Josh Gordon‘s return to the Cleveland Browns is huge news. Yet no one believes in this Browns team and no one in the media cares about Gordon’s return. The league has been put on notice. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.
TODD:
Not enough is being made about the pending return of Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon.
The Browns are currently in first place (first place? first place!) in the AFC North. The division is far from settled though as the division’s last-place team, Baltimore, is just one loss behind the leader and has by far the best point differential out of the four teams.
Cleveland has had the best defense this year out of any of the North squads, and with a three-headed being — not quite on the level of “monster” — at running back, the biggest detriment to this team has been its passing offense.
Through the air, quarterback Brian Hoyer has struggled. Let’s be honest. Everyone is praising him for holding off Johnny Manziel, but if the Browns brass actually wanted Manziel playing, they have had reason enough to make a switch.
Hoyer is completing less than 59 percent of his passes but has thrown the ball well down field and is certainly ‘managing’ the offense. Part of his struggles must be attributed to the weapons at his disposal.
Jordan Cameron has been injured or invisible or both for much of the year. Miles Austin has been around. With 70 targets, the team’s number one option by a wide margin has been 5’7″ Andrew Hawkins.
Which is why Josh Gordon’s return is huuuge news. He is eligible to play in the team’s final six contests, meaning this Sunday is the Cleveland Browns’ final game without him. It’s a doozy against Arian Foster and the Houston Texans. After that though, Gordon is back!
For those with short memories, Gordon was the best receiver in football last year. Yes, better than Dez or Mega or Green or any of the Thomases. Shouldn’t a first-place team (at this moment) adding the best receiver in the NFL for the stretch run be the biggest news in the sport? Am I just a week early on this, and everyone is going to be writing this same article next week? Or am I overstating how much Gordon is going to improve this team?
To me, without him, the Browns are probably the third best team in the AFC North. With him, there’s at least a legitimate discussion taking place for first.
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DAN:
Besides losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars (ugh), the Cleveland Browns have played consistently excellent all season. Consider me pleasantly surprised. And Arian Foster is no longer active for this weekend’s matchup with Houston, so the Browns’ poor run defense gets a nice break. I smell another victory leading up to Josh Gordon’s triumphant return. Well, he is coming back, but I agree, it seems no one really cares.
My personal opinion is that the collective NFL media has chosen not to roll out the red carpet for Josh Gordon, probably at the request of the NFL itself, because he was suspended as a disciplinary action. It’s not a good idea to celebrate the end of a suspension. No one praises a kid when he returns to school after being suspended for a month for doing drugs. So why celebrate Gordon’s return, when he earned his punishment?
Setting that obvious reason aside, Josh Gordon coming back to the Cleveland Browns’ offense is huge news for Cleveland. If they weren’t in full control of the division, this would only matter for fantasy reasons. But Cleveland is driving the NFC North train and Gordon is like a shot of nitrous in the arm.
There passing offense is ranked a respectable 16th overall, but as you noted, Gordon was by far the best wide receiver last season. No one on the Browns has more than three touchdowns catching the football, and only two receivers are even close to a 20 yards/catch average. Basically they’ve held things together, but will be thrilled to have Gordon back.
Here’s the bottom line, most NFL pundits do not believe in the Cleveland Browns. Count me as the opposition, firmly on the Browns’ bandwagon. I watched them decimate the Bengals a week ago and the eye test doesn’t lie. That defense can stop anyone. And Hoyer is leading and leading well.
I don’t who you’re kidding, but Cleveland is the best team in the AFC North. Josh Gordon’s return only elevates an already strong football team. The Browns are making the playoffs. I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence, and I certainly didn’t feel this way in week one, but the eye test is brutal and Cleveland passed with flying colors.