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As the Cleveland Browns get ready to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 head coach Kevin Stefanski made the unusual move of benching starting kicker Dustin Hopkins and going with a backup just over an hour before kickoff.
“The Browns have made a kicking change for today's game against the Chiefs. Dustin Hopkins is inactive, and Riley Patterson will handle the kicking duties,” The 33rd Team's Ari Mierov reported on Sunday. “Hopkins has converted just 16 of 25 field goals and 16 of 18 extra points.”
While the move does seem warranted with those stats, it's the timing that raises an eyebrow, Patterson last kicked for the Jets in Week 9. He was 3-of-3 on extra points in that game.
With the way Kansas City has been winning this season, it stands to reason that they will pull out another lucky W in the Browns-Chiefs tilt thanks to a Patterson missed field goal or extra point.
Browns can still play spoiler
No matter what happens in the Browns Week 15 game against the Chiefs, the fact remains that Cleveland is not going to the playoffs this season. Standing 3-10 after a disastrous 1-6 record to start the season with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, the Browns postseason hopes died before Halloween.
However, with Jameis Winston at the helm, the Browns have been at least fun to watch, and at least a little frisky. So, while their own postseason hopes are gone, Cleveland can make life miserable for opposing fan bases over the last four weeks of the season.
If the Browns beat the Chiefs in Week 15, the race for the No. 1 spot and a first-round bye will tighten up. And in the last game of the season, the Browns get the hated Ravens who will likely be fighting for playoff positioning and possibly even the division at that point. So, while Browns fans can't be happy about their team this holiday season, maybe they can get a little joy over the next-best thing: Making another fan base miserable.
