Remember being really little and my Grandpa talking to me about them Brunnell/Coughlin teams haha -(he was a "I just like watching sports" type head) but they were good fast into their appearance into the league and he was impressed. I remembered Brunnell the few years later when he came to the Skins and I was kinda excited cus of that lmao. The Garrard Jags were lowkey a Madden sleeper team for me for a few years lmao.
AFC championship: Raiders @ Patriots, Tuck Rule Part 2. Only this time it works in Oakland's favor, they kick a game winning FG, win the SB and start a new dynasty (ala what the Patriots have done to date) Book it and now give me all your money
Brunell and Garrard were solid. Fred Taylor was the real star of the team for most that time though. Guarantee you neither QB puts up numbers as efficient as they did if we didn't have a dominant running game. Jimmy Smith was also a master at beating press coverage deep so that helped Brunell throw underneath more often
I haven't even begun to compare the two, but if the Browns go 0-16 I wonder which team will be deemed the worse of the two. Little research: 2008 Lions gave up 517 points. Cleveland would need to allow 41 points a game over their remaining four games to tie / pass that. So at least from a defense / points allowed perspective the Lions 0-16 season is worse in at least one category.
For sure, Fred Taylor and later MJD were always great. MJD popping Merriman is one of my favorite things ever lmao. The Jags in general don't have the sexiest QB history lol.
I think the Lions would go down as worse (sorry Lions fans). This Browns team to be fair has shown A LOT of fight in some games, has lost NUMEROUS QBs and were already VERY THIN talent wise going in. I don't know.... I still think Hue is the guy for them but going 0-16 would be pretty damning. I believe he's a good coach but even I couldn't justify bringing back a 0-16 coach lol.
Another thing I forget about the Browns - 18 ROOKIES! That's insanity. Essentially 1/3 of their roster is new to the NFL. Just crazy.
Even more reason to Give. Hue. Time. Let his vision come together. If in 2-3 years the best he's doing is 5-11 still, by all means, dump him. But I do think there's some perspective there on that. Guess we'll see if the Browns go full Brown his offseason.
Yeah, in all honesty, that Lions team was worse. They weren't even fun to watch at all, at least the Browns have some excitement.
It all depends. Our defense has stepped up the past few games, and Stafford has kept us in every game so far. I still don't know how good this team actually is really
Jags early history is proof you can survive on RB talent if you don't have a long term franchise QB. Even Brunell only had like 4 years of good time in Jax. Taylor was smart and shifty beyond belief sometimes. He definitely planned multiple moves ahead of time on the fly like Peterson and Elliott do. Such great footwork to avoid getting tripped up and to juke people clean off of him. Dude could cut across the whole offensive line at 90 degree angles when he ran into a strong side blitz, and instantly take off at full speed and make the free safety miss. Stuff you can't even do in Madden. MJD was an amazing athlete and pass catcher and body builder, don't get me wrong. He was built to be hard to tackle and dedicated himself to being the strongest guy. But in terms of skill and elusiveness and vision as a runner? Really not a lot of Taylors out there. Extremely fast downhill, more agile than MJD even though he was 6'2"... He could both follow blocks inside and bounce runs backside with a natural instinct, and stayed good into his early 30s. This video is what he did at 31 years old in 2007. Still fast enough to pull off four 70+ yard runs that season. MJD was established already, started his career with two 10 TD seasons as Taylor's sub back, but Taylor still held the job, in spite of the star drafted to replace him... because he was still too athletically gifted and too talented a runner himself to be on the bench. I dont think our GM remotely expected him to have this much juice when he drafted MJD. The end of the video, recovering from a sprained MCL in the playoffs, against the #1 Steelers D at the time, in their stadium in the snow, he had one of only 2 100 yard games they allowed all season. He was a giant part of the Jags only playoff win since 1999.