Ran across this nugget from ESPN’s Adam Schefter this morning. Not only should it get everyone all lathered up for the Browns / Lions game this Sunday, it should also build feverish anticipation for the upcoming showdown with the Raiders in a few more weeks:
Not in any recent season — and maybe ever — has football seen two teams in one season this offensively inept. The Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders are challenging, and could set, the NFL 16-game regular-season record for fewest points scored in a season.
The 1992 Seattle Seahawks, putrid to watch, set the mark with 140 points. Through nine games this season, the Browns (78 points) are on pace to score 138.6 points. The Raiders, with 88 points, are on pace to score 156.4 points. Either team could set the record. Maybe both will.
It’s amazing how similar the two teams are. The Browns have 1,929 passing yards; the Raiders, 1,998. The Browns have 883 rushing yards; the Raiders, 931. The Browns have seven touchdowns, two of which have come on returns, while the Raiders have seven themselves. They also happen to be the two teams that drafted what were thought to be the top two quarterbacks in the 2007 draft: JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn.
Think about how much time was wasted debating which quarterback was better. It’s not unlike how much attention was given last summer to wondering where quarterback Michael Vick would play this season. This is the time of year when NFL teams are competing for division titles, playoff spots, home-field advantage. In Cleveland and Oakland, they compete for records for offensive ineptitude.
All I can say is, it’s going to be really difficult to defend keeping Alpha if, in a single season, he turned a roster that two seasons ago averaged 351.2 yards and 25.1 points per game into the worst offensive team in NFL history.
-T
