Revisiting Phil Dawson’s Miraculous Kick
September 22, 2010Ray Lewis Speaks on Almost Being a Brown
September 22, 2010
The Cleveland Browns are 0-2 for what seems like the hundredth time in a row. That alone isn’t enough to have the faithful in Cleveland so upset. What irritates the majority of the faithful is that the first 2 games of the schedule were against opponents that we were ‘supposed’ to beat, and the schedule on the horizon doesn’t look good. It is very possible that the Browns could begin the season just like last year at 1-10. And that is assuming they squeak out a win somewhere, with Jacksonville the best possibility.
This year however, it seems unlikely that the Browns could run off 5 straight to finish the season with games against the Panthers, Dolphins, Bills, Bengals, Ravens and Steelers. Three of those six teams minimum will be playoff contenders fighting for position.
So the Orange and Brown lynch mob is ready to strike, sensing another season well under the .500 mark. It would be the seventh time in eight seasons that the Browns failed to win at least 40% of their contests. For fans who grew up with regular playoff appearances, this is simply not acceptable.
If you look at the history of the Browns prior to the three year hiatus, their ‘rebuilding’ periods didn’t take longer than two or three seasons. In fact the longest the team went between .500 seasons was 4 years- courtesy of the Metcalf up the middle Browns of Bill Belichick. But even two of those teams finished 7-9 which would be a serious improvement for this current squad.
So the fans have been simmering in a stew of incompetency for a long time. Unfortunately for the Browns, the Cavaliers will not be taking attention away from them this year. They are in the spotlight, and the stench is strong from the bright light. The fans demand improvement from this team, and they aren’t seeing it through the first two weeks.
But who is to blame?
The easiest thing to do is blame the coaching staff. They are ultimately responsible for what happens on the field. And fans have indeed blamed Eric Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. But is it fair to blame those who simply draw up the game plan and call the plays? What about the players that execute these plays? Don’t fret, the fans have plenty of blame to go around. “Harrison and Massaquoi, Mack and Thomas, Wallace and Delhomme get under that bus!” is the latest war cry from Cleveland. These guys are supposed to be taking us to the next level right? Why not place the blame at their feet?
What I see happening is the chicken and the egg all over again. If the players executed the plays how they are drawn up then they would work writes one fan. If the coaches called the right plays at the right times then the team would move the ball screams the other.
“But the Browns don’t have an elite WR, or even a decent QB to run the offense so how can you blame the coaches?” Good question. And who was responsible for selecting Massaquoi and Robiskie? That would be Eric Mangini. And these two aren’t rookies anymore. They’ve been through 2 camps and a full season. Mangini and company have had ample time to work with these two and try to develop whatever skills they thought were worthy of second round selections. Additionally, the voice coming from Cleveland loud and clear leading up to the season was that they were happy with the WRs on the roster, and didn’t need to add anything through free agency or trade. Personally, I didn’t believe that for a minute- and neither did most Browns fans who see nothing more than second or third wide outs at best from this group.
The quarterbacks are another story. Everyone in Berea raved about Delhomme and Wallace and how much of an upgrade they were compared to the guys who were here last year. “We love Jake’s leadership, and think the problems in Carolina were scheme problems.” Really? It isn’t the scheme that forced Jake to make those terrible throws in week one that were picked off. It was pressure. He makes bad decisions when he is pressured. Not a great attribute for a QB. Seneca Wallace was not supposed to be any kind of step down when he came into the game. In fact, there were supposed to be packages for Seneca even if Delhomme was healthy and effective remember?
The coaches were all satisfied heading into the season with the players we had. They may not have thought the Browns were a Super Bowl contender, but they were improved. That was the goal. Year two of the Mangini era looks like a slide in the opposite direction. Last year Mangini supporters hung their hat on the fact that the Browns were getting rid of the malcontents and establishing a foundation of playing the right way. Fewer penalties and a string of wins at the end of the season probably saved Mangini’s job. Better start scouting the Jaguars, Panthers and Bills now.
What about Holmgren? Doesn’t he get any of this blame? Don’t tell me that Holmgren doesn’t see the lack of talent from the WR spot. Why didn’t he make a move to get a WR? He probably wanted to give the guys on the roster every conceivable chance to succeed, plus he didn’t think the guys on the market were worth throwing the kind of money at that it would take to get them here. So he says the position is fine and let’s it play out. What else is he going to say? Can’t rip the guys on the roster before the season even begins if you aren’t planning to fix it. But here’s my problem- don’t talk about winning now if that is your philosophy. That’s just to sell tickets. Browns fans are smarter than that.
Is it even realistic to expect progress in year two of Mangini’s tenure? Raheem Morris is in his second year with Tampa. He has something called Josh Freeman leading his offense. They are 2-0 after finishing 3-13 last year. They have certainly shown some improvement. Todd Haley is in his second year with the Chiefs. They are 2-0 after finishing 4-12 last season. They too have shown improvement, especially on defense. How about the Miami Dolphins who were 1-15 in 2007 and 11-5 the next year. They have been a playoff contender each year since. How about the Atlanta Falcons who were 4-12 in 2007 and have been playoff contenders each year since.
The bottom line is that Cleveland fans are sick and tired of losing. That may or may not be ‘fair’ to those who come here to try and turn the program around. ‘Fair’ just isn’t a word that exists around here anymore. It has moved on along with jobs, C.C. Sabathia and LeBron James. This town wants a winner. The pitchforks are at the ready.
49 Comments
929 Articles Rick, and I don’t think I’ve enjoyed one as much as this one. Great read 🙂
Crystallizing thoughts on Mangini:
He’s the classic young plugger working his way up from film room geek to coordinator to head coach through the sheer force of hard work. But unlike Belichik, the patron saint of those types, he is not brilliant or innovative. And he doesn’t fit the most common other models of NFL success. He’s not a cerebral chess player from the Paul Brown/Bill Walsh tree, the Blanton Colliers and Holmgrens and Shanahans and Seiferts, the guys who daydream about x’s and o’s and exploiting match ups and who scribble plays on restaurant napkins. He’s totally unlike Cowher or Marty, the former player who viscerally relates to his own players and gets a passionate responses in return. And try as he might, he’s not the charismatic leader type who uses fear/love, like Lombardi and Parcells and Jimmy Johnson (although like Belichik he likes to yell at his players and pretend he is that type).
Instead, Mangini is starting to look more like a football version of Mike Brown. If given sufficient time he can devise things and outwork you. But as for an instinctive feel for leadership, or for the game, or for its players, it doesn’t seem to be there. It’s almost like watching a guy trying to act like a coach instead of being one. That’s why he’s poor at in-game adjustments, halftime adjustments, and getting his players to respond. Not sure why he did ok with the Jets, but after 2 training camps and 18 games I just don’t see success happening here.
BTW, hope I’m wrong. Don’t hate him, just don’t see “it” yet.
Rick, great article, and Harv21 I couldn’t agree more – excellent analogies.
call me naive but I still think Daboll is the fly in the ointment.
Players need to be put in the position to win….our offensive play calling isn’t doing that at all. Call me when we have a legitimate coach and OC, and our same players put up zero points in the second half of every game. IT WON’T HAPPEN.
I think the Browns will beat Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Carolina and Buffalo. Its looking like a 4-12 team to me.
Also, Holmgren/Heckert don’t shoulder much of the blame for the following reasons:
1. Only one draft of their players.
2. Mo Mass/Robiski multiple years in the league…look like they still can’t separate from nfl level guys.
3. See number 2. and look at the play calling trends in the second half of games.
just a few points that point to the coaching staff and are not controllable by the FO guys.
Daboll is a start but Mangini is just as bad now as a year ago which doesn’t say much to the decision to keep him by Holmgren. Unless Holmgren comes out and says that he didn’t want to bring in another new coaching staff until he procured more talent or something to that effect, he should be questioned as well. I think it’s painfully evident the roster still lacks the talent but it would be nice to have a coaching staff that could bring the most out of players or better yet help them improve. The mistakes such as turnovers and penalties are indicative of poor coaching. Mangini’s excuses are beyond pitiful. To say they should have given Cribbs more touches was a complete joke. Maybe he needed Mike Holmgren to tell him Cribbs needed more touches.
I like how this post neglects to mention areas they actually have improved in. Like not losing the first two games 61-26, or the secondary that is playing very well as opposed to a year ago.
Or, how you neglect to mention that the Browns actually have about 150 or so more passing yards through two games as opposed to 2009.
How about scoring 4 touchdowns in the first 2 games instead of the 1 they had last year?
3 interceptions in two games as opposed to none last year?
Improvement against teams who, in your own words, “have certainly shown some improvement.”
Anyhow, I’m sure holding pitchforks is a lot more fun, so stick to that.
The one thing that the lynch mobs has to understand and comprehend … it’s partially their fault. There is no quick fix. Firing and replacing an entire coaching staff, front office and players in a revolving manor will lead to exactly what we have … a time and again rebuilding team that will lose.
Put down your damn pitchforks and let this ride. Its one of the hardest schedules in the NFL and we were doomed from jump-gate.
Things will get better if you let them progress.
I’m not sure who has the bigger drama queens .. the players or the fans.
Loved the ‘mob’ illustration. If you can mix in some tribe and Cavs logos and slap it on tshirt, I’d buy one.
Chicken and egg is the perfect analogy.
The coaching staff needs to define and address what the strengths of this team are, and do that. Do not worry about improving your weaknesses at this point, play to your strengths. If we do that *cough, Vickers and Hillis cough*, then a lot of the issues will evaporate. IMHO.
Run the ball, use your FB, establish the run, and open up the play action. Establishing the power running game forces the D to go 8 in the box, and opens up the passing lanes. Run to your strong side (LT,LG, C). Let the weak right side of the line simply get in the way of the backside pursuit. force the D to honor the left side run game, then pull out a half rollout to a WR/TE on the righ against the grain of pursuit.
I’m not a coach, but it seems pretty simple to me.
I’m not ready to lynch yet – i pretty much have come to terms with Cleveland football. Don’t have any expectations and you won’t be disappointed.
@12/Hamfist: your suggestion sounds like the template for ’85 Browns. Marty was a new coach, claimed play calling was overrated and said just beat your man. No decent receivers – Brian Brennan was a rook, Langhorne wasn’t ready, John Jefferson was washed up, Slaughter not on the team yet. They tried to sit rookie Kosar but Danielson got hurt and to protect him Marty just ran Byner and Mack, over and over and over. Team went 8-8, won a horrible division and were wiped out first round of the playoffs. But the next year when they brought in Lindy Infante they already knew how to run.
also @7: MoMass & Robo “multiple years in the league” – this is their sophomore season. Technically “2” is multiple…but c’mon man.
I don’t think they’re great or going to be great, but let’s be fair.
@9 – I’ve said this a few times and I’ll say it again…Yes, we have made progress in certain areas. Is it resulting in wins…that is a NO so far. The question is why? It seems like the lack of effective play calling in the second half of games is to fault.
The most frustrating thing about this entire situation is watching this team ignore it’s best options in favor of a cookie cutter nearly worthless second half strategy. That reeks of coaching failure.
Also just as a side note. Last year the first two games were v. Minnesota and Denver. One went to the NFC championship game and one started 8-0. Call me when either happens with the Chiefs and Bucs…..
once again the browns stink…feel free to sell out the stadium all year.
I think you have to give Holmgren and Heckert 3 years before putting any blame on them. Techinically this is only year one, and much of their first year was cleaning up mistakes from Mangini’s reign of terror. At this rate, Mangini probably won’t be around but the roster will be much better next year. We all knew that the team wasn’t going to win a lot of games due to their schedule (O/U was 5.5), despite two bad losses they do seem improved over last year. Let’s see how they look against a dominating defense (prediction Lose 31-6)
@ben – You’re right maybe I am being a bit too rough on the guys but that’s 2 full camps for both of them. For Mo Mass he’s got a full year of work. There needs to be some progress there and it just seems like neither of these guys can get away from any type of coverage.
Is lack of effective playcalling what caused Wallace and Delhomme to throw those two debilitating, awful, worst-pass-I’ve-ever-seen-in-my-life interceptions? Did the playcalling force Hillis and Harrison to fumble?
If neither one of those passes get thrown, they are 2-0.
If the queen had balls, she’d be the king.
When the players start executing and stop turning the ball over, they’ll start winning games.
@19: That’s what Romeo said.
Blame Branyan.
I think you need to change your thinking from “the coaches were all satisfied with the players they had” to “the coaches were all as satisfied as they can reasonably be”.
Year 1 was spent blowing up Crennel’s garbage. Year 2 is the beginning of rebuilding. Further, with all the needs we had, we needed to prioritize. Maybe you’d have done it differently and gotten us a big play-making wide receiver. Fine, but what improvement that they made would you then cut out to make room for said wide receiver.
You can only fill so many holes in a single off season, you know.
@23 – “You can only fill so many holes in a single off season, you know.”
Like through the draft?
/veikune’d
I didn’t expect much of anything from the Browns this year, so I’m not ready to target anyone.
That being said, Art Modell should be jammed with a pitchfork whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Sorry, but after two games I am not ready to get the pitchforks ready.
I know angry mobs aren’t exactly famous for their reasonable expectations, but come on guys. Let’s think this through:
– No one thought this was a playoff team right now. Why is starting 0-2 such an unbearable thing? I know winning is obviously better, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater by refusing to see progress because a team you knew would lose a lot is losing.
– Everyone knows the team at the end of last year was lacking talent pretty much everywhere, and especially at the skill positions.
– Considering the lack of talent, it is somewhat impossible to address all the teams weaknesses in one offseason unless you had a bazillion dollars at your disposal, and a GM/Coach that knows exactly how every draft pick and every free agent will work out. Last time I checked, neither of those things exist.
How about we let our young talent develop together this year and then evaluate in the off-season instead of after 2 games?
How about we give QBs brand new to the players/coaches/system more than one real game to establish chemistry, familiarity and timing (sorry, but practicing and pre-season games will only get you so far)? Besides, just because our QB situation isn’t good right now doesn’t mean it’s not an improvement. Also, I think we all know Jake & Seneca are just around until a longterm replacement becomes available.
One thing that is TRULY disappointing is the step back in discipline/avoiding mistakes, I’ll give you that. I hope the team will quickly turn this around, but steps back are something this team cannot afford many of.
Instead of grabbing a pitchfork and lamenting all the things that are going wrong, I’ll be enjoying the progress that is being made – especially on D. No more McDonald (and most guys in our secondary) playing patty cake with ball-carriers instead of tackling them. TJ Ward seems to be on the ball every play. Joe Haden is the most physical corner the Browns have had in recent memory. Benard has a real nose for sacks, and Matt Roth is the kind of player who brings talent and attitude to a defense. Rubin could be on the nose for the next ten years – not bad for a late round draft pick. Peyton Hillis is a beast, and the fumbles are hopefully a fluke. Our WRs may never be Moss or Rice, but they can develop into 2 or 3rd options. Maybe once our team progresses, the Browns can go after a top flight WR.
Just put your pitchforks down!
Common theme: expectations too high.
I expected this team to get 6 wins at most. Didn’t expect a superbowl or even the playoffs. What I DO expect however, is for the coaching staff to be competent enough to not be making comments in week 3 like “Maybe we should give Josh Cribbs the ball.”
Am I unreasonable to pick up my pitchfork now? Maybe I’m crazy.
It’s not a coaching issue.
Until we get a good quarterback, we are not going to be successful. The qb position is completely to blame for our 0-2 start. No one can argue that point.
Even with mediocre players for the most part on both sides of the ball, we had chances to win both games. If our qb’s do not throw any picks, we win. If the qb was able to generate first downs in the 2nd half of each game, we win.
There is improvement with this team. For anybody who is contemplating jumping ship, you were not real browns fans to begin with. Please jump!
I wish the people who are criticizing some fans for impatient would address the examples Rick gave in citing the Dolphins (from 1-15 to the playoffs) and Falcons (from joke to perennial contender in one season). Any talk of a reasonable timetable for a rebuild is ridiculous and arbitrary; it’s like saying we should build the Islamic Center in NY 8.5 blocks from ground zero.
There is no way the Browns can justify not being competitive this year – no rationalization from Frowns or anyone else carries any weight right now. Being this consistently bad is something no committed fans should have to endure.
Careful, eldaveablo, you are dangerously close to producing “rational thoughts” and “reasoned arguments.” These are not welcome in the mob that is Cleveland fandome. We don’t know precisely where you live, but we’ll just keep hacking and burning until we find you, too.
I for one really think Holmgren is letting this team bottom out. He kept Mangini around because he knew this season wouldn’t be much different than last season. There will be no one who will blame the Walrus if he lets go of Mangini after this year (remember, after last year there was a large group of fans in support of Mangini).
Holmgren hasn’t even started yet on rebuilding this team. He’s still flushing out the mess of the previous regime. He hasn’t signed anyone who is going to hinder our progress long term (although the money they threw at Delhomme was weird). I’m totally comfortable watching the Browns this year. I think we will win 4 games and have 8 “competitive” (i.e. watchable from opening kickoff till final quarter) games and then have 4 total stinkers. That’s not bad condsidering last year we had 5 wins and 11 games where I turned the TV off after the first drive of the 3rd quarter (ok I’m exaggerating…but there were at least 6 or 7 games where I had NO interest in the second half).
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I just think I am seeing improvement already (just not in the win column) and I’m totally comfortable letting this run its course.
Side note: Picking T.J. Ward in the second round seemed like a bonehead move at the time. He’s now my favorite Brown on defense. Holmgren is smarter than me (us) and I’m excited about that.
/end rant
@29 – Needs more analysis. What were the Dolphins before they were 1-15? I don’t have the time to look it up (have to “work”), but I don’t think it was very good – even with Parcells there. Maybe this is our 1-15 year before we turn it around? If we go 1-15 this year, and go 10-6 next year, is it all that bad?
(Answer: Only if we blow the thing up, yet again, and start from scratch, yet again.)
And to continue my theme…. how can anyone grade Mo Mass when our qb’s cannot get him the ball? I read an article on nbc sports that Heckert called the Eagles about trading for Kolb. I will lose my mind if that actually happens!! We do not need another unproven qb. The front office has got to find a way to get a good/great qb into cleveland. I know its a tall order but Holmgren has to figure that out. The great thing about him running the Browns is HE UNDERSTANDS THAT.
Go Browns!
@33 – Because the QB can’t get him the ball if he can’t separate from coverage or run proper routes? Jake Delhomme is a servicable enough QB to get someone with marginal skills the ball.
@30 – Sorry Gary, I forgot where I was for a second. Let me regroup and start writing hateful things that make no sense, and I’ll also add more comments like “keep drinking the Kool-Aid”.
Don’t lie now; you’ve been to cleveland.com, haven’t you?
Serviceable? Not exactly the word I would prefer associated with the starting quarterback of my favorite nfl team.
I disagree that Mo is unable to seperate. He had 34 catches and 640 yards last year as a rook. DA somehow seemed to find him open from time to time last year. Delhomme makes poor decisions when he is pressured. This includes not being able to find Mo when he is open.
You may be correct in that Delhomme is serviceable but that is not a good thing for Browns fans or for any of our WR’s.
Colt McCoy! Colt McCoy! Colt McCoy! Colt McCoy!
I mean, let’s really get this mob going, shall we?
Um, did anyone actually expect Delhomme to be anything more than serviceable? I feel like I’m going crazy here.
Can I summarize what the counter argument to mine is, just to be sure I’m hearing this right? This is what I’m hearing:
We lost week 1 and week 2 not because of coaching/play calling/poor offensive strategy but because our players didn’t perform.
If this is the case, how did we take leads into halftime both weeks. Are we trying to say that we decided to throw the ball around like crazy in the second half because it was honestly a better option than running it? I’m not trying to discount anyone’s opinion I’m just trying to make sense of it all.
I don’t think I’m crazy to think this team (and its same players) could be at least 1-1 with a decent HC and OC in hand.
It looks more and more like Lerner screwed up again. He had a choice between a Mangini regime and Piloi regime now in KC. He picked Mangini. The Chiefs look much further along than we do at this point…
@39 – Stin4u. If anyone expected Jake to be anything more than serviceable, they are insane.
Also, I think limiting the blame to either the coaching or the players is leaving out quite a bit as the Browns 0-2 start is definitely a team effort.
Mangini is far from perfect, but there are worse coaches out there. Ryan I like, and I think the defense right now is part of the solution, not the problem. Daboll on the other hand… he hasn’t shown me much – do we have an offensive identity? Granted, it can’t be easy for a first time OC (in his second year) to run the greatest show on turf with this roster, but I don’t think an offensive identity is asking too much.
The players at the skill positions (talent at these positions play a huge role in your offensive identity) are either too young/raw, past their prime, or just not good. That doesn’t help the play calling. Stupid turnovers don’t help either, and it’s hard to blame the coaches here.
I found the Terry Pluto article with Bernie to be pretty insightful. It basically says that you can’t out-scheme an NFL team for a whole game. At some point you just need to beat your man.
I think the Browns are OK at scheming (definite room for improvement), but not good enough to overcome their relative lack of talent + the costly turnovers.
@40 Ridiculous assumption that KC and the Browns began the rebuilding process at the same time and at the same stage of development. The Browns blew up the roster less than a year ago and just put the front office in place before this year. KC had a great rebuilding draft in 2008 (before Pioli got there), the same year the Browns took Beau Bell in the 4th round with their first pick. The Savage/Crennel tandem was just going all in with their DA/Winslow/Edwards core with an eye toward the era of Brady Quinn.
#42- Correction- the Browns have been rebuilding since returning to the league.
I think if you really want to place blame then it needs to go to the very top. If Lerner wants to let the football people make the football decisions so he can concentrate on his Aston Villa soccer team then fine. Keep the front office in place so they can build something. People are too quick to blow up everything and start over.
You mentioned two teams that went from dismal to the playoffs (Atlanta and Miami). Neither of those teams were jettisoning first round draft picks like Cleveland. Since 2004 both Miami and Atlanta have cut or traded 1 first round pick. Every other 1st round pick is on the roster. To counter, Cleveland has kept 3 since 1999! How are you supposed to build a team if you keep getting rid of the talent?
To start with, no one here was expecting playoff-caliber football from this team, so (addressing the room in general) stop acting like those of us displeased with the record and the poor play are coming from an unreasonable angle here. What bothers me most is that it is 0-2 and poor play against 2 teams that find themselves in the same general situation as ours: clearly rebuilding. Now I’m not one who finds it realistic to expect an Atlanta- or Miami-style “one year turnaround” (and honestly, if you really think the changes that made those teams improve happened in just one year, you’re being foolish): I want to see improvement from last year until now. And the fact is that we have not been shown that progress. Point to the beatdowns we received through 2 games last season versus close losses this season, but note that the quality of teams we led off with in ’09 dwarfs that of the teams we started this year against. Point to solid defense and increases in scoring (positives to be sure), but don’t neglect to mention the continued lack of mental/physical discipline that has wasted those improved efforts (a huge negative, despite being the supposed focus of this coaching staff). If anything, the good we’ve seen is cancelled out by the continuing bad. “2 steps forward, 2 steps back”–while it may have done nice things for Paula Abdul’s career back in the day–is not progress: it’s the beginnings of a rut.
Offensively, it is painfully clear that Brian Daboll made no progress from year one to now. This team is boring and predictable on that side of the ball. Now, we all know the reality is that 7-8 of the guys we run out there are not of superstar quality, but serviceable can and should be sufficient for a coaching staff of any real quality. Neither of our previous opponents this season will be mistaken for a Pro Bowl team, yet they both demonstrated more physical and mental toughness then our team when it counted. They played to their (very limited) strengths (though KC not giving Jamaal Charles the ball 25-30 times was odd). They didn’t commit the foolish penalty (Joe Thomas’s was not foolish, by the way–that was on the QB). One thing has always been and will always be true in the NFL: a team that can run the ball effectively always has a chance to win. Why it is so hard for us to look around the division at what our rivals succeed with, to look at out personnel AS IT IS NOW–NOT AS WE WISH IT WERE, and commit to the ground game is beyond me. Ball control, time of possession, this is how teams with lesser talent can and do win in this sport. We have 3 capable (though admittedly not spectacular) RBs, a beast of a FB, and a line that is, at least on one side, more than capable. We have to single most under-utilized weapon in the league in Josh Cribbs. Wallace gives us mobility at the QB spot, and Delhomme can be accurate given time. We have things we can work with, if only our coaches would do something with them.
Defensively, we will have a better idea of how we look once real competition shows up. For now it appears the secondary is progressing (though little-tested this season). The pass rush is pathetic, and the corps of LBs we have has been underwhelming at best, save for a few decent individual efforts. At least Rob Ryan appears willing to try things and make changes, which is better than the offense.
I have been in favor of Mangini sticking around. But when a HC makes a statement like he did in hindsight about using Cribbs, I have to wonder what the hell we are even paying the man for. You are the head coach: know your personnel, put them in the best position to succeed, and if your coaches can’t or won’t do it, then step up and make it happen! I think Rex Ryan is an arrogant gasbag, but at least I know he gives a damn about what’s happening on the field.
Yes, progress is the watchword for this season. But that progress can and must include doing what it takes to beat to lesser-tier competition when you have the chance. That will build team confidence. That will build fan confidence. Continuing to embarrass ourselves week in and week out, as we have for the better part of a decade, should not be acceptable to anyone.
Yeah, I understand the sentiment, hence the unibrowed stick people holding pitchforks. I get it. But, I could identify several distinct failed rebuilding processes within the last decade. The problem is that none of them led to any measure of success, so it feels like they’ve been rebuilding since 1998. Davis’ Browns peaked at 9-7 with a wild card berth thanks to a tiebreaker. Savage/Crennel at 10-6 missing the wild card because of a tiebreaker. The fans are going to have understand the Browns started over last year, and its process. Or, we could call for the heads of the organization’s leadership now and start over again next year – repeat in perpetuity. Thankfully, Holmgren should at least provide some continuity to this era even if Mangini is run out of town. Most of this reactionary (albeit understandable) sentiment is results-driven rather than process-oriented. The Browns lose, the team must be in decline. It’s weak analysis. They could easily be 2-0 today except for a handful of mistakes and bad breaks. One draft and one year of development has already remade the defense into something respectable. Have a little patience, and maybe next year’s draft and a year of further development will infuse some offensive talent and make this a competitive football team. Everyone needs to stop sounding like Cubs fans right now because when the Browns are finally good we don’t want to end up acting like a bunch of Red Sox fans.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here with a crazy thought…I blame the fans. For 10 years we have continuously sold out a stadium for an organization that continues to produce garbage.
Why? Because we love our Browns. Unfortunately for us, nobody else “loves” our Browns that make any of the decisions in the organization.
The coacdhing staff is doing a huge injustice to the entire city of cleveland by not spending the time and effort cultivating colt mccoy, it’s a fact that he was not the coaching staffs pick, and it is also a fact they have have done nothing in the way of coaching to try and develope the young qb. I don’nt know if mccoy is the qb of the future or not,but i know we will never get a fair look at him without reps in practice and some decent coacning, which he is not getting. My fear with mccoy is he is the next farve, brees or brady, that get’s no coaching at his first stop in the league and becomes a hall of famer on his second.
So what’s the point here?
I see a lot of inconsistent conclusions, but no point to this post.
Or was that the point?
Probably.
OK.