The KC Chiefs are 7-1 and are heading to Cleveland for a date with the Browns in week nine. Seems like an easy win, right? Well, no. The Browns just fired their head coach and now will have momentum against the Chiefs.
Normally when the Browns are on a team’s schedule, you think “Easy win.” Well, the Kansas City Chiefs are getting the Cleveland Browns at the worst possible time, as the 2-5-1 Browns fired their head coach Hue Jackson on Monday morning.
Jackson won just three games during his tenure as the Browns head coach and two of those three wins came this year. Cleveland obviously decided they’d had enough and relieved Jackson of his duties after the Browns lost by double digits to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
For the Chiefs, this is the worst possible time to face the Browns. Whenever a team fires their head coach and an interim guy takes over, there’s a new energy in the building. Cleveland went with Gregg Williams as the interim coach, who previously served as the Browns defensive coordinator..
Browns fired Hue Jackson, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 29, 2018
Cleveland’s interim HC is defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, sources tell @mortreport and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 29, 2018
For proof of interim coaches bringing in new energy, look no further than the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011. The Chiefs got blown out by the New York Jets and then head coach Todd Haley was fired shortly after. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel was named interim head coach and the Chiefs went on to defeat the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers in Crennel’s first game as interim head coach.
The Browns aren’t the same slouches they were prior to this year. Yes, people say that every year, but Baker Mayfield has shown flashes at quarterback in Cleveland. He’s looked like a rookie at times, but that’s to be expected.
Mayfield gives that offense hope and that fan base hope. What was holding the Browns back from being a formidable opponent was the fact that Jackson was clueless as a head coach. There’s a reason the guy won just three games in less than three seasons.
As for who took over the head coaching duties, Chiefs fans should be glad it’s not Todd Haley, who is the Browns offensive coordinator and had his fair share of issues with Jackson. Haley always took it to the Chiefs whenever he was Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator and there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s going to give the Chiefs all he’s got offensively.
This game against Cleveland is what many fans will refer to as a “trap game”. The Chiefs should beat the Browns, but with Jackson out and an interim coach that the players in Cleveland actually like, that could give them all the momentum they need in week nine against the KC Chiefs.