Ten Things About Today's NINTH STRAIGHT Win...and Playoff Clinch!
 

Ten Things About Today's NINTH STRAIGHT Win

10. In September and October, the Chiefs were a gut wrenching 2-5. In the home opener, Charles fumbled away the game in the last minute -in front of a National TV audience- to the Donks. Next week we got clubbed like a baby seal -on National TV again- in Green Bay. Then outplayed in every facet on the road in Cincy. Then the maddening last minute defensive choke job at home against Cutler and the Bears. Then the no-show first half in Minnesota, only to lose in the second half when Stephenson deftly jarred a fumble loose from West to seal the Vikes' win. During the two wins during that span, KC played a great first half in Houston, then held on for dear life against Hoyer for a road win. And against the Steelers, we were lucky to miss out on Rapistburger, and beat Pittsburgh's third stringer Landry Jones. Then a totally unexpected thing happened: The Royals won the World Series, and the Chiefs ran off Nine Freaking Straight Wins, including sweeping the AFC West on the road. So here we are, back in the playoffs for the second time under Andy Reid. We still have a legit shot at the division, and we're in the big dance for sure. So there is a LOT to celebrate this night, but also a lot to worry about after this frustrating nail biting game today. Here we go:

9. In the post game presser, Alex called this a "game of two halves." And that it was. KC totally outplayed the Brownouts the first half, including blocking their fourth 50 yard field goal attempt of the year (wow...Factory of Sadness). So let's start by talking about the good things that happened in the first half. Alex hit Maclin with a beautifully threaded pass between three Browns in the end zone to take a first possession lead, and to give Maclin over 1000 receiving yards for the year. Alex frustrated the Browns defense running for 54 yards, setting his personal all time season rushing record, and picking up big first downs to sustain drives. Kelce showed up big in the end of half two minute drill, catching a nice TD ball to put the Chiefs up 17-3, then Sorensen gets the field goal block to end the half. Chiefs totally dominate, looks like its going to be a long day for the Brownies. Turns out, not so much.

8. Browns get the ball to start the second half and score ten unanswered points, and shut out KC the rest of the game. KC only runs 13 offensive plays in the second half. Johnny Rehab had KC gasping for air in the final two minutes, and if he would have had one more timeout left, may have pulled a Cutler. Luckily, he's still an inexperienced QB, and didn't make wise decisions in the fourth quarter on the final drive, or in the drive before when he threw a pass to one of his offensive linemen, drawing a grounding call, loss of down, and forcing a field goal. The three points Cleveland managed to score in the fourth quarter were the first fourth quarter points KC had given up in weeks. In the last six games -including today, KC outscored opponents 50-3 in the fourth quarter. Browns fans can look at their 3-12 record and take some consolation that they almost pulled the upset against a playoff bound team that hadn't lost since October, and be assured that they will get a kick ass draft pick come June.

7. QB stat review is a real mixed bag. Johnny Rehab threw for 11 more yards than Alex, both guys had a pick. Alex threw for two TDs, Johnny had zero. Manziel is the first QB in a long time to rush for over 100 yards on KC. I'd have to guess who the last one was, maybe Newton? Alex relied mostly on Maclin and Kelce today. Wilson caught a couple balls but not for much. He was limping around on the sidelines in the second half. Looked like he turned an ankle, so we'll have to watch him close to see if he plays against the Fade next Sunday. Johnny Rehab spread the ball to six different receivers NOT named Bowe, which is usually what Alex does in a game. Defense did a nice job holding Barnidge in check, especially after Manziel missed him wide open in the first quarter thirty yards down field.

6. The defense had to be dog tired by the end of the game, especially after they got no help at all from the offense in the second half. For the first time in weeks, KC had no sacks, although Ford had a couple of shots and whiffed each time. Ford only had one tackle today, same for Zombo. You would think that if either Hali or Houston could have played, this game would not have been so close at the end. But both teams have lots of starting guys down with injuries. This time of year especially, depth becomes a big factor. But both Ford and Zombo had disappointing performances.

5. Defense gave up six and a half yards per rush. That's not acceptable against a three win team. Mauga led the team with seven tackles, but looked bad most of the day. He whiffed on several tackles, and totally failed to get to the edge on Cleveland's rushing TD to start the second half. Parker was out of position. Berry dropped a pick in the first quarter that hit him right in the hands. Divito, Poe, Bailey and Howard did little but chase Johnny Rehab down the field all day. DJ was OK, but did nothing outstanding. Only Marcus Peters had a stellar defensive game with a momentum changing pick in the first half that may have been the difference in today's game. He should be AFC defensive rookie of the year hands down.

4. KC had a miserable special teams performance. Colquitt punted five times and averaged less than 30 yards per punt. They were saying on the Chiefs radio broadcast that he was injured, but didn't say what the injury was. Sorensen blocked a field goal at the end of the first half, which was great; then commits a hurtful, stupid holding penalty before the Chiefs get the ball in the fourth quarter for the last time, which starts the offensive drive at the KC three yard line. With better field position, KC may have been able to sustain a drive and keep Cleveland from ever getting the ball back for the final two minute suspense.

3. Chiefs were 40% on third down, but totally disappeared in the second half. I think the offense managed one first down in the entire second half. This game actually reminded me a lot of the season opening game in Houston. Cleveland had more penalties -83 yards vs. KCs 33 yards, and some critical mistakes at critical times really hurt the Browns.

2. It was a cold, blustery day. It was hard to see on TV, but the wind was howling out of the North. The goal posts on the east end were swaying back and forth in the wind the whole game. At least the rain held off, so that made the day tolerable. Bowe didn't catch a ball. He came over to the Chiefs bench area after the game, and visited with some friends in the stands, and gave a football to a kid. He looked like his weight was down, and he looked kind of sad to be playing for Cleveland. I felt bad for him. I think he has a good heart and he still cares about KC a lot. I'll bet he doesn't play much longer after this year.

1. So here we are, in the playoff dance again. Eerily similar to a couple years ago when we went to Indy and blew a 28 point lead in the Luck nightmare game. That year we ran off a bunch of wins in a row against crippled teams with second and third string starting QBs, and this year has been more of the same. The parity is stronger this year with all the injuries. Carolina lost today. So did Brady's Cheatriots. Green Bay -who embarrassed us on National TV back in September- got their ass handed to them in Arizona. St. Louis upset the Seahawks and the Ravens knock off Pittsburgh. I feel like we dodged a bullet today. Hopefully the Faiders will be complacent with their BS win against Phyllis this week and the Arrowhead weather will be nice and cold and nasty next Sunday. Tomorrow, Cincy could do us a big favor by knocking off the Donks, but it may be another battle of second stringers. I'm thinking we may end up going back where it all started, to Houston, and facing JJ Watt and company once again. It will certainly be an exciting couple of weeks to come, and it sure beats talking about who we're going to draft next, like they are in the Factory of Sadness tonight.

Happy New Year to all the CPers, and Congratulations to our Chiefs on making the playoffs after a 1-5 start. Remarkable job, and a great year so far.

Game highlights can be seen here:
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201512...28&tab=analyze

What was for breakfast?

2nd.

How's the family?

Is it normal that I still have an erection?

Yes

A win is a win, they are ALL awesome!

But I'll say this, from within the stadium, when we got burned by the fake punt the hate for the special teams coach was very high.

That's when we got mad and placed our face in our palms at the same time.

Cold medicine and OJ. I've been fighting off a cold the last couple days. We went to Hi-Boys before the game and had burgers in the car with the heater running. The wind was really serious today. It was damp but not raining, so it was tolerable down low where I sit. I'm sure upstairs was a real bitch. Looked like there were a lot of no shows today.

I forgot to mention the fake punt on the laundry list of bad play by special teams. Cleveland had nothing to lose today, so they should have expected some tricks. I'd expect the same from Oakland next week.

I will never stop loving you gBlowfish.

Nice summary as always, George. Game isn't complete without your assessment! Thanks.

Obviously Cleveland saw something from what Baltimore did last week almost converting on the fake punt play.

That play turned out to be massive, essentially igniting that 20 play drive for Cleveland and putting the Chiefs offense on ice for the rest of the second half.

Excellent as always George. I was happy in the first half and flustered, pissed, and seriously worried in the 2nd. All I kept thinking was...IT'S THE ****ING BROWNS! What in the holy hell?

But, it's the NFL. Every dog has its day, and today, the Browns gave us just about all we could handle. I hope this was our "egg laying" and we're done with that shit. We should have dominated this team. Johnny Football was really pretty stellar today, and probably has a bright future. Thankfully, he was unable to get it done today, in spite of the fact that the Chiefs were playing below what we hope is their potential.

God bless brutha, and Happy New Year!

I think that fake punt was a pretty big play. That was the 2nd drive of the half and they turned it into a 21 play, 12 minute drive. Just deflating. I think it was what took all the air out of our balloon in the 2nd half and we never really recovered.

Also today's game is more evidence that the Chiefs would benefit from having someone besides Andy Reid call plays full time.

Great job George !!:clap:

I'm tellin ya he is hiding part of the playbook:D

It looked pretty empty on TV...

It very easily could have been the Bears game part II:rolleyes:

Today's crowd was very preseasonish as well. You can tell this was the game STH sold or gave tickets away to.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...03&oe=5705CC4E

Paul must read CP, because the guy has the MVP's jersey on.

Nice read as always, I wondered what was up with Culquitt, he didn't look right. Hope you feel better.

Not having Houston and Hali allowed Johnny Rehab to sustain that 21 play drive. Like you mentioned..it's late in the season and a lot of teams are banged up. Pittsburgh, Seattle, NE, GB all lost..but KC manged to pull out the win.

Having a team go for it twice on 4th down..on the same drive isn't the norm. It's a byproduct of playing bad teams that have nothing to lose.

We ended up in 344, so we had it pretty darn good. When we went down to refresh the drinks (or to get rid of them) we felt the wind. For much of the game neither the boys nor I even had gloves on. And we had just come from the younger son's hockey deal at Independence Center so there was no chance to tailgate. With toe warmers in the boots, it was all like Hawaii up in there...

But the leak in the left boot that I was so rudely made aware of did make me a little upset. We parked in the grass lot (that was mud today) just south of ITT Tech, so the half-mile march into the stadium was a bit sloshy and squishy... :cuss::cuss::cuss:

Chiefs should sign Bowe to one of those 1 day deals and have him retire a Chief when he's ready to hang em up.

The deflation and "here we go again" was running thick within the stadium..

It wasn't well attended. I don't think the crowd was loud enough to truly affect the Browns, but they did throw the stat up on the big board in hopes that we'd think we did draw them off-sides that one time.

And we can erect a statue for him too...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxMj...VEbN3/$_35.JPG

Thanks GB! I predict if they beat the Raiders next week we actually break the playoff curse.

Thanks George!

Bowe looked like his weight was down? I thought he looked fat as hell. Finally made sense why he wasn't seeing the field.

No.

Career underachieving players should not be recognized.

Great read George. How about those chiefs! Also get better and happy new year!

What Alex said about a tale of two halves is exactly right. When they had a 3rd and 4 or 5 and ran that 3 tight end formation, I was silently thinking to myself, "Ok, all three tight ends are over on the right, so it looks like a tight end bubble screen to Kelce. Alex is going to sprint left and get 6 yards and the first down." Shows what I got for thinking. Why did Reid not call ONE play in the second half where Alex ran the ball? He was making good gains and first downs but then they just stopped. Andy, Andy...

The 3&5 call last possession by Andy was puzzling. A quick out to Kelce? The Browns had the whole defense in press. There was no way he was going to barrel thru them and there was a slight risk someone jumps it and goes to the house. A quick drop slant at least gives you a shot at the 5 yards.

Good job once again....Looking forward to next weeks 10 after we rape the Raiders...

Uh yeah

Great read George.

It looked to me like Mauga was spying Manziel and he wasn't fast enough to beat the coke head to the edge.

Cleveland lost this as opposed the Chiefs winning. That is tremendously troublesome given that it is week 16 and the team we can't close has won 3 games. Craptacular.

It's nice to be in the playoffs. There is a bunch of junk ass football occurring right now.

Manziel looked better than I thought but his footwork is really bad. All his bad throws he has bad feet. It was good to see him pissed that they lost. I don't hate him as much as some. Hopefully he turns his shit around because lord knows this league needs more QBs not less.

No way he could learn the playbook that fast.

glad to see johnnie cokehead throw his helmut to the ground like a g.d. child. highlight of the day for me.

god bless you blowfish. god bless each and everyone of us chiefs' fans. it's almost time to make some noise in the playoffs.

Both Hali & Houston out was huge. Gotta get those boys healthy & back by playoffs!

No. He's a bum - thought he was TO in his prime out there. We don't need a bad egg in our locker room- even for a day.

Probably a factor of not being able to see the post-game moments because Discuss Dad is so insistent on "beating the traffic" by leaving before the 4th Quarter is halfway over, today was one of the few times I actually got to stay past the clock hitting zero.

Therefore, it was the first time I saw the Arrowvision boards get tuned to the broadcast of another game (NY vs NE) complete with audio. They apparently use the same DirecTV broadcast and set top box to do that, BTW.

Also, Charcandrick and Taylor Gabriel traded jerseys after the game. As I guessed, they were college teammates at Abilene Christian.

Bowe isn't a bad egg. He smokes some weed, a knucklehead sometimes but is harmless guy.

I would love to see that Gif'd up. It was awesome to see to say the least. not to mention stupid of him, what did he expect? A smart QB would have realized the situation and thrown the ball to the edge or out of bounds.

Bullshit. He has a bad attitude & is lazy. You probably won't believe me but I know a player on Cleveland's dad. He's a good guy & doesn't bad mouth people but he says his son can't stand having him in locker room & he's lazy as hell in practice. Bowe always rubbed me the wrong way - and not because he smokes weed. I'm from Northern California, its everywhere here. I don't like him because he's a Bowe-ZO and acts like a HOF WR but drops the ball like it's going out of style. I'm glad he's gone. Overpaid joke who will probably blow all his NFL earnings on fancy cars & diamond earrings.

Thanks GB....Great read as always....

I was upstairs and the wind was pretty fierce....got worse in the 2nd half....

This game reminded me of the Chicago game. My cardiologist would not be happy about my 120 heart rate on the last Browns drive. :D

Great read as always, I hope you kick that colds ass soon as well. :)

Great read as always George. Hope you start to feeling well and enjoy all those days off.

This was a total trap game they typically lose..although ugly a W is a W

Excellent write up as always! It was one of the top five coldest games I ever attended at Arrowhead. We were up top in 328. There were 20 mile an hour wind gust most of the miserable second half.

First half went pretty much like it should have. We opened with a nice long drive and put seven on the board. The Chiefs looked like a playoff bound team in every way.

Second half was a complete Fail. Once the Browns figured out that Ford could be pushed around like a bitch- their running game started dominating. Ford was easily blocked to the outside on the Browns first TD. Zombo and Mauga looked like they were wearing concrete boots they were so slow. I think Mauga might be the slowest human on earth. He didn't tackle for shit either. Berry was also disappointing-dropping a sure INT.

I said it last week-Chiefs have the absolute worst special teams in the NFL. That fake punt conversion was a back breaker. Davis should have just taken a knee on the Chiefs last possession and we would have had it at the 20. He had no lanes at all but decided to be a hero. Of course he comes up short and with an illegal block in the back call-we start at the 3 yard line. Pitiful. MVP punted like total shit all day and failed to bail out a predictable sputtering offense.

Alex missed Maclin for a sure TD that could have iced the game, he also had a WTF was that throw INT. He needs to play a complete game. This "we got the lead and now we can coast mentality" already burned us in the playoffs. The offensive line got their shit pushed in the second half.

Like Big Red said in his post game-it doesn't matter if you win be 1 or 20 it is still a win. It was great to clinch a playoff spot as well and keep the pressure on the Cheating Donks. Who would have thought we would clinch before Denver?

1st year both Royals and Chiefs made the playoffs at the same time. Pretty special event that helps us forget all of these ugly wins.

The cold, as usual, is a tale of seating. While it wasn't warm by any means, 344 had little wind and was very workable in terms of Temps.

In the warm months I generally pick the south side, in the winter months the north side, and in the rain I sport for tickets under cover.

I agree that it was a total trap game, and look around the league and a bunch of teams tripped up.

I don't know what to make of it with a number of guys missing playing time- are they taking care of business or getting sloppier and lucky these past few weeks?

I'd like to see the offense and special teams straighten themselves out a bit and all 3 phases looking like they are more in rhythm. Maybe, this is much ado about nothing.

A few weeks ago this team looked like it could at least be competitive and go toe to toe with anyone in the league. Then again, so has Seattle as of late, and look at yesterday.

I'm not negative about things, I'm just unsure of where to gauge things especially when they are missing huge pieces on D that will be back, and would have been a major factor in yesterday's game having a very different outcome most likely.

Exactly right!

My son was in town for a Christmas break from the Navy. So I took my boys to the game as a Christmas present. I got the tickets pretty cheap.

We thought about moving down-but we could see pretty good and was not sure if it would have helped. Turned out to be an exciting game.

There is just a bunch of middling ball being played right now. You can take the comments you made and apply them to any playoff team.

Who is good? Carolina that just lost to a junk Atlanta team? Pitt? Will miss the playoffs unless NYJ loses to Buffalo. NE? That lost to those Jets and got gashed several times. Donk? They're on a pretty significant skid at the moment. Seattle? They got dumped. GB got fisted by Zona.

Last Sunday Arizona looked really good. Houston looked pretty tough after stomping Tennessee but they're QB'd by Brandon mother****ing Weeden. What the...? I don't even..... ****

If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I don't think cherry picking a loss here or there is evidence of "middling ball".

The Chiefs, while winning, have been pretty poor on offense for a month now.

Carolina had ONE hiccup.

Pittsburgh had been playing well for a month before yesterday.

NE has lost 2 games on the road, in OT to playoff teams.

Seattle had won 5 straight, including two against playoff teams before yesterday.

I'll give you Denver and GB. They're a mess.

Those teams had played great ball for the last month before slipping up once. We've been fortunate to be winning despite playing poorly against inferior competition for the last month.

Carolina that almost blew a 35 7 lead?

Pittsburgh had been rolling playoff teams recently?

Maybe middling ball isn't the right term. A lot of inconsistent ball to say the least. A lot of teams look unbeatable for a drive or two and look like invalids for a few more. If I were a fan of any team in the playoffs I wouldn't be feeling good about anything, except maybe Arizona. I'd probably think they could pull it together if I were a fan of Seattle or NE, but on the field, nobody except Arizona.

Typically teams that finish strong make the most noise in the playoffs. NE almost always does. The WC teams usually had to get hot to make the dance, that's why there is so much success. I don't see anyone that is scary now, based off the last few weeks except Arizona.

So Carolina is a fraud because they relaxed up 35-7 and lost yesterday after winning 14 straight?

C'mon, man.

And I don't recall saying Pittsburgh was rolling anyone. My exact words were that they were playing well for a month before yesterday. Which they had. 5-1 in their last 6 with the loss being on the road against a very good Seattle team.

Two wins against playoff teams in that stretch, which I'm sure will be discounted because of McCarron and Osweiler.

The steelers were/are the exact same team the chiefs are save they have the offense carrying the weight.

Thru the whole stretch, no one was saying "well, they're winning but their defense hasn't stopped anyone, they've just been outscoring people".

So why does it make them any different than the chiefs?

We sat right across from you almost behind the Browns bench. It wasn't bad. My daughter sat in the upper level and said it was miserable. That being said, I still think the turnout for a then 9-5 team was sad. We need to support our team. These guys have played their butts off for us this season. I was embarrassed by the turnout yesterday. Faider fans are gonna pack that place next weekend.

What side was she on? We were in section 344, row 25, and it wasn't bad at all. I had toe warmers in the boots (that F'n leaked so my socks were wet!!!), and even had my gloves off more much of the first half.. Given the winds the south side looked a bit chilly, but the north side wasn't a killer IMO.

But I'll say this, the winds looked really odd when seeing the kicking game, so there had to be something going on in that regard. But IMO that's like a Doctor saying "there's something going around." that's true about 50 weeks of the year.

The past few weeks our offense has started to play like they did at the start of the season. They look good at times then go conservative and play not to lose instead of putting the game away.

The 1st drive of the 2nd half was alright Alex over threw Maclin for a TD. But the last 2 drives They took the game out of Alex's hands and it almost cost us the game. We didn't need much just a few 1st downs and the game wouldn't have come down to the wire. If Manziel was a decent passer we would have lost.

I can't stand that screen play it's basically conceding the down and putting the game in the hands of the defense who were worn down in the 2nd half. Everything has to be perfect for that play and probably still has to break a tackle. Let Alex drop back if he can't find an open receiver he still has a chance to get a 1st with his legs.

Thanks George. Hi-Boy sure sounds good.

Get to feeling better...we need you at full strength for the playoff write up.

All true, but I am interested in the Chiefs, and I'm just hoping that they don't come up flat come the playoffs. I'm not saying they will, or even that I'm sure that the past few weeks are indicative of the team being smoke and mirrors.
They are a completely different team when Houston and Hali are on the field.

Yesterday's 2nd half on offense was just as much about fluke circumstances of how long Cleveland had the ball. What has been clear is the offense has been 2 faced for a while now.
They seem to be showing up and putting points on the board, but then simply looking to chew clock, play for field position, and keep it really conservative to avoid turnovers. Thus, you have watched them eek out to hang on and win when I believe that they have left points on the field by effectively going into a prevent offense once they have a at least a 2 score lead.

The danger in doing that is the offense seems to get out of rhythm and then have trouble moving the ball and picking up 1st downs when needed. As good as the defense is - it doesn't sit well with me to continue to put them in with their backs against the wall game after game to hold the line at the end of the game. Better teams, playoff teams, will do better even against this defense if constantly put in that position.

Of course, Andy and the offense may very well be saving plays for elimination games, because in the playoffs against Indy they certainly came out aggressive on offense and the circumstances of that loss had little to do with the offense not scoring enough for a win.

Sure, it's just one game, but it's what we have to go off of in how they came out and played on offense in a playoff game. This team certainly has a better overall offense than that playoff team.

Now, the special teams play needs to definitely get back on track and quickly!

Totally this... After a holiday season of good eats, the Vitamix is doing its job but making me long for a burger like that...

I'll double check, but I think they are 11th in points allowed - so you're "hasn't stopped anyone" comment doesn't fly.

See what the chiefs are in points scored.

And the steelers defense has been bad. I'm not sure that's been questioned anywhere

Denver can sign him so he can be closer to a legal source of his one true love.

Usually I go for the Italian Steak. But the food at Hi-Boy is all top notch for burgers and shakes.

Agreed on all counts. Coming out flat is my biggest concern. That terrifies the hell out of me.

Meanwhile in Cleveland, Ray Farmer may be paying a visit to Ray Farmer... don't forget to bring your playbook!

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/inde...rt_river_index

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns expect to keep coach Mike Pettine and fire general manager Ray Farmer, a source within the organization told Jason Cole of bleacherreport.com.

The Browns slipped to 3-12 after their 17-13 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, giving Pettine his 17th loss in the last 20 games.

But Cole reports that Farmer -- whose player acquisitions have been suspect and who was suspended for the first four games of this season for impermissible texting -- will take the fall for the abysmal record.

"Sources within the Browns' organization say they expect that coach Mike Pettine will survive this season despite the failure of the team,'' he said in a video on the site. "Those sources indicate that the bigger problem within the Browns' organization is not Pettine but is actually General Manager Ray Farmer and the selections that Farmer has made throughout his tenure, and even before that when he was under [former CEO] Joe Banner.''

Cole says that the sources have told him the Browns owner Jimmy Haslam believes that it's Farmer's poor drafting and free-agent pickups that are hurting the team. His 2014 first-round picks, cornerback Justin Gilbert and quarterback Johnny Manziel, haven't lived up to their draft status; and 2015 No. 19 overall pick Cam Erving has struggled as a rookie on the offensive line.

Farmer has also come under heavy fire for signing receiver Dwayne Bowe to a two-year deal worth $12.5 million in the offseason, including $9 million guaranteed. Bowe has been a healthy scratch seven times this season and has five catches for 53 yards.

"The problem here is more of a personnel issue, and that is what is going to have to be fixed by Haslam,'' Cole said.

A league source told cleveland.com that Haslam has not made up his mind yet and that he's taking his time and considering all four of his options: keeping Pettine and Farmer, firing both, or keeping one or the other.

Cole said Haslam's top three candidates to replace Farmer would be Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin; Vikings assistant general manager George Paton; and Chiefs Director of Football Operations Chris Ballard.
"Those three gentlemen are considered the top three candidates by the NFL for possible general manager positions around the league,'' stated Cole.

"This is the course that Haslam may take as he tries to fix a continual problem with the Browns since he has taken over the ownership of that team."
*
Jason LaCanfora of CBS Sports reports that he's heard a strong buzz that Packers Director of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf, the son of longtime Packers personnel executive Ron Wolf, would be a Browns GM candidate if Farmer is fired.

He reported "many believe Wolf's father, Ron, will end up consulting for Haslam on the Browns' forthcoming overhaul.''

Wolf has not yet been hired by the Browns and there are no immediate plans to do so, a source said.

LaCanfora also reported that Haslam likes Jacksonville assistant head coach/offensive line coach Doug Marrone, who interviewed for the Browns job but accepted the Buffalo head coach job instead before the 2013 season. The Browns hired Rob Chudzinski instead, and Marrone hired Pettine as his defensive coordinator in Buffalo that year.

He also reported that Haslam would've "moved heaven and earth'' to hire former Broncos and current Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase two years ago. Gase pulled himself out of the running even before interviewing to focus on the Broncos' Super Bowl run. They lost to the Seahawks that year.

Regardless of what Haslam decides, he's likely to announce it as soon as the day after the Browns' finale next week at home against the Steelers.

And they sponsor some pretty darn OK youth baseball teams too. Or they used to at least...

Still do.
Also, Jerry Mackey, the guy who started Hi-Boy, was a partner with Bob Hawley, and they dug up the Arabia Steamboat. They're both millionaires now.

http://1856.com/