer processing information” which in turn suggests Shedeur doesn’t. It’s all smokescreen b.s. as Gabriel was overthrowing bubble screens and couldn’t produce 1 pass play of 30 yards or greater in all of his games. Neither did Flacco before being traded:

Yet Shedeur had 4 pass plays greater than 30 yards yesterday alone!! Pass plays of 58 to Judkins, 31 to Sampson, 35 to Fannin & the 60 yard TD strike to Jerry Jeudy. So that gives Sanders 8 pass plays over 30 yards and none for the other 2 QBS the Browns have started this entire season?? Then what are they evaluating and if this is what they observed Head Coach Kevin Stefanski should be fired due to incompetence evaluating and inability to coach improvement from any of his quarterbacks. Here is the gamelog of all plays

In Black circles we’ve observed Stefanski’s reluctance from saying Sanders name at earlier press conferences and his paltry post game locker room acknowledgment in Sanders’ first start against the Raiders when it was only their 2nd win in 7 weeks. Did you hear former Browns legend Hanford Dixon’s angry outburst on radio covering the team after that game??

His disregard has become apparent and he is having a hard time hiding behind a facade where many believe he has been sabotaging Sheduer Sanders. We know prejudice when we see it as we’ve all experienced it within our own personal working circles. We know exactly how it feels when dealing with a non-relatable boss at work. Especially from a cultural standpoint. When the one who reminds them of themselves are given favor or benefit of the doubt vs black contemporaries. All of us have lived it

So in reward for completing 23 of 42 for a career best 364 yds and throwing his 3rd TD with 1:03 to go what did Sanders get?? Replaced on a failed 2 point conversion that would have tied the game. Completely deflating everyone in the stadium. Diluting the excitement of the end of the game when their rookie showed he could play full dimention NFL quarterback.

By the way Sanders did this missing 40% of his starting offensive linemen as well. Were you aware of that?? Mmmhmm… No more moving the goal post as this is your quarterback going forward and just needs the reps. Playing in the NFL at quarterback is the ability to get the job done on the field and infuse belief in your team. He’s done this at Jackson State then proved it at Colorado and yesterday made a league full of believers. If you don’t think so ask other teams if they would trade for him this offseason…

By the way…where was Dillon Gabriel & his “super computer processing” after his sixth college football season when Shedeur was accepting the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award??

Exactly…. GTFOH Time to draft some receivers… and fire that idiot coach Kevin Stefanski

 

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks Vol 1 -Lamar Jackson 2018 NFL Draft

2020 NFL Draft: Wither Jalen Hurts – Shameful Impatience w Black QBs Take Two!

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks: The Odyssey of Shedeur Sanders

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w/ Black Quarterbacks: Shedeur Sanders Named Starter v 49ers – Browns Should Fire Stefanski

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The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w/ Black Quarterbacks: Shedeur Sanders Named Starter v 49ers – Browns Should Fire Stefanski

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With the Browns naming Shedeur Sanders their starting QB for the week 13 battle with the 49ers, the time has come to let go of bumbling head coach Kevin Stefanski. Anyone who watched the Browns take on the Raiders in Las Vegas saw when Sanders came to the sideline he was being coached up by RB Coach Duce Staley and going over the  over X’s and O’s on tablet with injured QB DeShaun Watson who no doubt was discussing situations with OC Tommy Rees.

Sander has endured a baptism by fire which has included a Head Coach undermining his confidence. Never spoke his name at the podium while singing the praises of punters and clearly expressing the desire to fully develop 3rd round pick Dillon Gabriel. The 3rd round pick who by far had the lowest yardage passing per attempt in the NFL this season and had a 1-6 record. Look at this…

Keep in mind McCarthy & Cam Ward have their fans & media questioning if they’ll mature into what their franchises need. They’re #2 & #3. Kyler Murray is #4 and has been quietly fired (season ending IR) by the Arizona Cardinals going with backup Jacoby Brissett the rest of the year. #5 Joe Flacco started ahead of Sanders & Gabriel, been released and has a full yard better average than Gabriel. Do you realize how far back that is and Stefanski was trying to champion this anemic performer? Only a concussion and the medical staff holding Dillon out kept us from more of this nonsense Stefanski subjected Browns fans to.

In fact #4-7 have all been benched… Murray, Flacco, Justin Fields in New York, and Spencer Rattler for a rookie with the Saints. Now throw in #8 Bryce Young fresh off a poor performance in last night’s 20-9 loss and his situation has been tenuous and was benched last year. So in this sea of terrible quarterbacking Stefanski wanted to float Gabriel out there and sink the rest of the Browns franchise while harboring disdain for Sanders and continue these microaggressions.

After showing flashes in his 1st start, 11 of 20, 209 yards 1TD and 1 int. he made big plays and ignited his team and earned the respect of his opponent. He wowed his team with a 52 yard bomb to Isiah Bond early on and the team raised their level of play and handled the Raiders.  Stefanski was forced to announce on Monday he would be the starter going forward. Yet we didn’t see nor hear this in the locker room when he addressed the team after the game with the cameras rolling. A very lukewarm afterthought mention “first win by Shedeur Sanders” that had all former black players in an uproar. Most famously Michael Irvin.

Over the last several weeks the situation morphed into a cultural war where his coach had undermined his quarterback and I’m convinced it was his brash young black attitude. Funny thing is this exact swag is celebrated with Jaxson Dart in New York but used to villify Sanders. A racial trope that survives and has played out with fans and the coach has fed into it not breathing confidence in Sanders, not saying his name when media asked questions about his availability and chance to start. Stefanski fed into it over and over fueling these adversarial racial arguments with fans on social media. It was impossible to rule out the racial element as a part of his decision making handling Sanders.

Keep in mind fans buy the tickets and 2 weeks ago they had a league low offering of $6 tickets to go to see the Browns with Gabriel still starting… and Stefanski was still trying to sell him as a starting quarterback. Seriously? Lets be honest it seems Ownership forced his hand in naming Sanders the starter after his performance when…

  • Sanders became the 1st Browns rookie QB to win his debut since Eric Zeier in ’95.

1995? That is so long ago Bill Belichick was the Cleveland Browns coach at the time. We’re talking years before becoming head coach of the Jets and then Patriots. This was half a decade before that!! The graphic above only goes back to 1999 when the Browns franchise returned to the field after a 4 year hiatus.

What exactly does Stefanski do when the offense has been struggling mightily to come up with a cohesive attack all year. He doesn’t get involved with DC Jim Schwartz and the deployment of his top rated defense, so what does he really do?

For one he is a poor CEO of a football team and his blatant mismanagement of the quarterback situation should remove him immediately with not only Sanders’ success but that of original 2025 starter Joe Flacco. All of these mind games and his obvious dislike of Sanders over the last 12 weeks culminated Sunday Night in the bowels of Allegiant Stadium. He needs to go and allow Sanders and that team to fully develop allowing Sanders the chance to flourish with interim coach Duce Staley.

Time to allow Sanders the chance to finish this season and have the opportunity to become the quarterback he believes he can be. Jimmy Haslam you owe your fans this and you need to let Coach Kevin Stefanski the cancer go now! This is the 4th installment of The NFL’s Shameful Impatience with Black Quarterbacks (links to previous below)

Thanks for reading and Shedeur go do your thing! You’ve earned the respect of your team and opponents and Taylor Blitz salutes you being free to go fly!

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks Vol 1 -Lamar Jackson 2018 NFL Draft

2020 NFL Draft: Wither Jalen Hurts – Shameful Impatience w Black QBs Take Two!

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks: The Odyssey of Shedeur Sanders

The Browns Should Fire Kevin Stefanski Immediately

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Somewhere midway through the 3rd quarter of the Bengals’ thrilling 33-31 victory over Pittsburgh, it became evident Joe Flacco’s performance wasn’t going to subside. What happened to the gun shy quarterback who was benched over in Cleveland leaving a rudderless ship with 2 rookies vying to be the starting quarterback? Moreover what does that say about the coaching prowess of Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski?

Flacco had been unceremoniously benched following a 1-3 start where he completed 93 of 160 (58.1%) for 815 yards 2TDs and a league leading 6 interceptions. He was traded to the Bengals on  October 7th and in just 9 days with his new team led the Bengals to season highs in points (33) and total yards with 470.

Bengals Coach Zac Taylor could coax this type of performance in just 4 practices with a QB new to his system? Again I ask what does this say about Kevin Stefanski as a Head Coach?? Flacco looked nothing like the player we saw on Thursday night. He looked inspired, energetic and in command of an NFL offense. The Bengals played with a belief we did not see in Cleveland through the first 4 weeks. All stemming from the quarterback position…

Isn’t this why Stefanski was hired in the first place?? He was the Minnesota Vikings QB Coach and Offensive Coordinator and he can’t develop any of his quarterbacks. Did he get the job on merit or just a product of the good ole boy network?? Look at the QBs he has run off from Cleveland in the last 5 years and ask yourself what is the common denominator:

Baker Mayfield – The people’s champ who has resurrected his career and is the front runner to be 2025 NFL MVP. In 6 games leads the NFL with 108.5 QBR, 1,539 yds 12 TDs with only 1 interception. Four come from behind victories in under 2 minutes. The year before threw for a career high 41TDs so this isn’t a fluke. Stefanski ran him off…

Jacoby Brissett & Case Keenum –  Both players have been part time starters and mainly 2nd string QBs but couldn’t be molded into a Daniel Jones type leaning on his running game and stout defense to win games?? You may chuckle but you forget Keenum went 11-3 and took the 2017 Minnesota Vikings to the NFC Championship Game. Remember The Minneapolis Miracle to Stephon Diggs to beat the Saints in the NFC Divisonal Playoff??

Of course you have the strange odyssey of DeShaun Watson where his play has completely regressed since the Browns signed him to a $242 million dollar guaranteed contract. He hasn’t come close to the 3 time Pro Bowl performer he had been. He is “this close” to playing his way out of the league. After throwing for 26, 26, & 33 TDs in 2018-2020 he hasn’t thrown for more than 10 in any of the last 3 seasons.

All this before we talk about the awful treatment of Shedeur Sanders. I’d like to say Watson is playing for his career but we watched Joe Flacco with a new coach breathe life into his. Daniel Jones is on his way to 2025 Comeback Player of the Year now he is out of New York and underachieving Brian Daboll. Coaching matters and poor coaching undermines and derails careers and Stefanski is the worst coach at developing quarterbacks.

What’s worse is Joe Flacco saved Stefanski when he came in off the street to lead his underachieving 2023 team to the playoffs. He even seemed dispirited and disinterested until Thursday Night’s performance with the Bengals. He can’t develop his specialty of QB or platoon a  coordinated offense in Cleveland. He should be fired this Monday if they lose to the 1-5 Miami Dolphins. I see him being fired within the next three weeks and better sooner than later.

Thanks for reading and please share the article. Like and subscribe!

Epilogue: I owe a tremendous apology to Baker Mayfield as I brought up the question of his coachability in the NFL. I was wrong and he is easily the NFL’s MVP if the season were to end today.

This picture was used by The Chancellor of Football to show where he had appeared to devolve to the point of Johnny Manziel. He has resurrected his career and is playing light’s out football and he has proven me wrong and pulling for him.