Cleveland, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – There is no such thing as a perfect team, not in the NFL.
While the 2019 Browns are stacked with talent on both sides of the football, their weakness could be their undoing this fall according to former Cowboys quarterback and CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo – the offensive line.
“The one area of concern I have is they played outstanding – it was under the radar – but their offensive line was outstanding the last part of last year,” Romo said in an appearance on ‘The Main Event with Jake Asman and Cody Stoots’ on SB Nation Radio.
Last season the offensive line managed to turn it around following the coaching change.
Baker Mayfield was sacked 20 times in his first 8 games before getting bagged by defenses just 5 times over the final 8 games, best in the NFL.
“Go look at the sack total, it’s just a rare occurrence of what happened and I think that’s a little worrisome for me because if that offensive line doesn’t play quite to that level, I think you’ll see a few more mistakes here, a little bit tougher to move the ball there, shorten the game and ability to run the ball,” Romo continued. “A lot of stuff went through that and made others jobs easier. Now can other people overcome some of it, yeah, but not game in game out, week in week out. I think that’s gonna be the key piece if they’re gonna be successful this year.”
Four of the five linemen from 2018 return this year.
Right guard Kevin Zeitler did not. He was part of the Browns’ package sent to the New York Giants for Pro Bowler receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Pro Bowl defensive end Olivier Vernon.
Veteran Eric Kush appears on his way to replacing Zeitler and winning the starting job over Austin Corbett, who recently has spent most of his time as the backup center.
Romo along with Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson are scheduled to call the season opener Sept. 8 against the Tennessee Titans and it likely won’t be the last Browns game on the No. 1 CBS broadcast team’s schedule.
Following a 7-8-1 finish in 2018 plus the additions of Beckham, Vernon and Sheldon Richardson, expectations and excitement in Cleveland are the highest they’ve been in over a decade.
Romo can see why.
“I think it’s a great thing when people get excited, I think that’s a positive for your football team,” Romo said. “I think it means at least people are believing that you’re doing things that allow you to have a chance to compete week in and week out, which is ultimately your goal, to win the Super Bowl, right? But you gotta be able to compete week in and week out. Scheme each week against each scheme and have the ability to counter and try and get good players because it makes it simpler to do that. So people see that and I think that’s easy to see why everyone’s jumping on board.”
