CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
Saturday is always the slowest day on the OBR as our readers, being miraculous bundles of curiosity and energy, devote themselves to weekend pursuits and a non-trivial amount of college football. So did I, yesterday, as I took the afternoon and evening off to break out the smoker for one last time in 2025, and indulged in copious amounts of college football / 2026 draft scouting.
However, today is focused on the Cleveland Browns and various little tidbits of information that I'm slated to share below.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
Let's do blovi-nuggets today!
Today starts with a little bit of negative news (boo). It appears that Steelers DB Jalen Ramsey has had a miraculous recovery and will play today against the Cleveland Browns, making Dillon Gabriel's job slightly more complicated.
The Browns are not going to shut down DK Metcalf completely today, but if they want to limit him, they need to prevent him from gaining yardage after the catch. Both Metcalf and Steelers RB Jaylen Warren are in the top twenty in the NFL in YAC, a sure sign that Rodgers is finding them in space and leading them well.
Embracing the song "Renegade" is a perfect fit for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was into progressive rock for a large part of my youth: Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, etc. I always considered Styx and Kansas to be "prog-rock for normals" during this period and looked down on it, although a lot of my friends LOVED that stuff. So, I look down on the Steelers for embracing that blasé old song, where an effete rocker claims to be an "outlaw". Nope, just normal. Just like the damn Steelers and their average yearly record and first-round playoff exit. I don't like the Steelers, either. It's all beneath me and my well-crafted musical and sports snobbery. Hopefully, "this'll be the end today" for the Steelers as AFC North pretenders.
A recent article on ESPN talked about what may be an active (November 4) trade deadline, and listed the Browns as sellers, apparently, and David Njoku, Shelby Harris, Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, and Ethan Pocic as likely trade targets. So, the national folks have apparently concluded from dealing off Flacco and Newsome that the Browns are in "fire sale" mode.
This is pounded home by a story from Dianna Russini that "there's a feeling around the NFL" that the Browns have given up on the season. There are a lot of feelings around the NFL like "the tush push is an actual football play" and that "the Pro Bowl is fun" that are complete malarkey, but it makes for a good story, I guess. Look: Flacco was useless to the Browns after his ineffectiveness convinced them to move on to Dillon, and they got a free draft pick from the Bengals. Campbell is a better fit in the Browns' defensive scheme than Newsome and is signed through the next few years. I don't believe that the Browns have given up (yet), but I do think that Andrew Berry is an opportunistic GM. The two are not the same.
It's funny to me that we get YouTube comments from Shedeur Sanders' fans accusing us of "hating" on the quarterback (for undefined reasons) because we don't talk about him all the time and advocate for him to start. I was pro-Sanders before the draft, and there's not a single member of the OBR team who wouldn't embrace him leading the Browns to the promised land. It just so happens that he's needed some work, and he's been putting in terrific effort to get ready. It's a really good sign for me that the Browns are compelled to put him in as the #2 quarterback. He'll get his shot.
In my 60+ years of life, I've eaten a lot of stuff. It helps, like breathing, to keep me alive. I may have had the best-tasting thing I've ever ingested yesterday. If you're into smoking meat, check out page 155 of Michael Symon's "Cooking Out" cookbook and the Pastrami-smoked Pork Belly recipe, which is freaking amazing—five hours in a smoker over low and slow heat, and bliss. I'm not kidding.
Yes, I'm old, and, yes, I clearly remember watching Tim Couch dissect the Steelers 33-13 at their home stadium in 2003. Famously, this is the last time the Browns have won a regular-season game at the place, although the COVID-affected game featuring the sadification of Ben Roethlisberger was pretty epic. The stadium was named after a condiment at the time. Now, it's named after some corporation I never heard of. I thought at the time that it was the start of Couch finally turning the corner as a young veteran quarterback. It didn't work out that way, but I'm hopeful that Dillon Gabriel will acquit himself well this afternoon. The Browns absolutely need him to be able to stretch the field. We need the Gabriel-Jeudy connection to manifest itself.
It's pretty amazing how Lane Adkins says things in Rumor Central and Ask the Insiders, and you hear them coming out of the coaches' mouths days or weeks later. Yep. It's almost as if Lane is somehow connected. Lane, Fred, and I have been working on this for a long time, and it's incredible to me how Lane has consistently provided insights that you don't get anywhere else for 20+ years. We're expanding our premium offerings in the coming weeks with live events.
The Steelers are six-point favorites and the over/under is a very low 36 points, meaning that Vegas has the Browns as 21-15 losers, I guess. I have no clue what the final score will be, which is why I don't gamble. I spend all my time studying and talking about the Browns, and I don't know what will happen. I'm not sure how other people think they do. Gamblers must have more self-confidence than I have. Then again, most people do.
Tim Couch
Tim Couch dissects the Steelers defense in 2003. (Photo: Getty)
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
Newswire Bloviation Archive
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
3 ways to find and invite more wonder - (bigthink.com)
Life, to me, is about vicariously standing on the cliff's edge of the unknown and trying to understand our place in the universe. To me, that we know so little about the space around us and our purpose in it isn't a puzzle to be solved, it's an invitation to experience great unknowns that our monkey-brains can barely comprehend. Life, in itself, is a wonder. This article from Big Think discusses that feeling.
OBR ARTICLES FROM YESTERDAY
How the Browns Handle Develop Shedeur Sanders & Set Him Up to Succeed Could Prime the Team for Future Success - Fred
Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 10/11: Escaping Quarterback Purgatory - Barry
OBR Roundtable Browns vs Steelers Predictions - Barry
Cleveland Browns Week 6 Rooting Guide - Jack
Predicting The Cleveland Browns Inactives : Pittsburgh Steelers - Jack
FROM THE FORUMS
ASK THE INSIDERS (VIP)
Yet another Josh Simmons question
Jeudy here to stay?
Does DG have the legs to avoid Pittsburgh's D?
WR Trade
Rashid Shaheed?
THE WATERCOOLER
NFL Week 6 tOTHER GAMES: DEN@NYJ CIN@GB SF@BAKER SNF DET@KC
OT - outdoor Wi-FiBluetooth Speaker
Way OT... Shopping SUVS
Browns Ticket Raffle for Titans
Mayson's Journey/YPP
OT R.I.P Diane Keaton
Peyton Hillis 2010
OT - OSU at Illinois Game Thread
WRAPPING UP
When not dialing up Tales from Topographic Oceans from Apple Music, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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