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October 28, 2014The Cleveland Browns have been bad since 1999 as we all know, but it’s an extra level of bad when you consider how much they’ve lost at home in front of the fans who care the most. When I stand up for fans above all, it’s because they’re the ones who don’t leave in free agency or get to sell the team for a billion dollars. Not to perpetuate the blue collar, hard-working fan stereotype more than it’s already beaten into the ground, but the fact remains that there’s a reason fans are known to party it up in the Muni Lot well into the first quarter. There’s a reason that some fans go to tailgate and don’t bother buying game tickets, and it’s not purely a story of frugality. It’s a story of value for one’s time and money. Alec Scheiner and Kevin Griffin have had to make it a point to get fans into the stadium before the kickoff and that’s years of bad football. It’s because the team has been so miserable not only in general, but at home as well.
Here’s the history since the team returned in 1999.
- 1999 – Browns win two games, zero at home with both wins on the road at New Orleans and at Pittsburgh
- 2000 – Browns win three games, two at home against the Steelers and Patriots
- 2001 – Browns win seven games, four at home against Detroit, San Diego, Baltimore, and Cincy
- 2002 – Browns win nine games, three at home against Cincy, Houston, and Atlanta
- 2003 – Browns win five games, two at home against Oakland and Arizona
- 2004 – Browns win four games, three at home against Baltimore, Washington, and Cincy
- 2005 – Browns win six games, four at home against Chicago, Tennessee, Miami, and Baltimore
- 2006 – Browns win four games, two at home against the Jets, and Kansas City
- 2007 – Browns win ten games, seven at home against Cincy, Baltimore, Miami, Seattle, Houston, Buffalo and San Francisco
- 2008 – Browns win four games, one at home against the Giants
- 2009 – Browns win five games, three at home against Pittsburgh, Oakland and Jacksonville
- 2010 – Browns win five games, three at home against Cincy, New England and Carolina
- 2011 – Browns win four games, three at home against Miami, Seattle, and Jacksonville
- 2012 – Browns win five games, four at home against Cincy, San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City
- 2013 – Browns win four games, three at home against Cincy, Buffalo, and Baltimore
- 2014 – Thru seven games the Browns have won four games, three at home to New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Oakland
Obviously 2007 was a phenomenal year for the home faithful as the Browns won seven at home, but other than that, it’s a whole lot of threes, fours and worse. Also consider that the year after the Browns won seven at home for the fans, they followed it up by winning four overall and just one in Cleveland.
Since 1999 the Browns are averaging fewer than three home wins per year. The Browns have won 44 home games out of a possible 120 for a home winning percentage of just under 37%.
That’s the brightest spot for me of 2014 so far: The season isn’t a wild success yet, and the team always has the potential of finishing worse than they started. But consider this. Through only seven games, this season has already been better for home fans than five other seasons and it’s tied with six others. In seven weeks of action, the Browns have been as good or better at home as 11 other seasons since 1999 after a full 16-game schedule.
Am I jinxing it? I wish I had that power. I’d use it against the Steelers and Ravens every year if so.
The point is that this is fun. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in a lot of ways. Forget the chicken or the egg. I don’t care if winning breeds raucous crowds or the crowds breed winning. They are in a symbiotic relationship and Cleveland is becoming a tougher place to play. I haven’t tried to look up stats, but anecdotally it feels to me like the home crowd is having an impact on the visitors.
Who needs stats, anyway? Take it from Mike Pettine even if he is the new guy here.
Just wanted to start out with some praise for our home crowd, the Dawg Pound. I said it after the game, but it just can’t be overstated. It’s an important role. I thought they were ultra-loud. We could really feel the energy. Defensive players were especially able to feed off of it. I think, by our count, we’ve forced 10 opponent procedural penalties this year. The Raiders yesterday had two false starts, two delay of games and I’m not sure what the count is but a number of timeouts forced, as well. We’re 3-1 at home, and obviously, couldn’t do without the support of our fans. It’s a true home field advantage.
Let’s hope it continues to be the case for Pettine and the Browns. Most importantly, let’s hope it remains the case for Browns fans who are staring down more difficult opponents and nastier winter weather on the horizon. The Browns have Tampa, Houston, Indianapolis and the Bengals left on the home schedule. I won’t predict wins and losses out of those games, but because of their three wins at home already, it’s shaping up to be one of the better years at home since 1999.
That’s not a jinx as much as it simply points out how rough it’s been on home fans. You can’t jinx a team by bashing its history can you?
9 Comments
Maybe by saying “jinx” so many times in the article, you’ve confused the jinx gods and you’ve actually given us better odds! Great job!
aka “reverse jinx”
The analysis is off. You’re suggesting that the Browns have been losing “in front of the fans who care the most” as though it’s in a bubble (as though we’re somehow in a skewed reality where we’re not talking about really godawful teams that were losing all those years in general).
Obviously, winning 3 games at home is not good, but relatively (when you’re winning 4 or so games overall), it’s not that bad! You’re actually delivering wins at a much higher rate (as you should) at home. Winning at home over those 8 games hasn’t been the chief problem. Winning in general is–particularly on the road (see Jacksonville this year).
Note the subtle shift (both in statements and especially in stadium) to the whole stadium being “The Dawg Pound”. The Browns are trying to shift into a full stadium theme rather than just one end.
47 home wins, 32 road. Yup.
Edit: The Browns are finally winning and that’s rare
It’s early, but I like Pettine so much more than I did Shurmur or Chud. He just seems like a cooler dude.
I noticed that, too. The “Dawg Bowl (Dish?)” is probably more appropriate if we’re talking about the whole stadium.
Yea I like Pettine a lot as well. Gotta say tho i liked Chud as well. Dont think he was that good as a HC but it be nice to have him back doing something.