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| If you ask me, the Browns season hopes are tied to how well this guy can run the ball. |
The Browns are back, baby!
This 2012 season is obviously going to be a big one for four men: Jimmy Haslam, Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert, and Pat Shurmur.
As someone who just bought a franchise for a billion dollas, Haslam has earned the right to do whatever he wants with the Browns. And based on everything I've learned about him in the last month or so, I think he's going to do what it takes to win football games here in Cleveland. Not only is he an extreme lover of football, he's a shrewd businessman. The Browns will be a hobby for him. It's not that owning an NFL franchise won't make him richer, but it also won't be his only source of income.
That's the way I want an owner to operate.
Still, though, this season could—and probably should—be defining for Holmgren, Heckert, and Shurmur's careers in Cleveland. Holmgren is already expected to be packing his bags for Seattle as former Philadelphia Eagles President Joe Banner is presumably going to fill that same role in Cleveland once the sale is finally approved in October.
But for Heckert and Shurmur, things could be different. If the team plays well and shows that what they've begun building over the last few years is making tangible progress, I believe there's a very good chance that both could stay. I can't give a number for wins on that, but if they go 6-10, I think there's more than a reasonable argument that progress has been made.
If they go 1-15 as some "experts" have been predicting...well, let's not even go down that road.
When you think about it, though, the keys to the season pretty much rest in the hands of the supremely young Browns offense.
Obviously the Browns hope Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden can become stable backfield fixtures in Cleveland for the foreseeable future, but if the season goes south only one of those guys realistically has a chance to be here when a new regime takes over. And his name isn't Brandon Weeden.
To me, if Richardson is healthy and productive, the Browns will have a realistic shot at winning each and every game they play. Yes, I know the NFL has little by little shifted into a passing league, but a running back with speed, power, and agility still has a place in the league—just ask the Texans. I'm not going to pretend it's all about the running back—since I firmly believe Houston lost to the Ravens in the divisional round last year because they were playing their third quarterback in TJ Yates—but if you have a top-notch running game and can control the ball and the clock, you will have a chance to win.
Plus, now opposing defenses have at least one guy that they must gameplan to stop. You literally could not say that about one Browns offensive player last year. As weeks go on, we might even prove to have two or three guys like that—Greg Little has reportedly made some strides, and Josh Gordon is just a supreme physical talent. Hell, maybe even Weeden will progress enough to scare some defenses as well.
For now, we all have to hope that Holmgren's bold prediction that the team will take a "big jump" this year holds true. Will it? I'm not sure. There are just so many unknowns on this team. The lack of depth at the linebacker position scares me—and it should scare you too. At some point, Joe Haden might be out for four games, and that would be terrible. And losing Phil Taylor for half the season at one of the DT spots certainly isn't that good either...
But when it comes down to it, who cares? It's football season yet again, and as of this writing the Browns are undefeated!
And because this is a Start Me Up post, of course we have some predictions to make...
The Season Prediction: 5-11, Fourth Place, AFC North.
I just don't see how the Browns are going to win more than five games with their schedule. I want to be wrong—meaning I want them to win more games—but there are just too many question marks. Like I said, if Richardson is healthy and productive, the Browns will have the ability to be in every game. It's just going to be a matter of making sure those games turn into Ws, and I'm just not sure they have the ability to do it.
And now for today...
The Prediction: Eagles 28 - Browns 17
Okay, here's a bold prediction—the Browns will come out and score a touchdown on their first drive of the season. Trent Richardson will surprise us all and come out looking like a man on a mission, allowing the Browns to run the ball down Philly's throat while Weeden comes up with some big time throws. And then the Eagles will remember that they're playing a worthy opponent, and all the wind will be sucked out of the Browns sails. But I really don't think it's going to be as bad as it looked like it could be in that preseason game just a couple of weeks ago.
For all of you loyal blog followers out there, unfortunately there won't be any halftime blurb today as I've got too many meetings to go to, so I probably won't even see most of the game. But at some point, I'll do what I can to see what I can and there will be a Final Word. So all three of you, don't you worry about a thing.
Enjoy the day, Browns fans!
~MAS
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