Newsletter: Why Gambling is the Worst, and One TNF Block You Should Watch

Josh Downs breaks my heart, former Browns kickers in pain, and Blake Whiteheart deserves our attention.

(Photo - Getty)

Welcome in on this fine Monday. I decided to make today’s efforts free for those of you who don’t get the content often. See below for you daily delivery of fun Browns content you should consider supporting!

This is the exact type of Monday I enjoy where we are still relishing in a Browns win, we have started to hit the greater details of the Week 12 game, and we had a relaxing weekend overall. Whenever I get a nice weekend to sit back and consume football away from the Browns, I like to throw in a fun little parlay. I don’t know about you, but it raises the stakes of what I am watching.

For this day I wanted to throw some money on a four-leg setup and one of those legs was for Josh Downs, a target and reception machine, of the Colts to have 5+ receptions. Felt safe enough. And it was…..until the penalty gods stepped in.

Look at this nonsense, folks. Just seriously. Here are the three penalty plays. The OPI on play two was especially egregious.

Downs ended up with three receptions on the day. Was I mad about it? I will let you guess on that one.

Another thing that just keeps showing up across the NFL are these former Browns kickers who just keep catching on with other organizations and somehow just keep on missing important kicks. Whether it is Greg Joseph, Zane Gonzalez, Chase McLaughlin, Cade York, or today’s focus: Austin Siebert. These guys are just clinging to NFL life everywhere.

With the Commanders trying to stage a comeback against the Cowboys late on on Sunday it was Seibert who is getting crushed — and rightfully so. He missed two second half PAT attempts and his final miss, after the Commanders scored the perceived game-tying 86 yard touchdown pass, was especially excruciating with just 12 seconds left on the clock.

I don’t really have any analysis on this topic other than it sucks to watch these kickers struggle. McLaughlin seems to be the one who has caught enough consistency to stick around down in Tampa Bay, but the others are like former relief pitchers who keep giving up home runs. A little part of me hurts when I watch them struggle.

The last piece of analysis for today’s Newsletter is the shoutout that Blake Whiteheart deserves and not for what you would expect. Listen, his late 3rd quarter 29 yard catch as the blizzard hit was nothing short of miraculous given the circumstances.

I am not here to take away from that because, wow. But rather I am here to give him a different sort of shoutout, and it is the blocking variety. It is not often we see what I break down for you below.

To be able to pull that off against any defensive lineman, let alone an interior stud like Cam Heyward, is nothing short of awesome. The Browns have received so little out of their third tight end this year and I would say Whiteheart made a genuine winning difference on Thursday Night. These are just things you love to see and discuss.

We have a long week ahead and another weekend of Browns-less football as we have to wait until Monday night for their dance in Denver, but Browns Film Breakdown will have every angle covered for you this week. From the game Thursday to the big picture looming, check in with us all week.