Today the Cleveland Browns play the Miami Dolphins in Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Browns are trying to get to 2-1 and a record above .500 for the first time in a very long time. Equally important, the Browns are trying to win at home and establish the kind of home field advantage that other NFL teams routinely enjoy.
Since their return to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have been awful at home. In the 1999 season, they went 0-8 at Cleveland Browns Stadium, and that has set the tone. Overall, the Browns have been 34-63 at home, a record that includes this year’s initial loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns have had exactly one season where they had a winning record at home: in 2007 they were 7-1 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Otherwise, the record is one of pathetic futility and the dashed hopes of countless Browns fans.
This should not be the case. The Browns have among the most rabid fans in the NFL. The Dawg Pound is a legendary collection of face-painting, costume-wearing screamers and brawlers who can make a lot of noise and hurl a lot of verbal invective and intimidation at opposing players. It’s time for the Browns and their fans to make Cleveland Browns Stadium one of the toughest venues in the NFL — one that opposing players and coaches dread to visit and are happy to leave.
Today’s game against the Dolphins, who are 0-2, would be a good place to start.
Webner House 