Final Word - 2011 Browns Report Card

I wanted to wait until I saw President Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert's press conference to give my assessment of the Browns season, and now that it's over I think I'm ready to have my say.

Obviously, a 4-12 record is not good enough by anyone's standards—and that's something Holmgren said today. The "Big Show" also talked about how he saw progress in many aspects of the team, including the fact that he thinks we started closing the gap between us and the rest of the AFC North teams. In his defense, Holmgren knew that he would be criticized for saying that, but in my humble opinion he should be. The NFL is all about results and "what have you done for me lately." No wins in the division and records of 4-12, 5-11, 5-11 and finally 4-12 in the last four seasons really isn't good enough either.

So that brings me to today's topics, the report card and some awards. I don't think there needs to be much more introduction to a report card than to say I'll be giving different groups of the Browns grades. ...Duh.

Let's just get to it, huh?

Offense
Well, this was a group that had a tough bad awful downright pathetic year. If you haven't heard, this team scored just 218 points the entire season. How bad is that? Well, the 1999 Cleveland Browns—yes, the expansion team!—scored 217, and the 2000 Browns scored 161. I'm glad I don't really remember those teams, but honestly there is no reason whatsoever for this team to be on par with the first two years of the "modern era." That's inexcusable. Not that there is some kind of comparison between the Browns and a team that actually plays offense in the NFL, but the Packers scored 560 points this season. The Saints scored 547. Even the 3-13 Vikings scored 340!

Like I said, downright pathetic.

Some other things to think about—the Browns scored 20+ points just twice this year. The first time was against Indy when they won 27-19, the second was when they played at the half-empty Paul Brown Stadium and lost 23-20 to the Bengals.

In five games, the Browns didn't even score a touchdown. That helps to explain the 218 points...

It took the Browns 12 games to finally score a touchdown in the first quarter.

It took until game 14(!!!) for the Browns to score a touchdown in the third quarter. Talk about inexcusable—that means Shurmur just couldn't make good halftime adjustments.

Yes, injuries ravaged the running backs and offensive line (please be healthy next year, Eric Steinbach), but there's no reason the Browns only had four rushing touchdowns and averaged just 3.7 yards per carry. Those ranked dead last and next to last, respectively. Boo!

All told, the Browns ranked 30th in points, and 29th in total offensive yards. Can you guess what grade I'm going to give this unit?

Grade: F

Defense
Okay, obviously the defense had a much better year than O, and I think that's in no small part thanks to coordinator Dick Jauron. I wrote in this post about a year ago when the Browns hired Pat Shurmur that it could take three to five years for the defense to fully convert from the 3-4 back to the 4-3. I will gladly eat some crow on that one—even though we don't exactly have what I would consider an All-Star caliber pass-rush, and our run defense is still awful, the defense was definitely the best unit on this team.

Looking at the numbers, you could really make an argument that despite ranking 30th running defense, the Browns actually had a top 10 all around D.

Stop laughing, I'm serious.

The Browns ranked 2nd in passing D—which could be explained by people running all over us, but hey, ranking 2nd is ranking 2nd. I'll take it.

In terms of yards, the Browns were also in the top 10 as they ranked 10th total defense. Also good.

But what I put the most stock in is the fact that the Browns ranked 5th in points allowed on the season. Yes, just fifth! They gave up just 19.2 points per game, which I think is excellent. (As an aside, two of the top four defenses were Baltimore and Pittsburgh...That's bad news bears.)

Did the Browns get all kinds of turnovers? Well not really interceptions as they only had nine, but they did get 11 fumbles.

But you know what, getting the fundamentals down is a lot of the time the hardest part. If we can make this kind of progress in just one year, I'd expect the defense to get that much better with a couple more pieces. And imagine if they actually had a mediocre offense so that they could get off the field sometimes?

Even though I think the defense did very well, that 30th ranking against the run leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So that's the justification for this...

Grade: B

Special Teams
Honestly, I don't know how in the wide, wide world of sports special teams coach Chris Tabor has not been fired already. Two long snappers, three punters (albeit because of injuries), at least two blocked field goals (one against St. Louis wasn't actually considered a block), and a punt returned for a touchdown. All that, and Josh Cribbs went from one of the best return men to one of the worst, as he ranked 25th in return yards this season.

All that after the Browns routinely ranked in the top five of special teams categories int he past couple of years.

If not for Phil Dawson—who hit seven field goals of 50+ yards, and with all the stupid blocks really only missed one field goal this season—and Brad Maynard—who was excellent punting and had just one touchback on the year, which came in the final game against the Steelers—the special teams unit would surely be getting an F. Instead they get...

Grade: C+

Coaching
By 'coaching' I mean head coach, offensive coordinator (which we don't have...), defensive coordinator and special teams coach. I've said it plenty of times, but I think Shurmur was completely overmatched this season by being both the offensive coordinator and the head coach. There's a reason why 31/32 NFL teams had offensive coordinators this season, even if they didn't call the plays... Just sayin'.

Based on the previous comments on the defense, I honestly don't think we could've had a better defensive coordinator this year. Despite the fact that the run defense was no good, Dick Jauron took a defense in shambles and made it respectable.

You already know how I feel about special teams coach, Tabor, so let's just say that along with Shurmur, he's bringing down the grade here.

Grade: C

Front Office
Now this grade is sort of interesting to me, because it's all about Holmgren and Heckert. Did those two do enough in the offseason to put the Browns in a position to win? Well, on defense the argument can definitely be made for a yes. They drafted Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard—two players who will be part of the core of the Browns defensive line for hopefully the next decade. They also locked up key players like Chris Gocong, Athyba Rubin and Joe Thomas with longterm deals. Those things are good.

But they definitely failed to give Colt McCoy any kind of help at the wide receiver position, as I'm still not sure why in the world the Browns refused to sign a veteran wide receiver. The whole PR debacle of Concussion-Gate was also something that really left a bad taste in my mouth for Holmgren—especially the ludicrous, "Don't come to me asking for extra playoff tickets," line.

I'll let Jim Mora handle this one.


Grade: B-

Overall
Well, to be honest, a 4-12 record pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it? Honestly, 0-6 in the division to boot? I know we're not supposed to be holding the sins of former regimes against Holmgren, Heckert and Shurmur, but you know what? We were supposed to see real, tangible progress in the form of Ws this year—that was the whole idea behind firing Mangini in the first place! But the thing is, I sincerely believe that if Mangini had been the coach of the 2011 Browns, there's no way in the world we would've been 4-12. But that's what we are, and that seriously has to change if Holmgren and Heckert want to justify keeping Shurmur as the head coach of this team for 2013. (...that is, if the world doesn't end before then!)

Grade: D-

So there you have it. I thought about doing some awards for this post, but I thought that might make things run a little too long (thanks for sticking it out this far!), so I'll just give you a little bit more from me to read in the next few days.

That's right guys and gals, keep an eye out for the first ever Myley Awards.

See you then!
~MAS

The Final Word - We've got a long way to go

I have to say, seeing the Browns in person yesterday may have changed the way I think about the team and the way they've progressed this season. Yes, they finished 4-12, and that is not something I would ever make excuses for—especially after how we were supposed to see something better than the 5-11 record the team achieved under two consecutive seasons under Eric Mangini—but I think there are definitely things that we can take from these last string of games and improve upon.

But first things first—the Browns did lose their season finale against the Steelers 13-9 to drop their divisional record to a terrible 0-6 on the season. Honestly, if you can't beat the teams in your division, you're never going to make it in this league. I think the Browns know that and their effort on the field the last couple weeks shows it, but when it comes down to it, no wins against divisional opponents is unacceptable.

If you want to find positives, however, look no further than the Browns D. Not only did they wreck Rashard Mendenhall's ACL to end his season (and possibly some of the Steelers playoffs dreams), but they only allowed 13 points to that team in black and gold. That brings the total points given up to the Steelers in two games this season to 27. Yes the Steelers scored just twenty-seven points in two games and  our offense is so bad that we couldn't win either of them! We can chalk that up to things I find ridiculous.

Another positive comes from D'Qwell Jackson, who was able to achieve his goal of playing all 16 games this season and recorded a team-high 13 tackles in the final contest. Well, let's give him some more credit—not only was he able to play, but he really should be the NFL Comeback Player of the Year as he led the Browns with 158 tackles on the year, and played darn near every single defensive snap. He may be a free agent in this upcoming offseason, but I expect him to be the leader of the Browns defense for years to come.

On the offensive side of the ball, Josh Cribbs was the lone bright spot. I remember last year that Cribbs had a pretty good repor with Seneca Wallace, so it was nice to see that work yet again. Cribbsie had seven catches for 91 yards—season highs in both categories. Even though Cribbs is widely regarded as a special teams player that would be a 3rd receiver at best on most elite teams, you have to love how he steps up and plays in big games.

But honestly, that's pretty much wehre the positives end.

Let's talk about Seneca Wallace, who, according to this article by the PD's Mary Kay Cabot, wants a shot at being the Browns starting QB next year. My response to those laughable comments could be a post in and of itself, but I'll just say here that going 16/41 for 177 yards, no touchdowns and an interception doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Wallace also has an ugly tendency to throw off of his back foot when he's trying to evade pressure—a trait that leads to under-thrown passes and interceptions. Speaking of INTs, the one he threw to Troy Polamalu was plain stupid—I could tell throwing it in Owen Marecic's direction when he's going against arguably the best safety in the league was a bad idea from the upper deck.

Also, as I feared in the Start Me Up, Peyton Hillis really didn't have a good game only gaining 30 yards on 10 carries. Of course, part of the lack of yards is the lack of carries and also the fact that his knee got banged up in the second half, but it was still a quiet day from someone who's looking for a job either here or elsewhere next season.

It's also worth mentioning that rookie Greg Little was targeted five times and caught zero passes. He dropped at least one at the end of the game—the Hail Mary pass—and besides that I'm sure he dropped at least one more, although I can't pinpoint exactly when.

But when it comes down to it, the bottom line is simply that the Browns just aren't good enough offensively to beat the Steelers. When Wallace had his big scramble in the second quarter to get the Browns inside the Steelers 10 yard line, they needed to score a touchdown there, not a field goal. The elite teams with elite offenses get that done, and it's so obvious that the Browns need more impact players on offense in order to do that.

I'll have a more in-depth wrap-up of the season and what I think the Browns should focus on this season in the next few days.

Until then, enjoy the beginning of 2012 everybody.
~MAS

Start Me Up - Browns vs. Steelers

At long last, this Browns season will come to an end today around 7 o'clock. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) I'll be there to see it.

There are a whole lot of aspects of the game that the Browns haven't done well—offense, special teams and running defense to just name a few—but we can get to all of that at a later date, as right now it's time to focus on this New Years Day matchup.

First off, I think it's pretty darn unfortunate that Colt McCoy won't get another shot at going up against the Steelers after James Harrison nearly killed him concussed him over three weeks ago. The fact that McCoy went back into that game without being checked and now still can't play certainly isn't a ringing endorsement of the Browns medical staff either. But as we've seen, Seneca Wallace has the ability to move the ball with the Browns offense. However, with the Steelers having so much to play for—the #1 seed in the AFC could fall to them if enough happens in their favor—I'd expect those guys in black and gold to come after Wallace with all they've got.

Fortunately, Peyton Hillis is healthy and could maybe be effective running the ball. The running back (who I think should definitely be re-signed) gained 112 yards on 24 carries last week against Baltimore, a team known for their staunch running D. The problem is that Hillis has had little to no success against Pittsburgh in his three games with the Browns. He gained just 41 yards on 12 carries in Colt McCoy's first  NFL start last year at Heinz Field, then 13 yards on six carries in the final game Eric Mangini coached for the Browns—a humiliating 41-9 loss at the Factory of Sadness—and finally 25 yards on 10 carries a few weeks ago.

So what does all that mean? Well, it sure doesn't spell "s-u-c-c-e-s-s" for the Browns on the surface—especially with Seneca "I think I'm better than I actually am" Wallace at the helm. (I still can't believe he changed a pass to a run at the end of the half against the Ravens. That's inexcusably ridiculous.)

Also not spelling success is the fact that Ben Roethlisberger practiced all week and should be healthy after the Browns almost broke his ankle in Pittsburgh. I'm almost positive the Steelers are going to want to score early and often to bury the Browns so that they can take Big Ben out and rest him—just in case  they have to play next week. I'd also look for the Steelers to run the ball like wild men, because the Browns have shown time and time again since '99 that they just can't stop it.

Do I think the Browns will win? Absolutely not. But then again, as I've mentioned in a Start Me Up or two before, there's usually one game that the Browns win out of nowhere. And as much as I've ripped head coach Pat Shurmur this season, he still has his players going out there and fighting each week. Nobody has scored more than 31 points against the Browns—something most teams can't say—and they've only allowed 30+ points twice. If the Browns had any kind of offense, we'd probably be at least 7-9.

But I digress, let's get to the bottom line.

The Prediction: PIT 31 - CLE 13

Phil Dawson will hit two field goals in some blustery conditions, but the Steelers will dominate. They just have way too much to play for so they won't be messing around at all today.

As I said in the intro, I'll actually be in attendance at the Factory of Sadness today, which menas that there won't be a halftime blurb. I know I didn't do one last week, but look for a Final Word to come either sometime tonight or in the near future. And then we'll do a season wrap-up shortly after that.

Happy New Year to you and yours!
~MAS

Start Me Up - Browns @ Steelers

Show of hands, who thinks the Browns have a snowball's chance in hell of winning tonight?

No one?

Is that crickets I hear?

Yeah, okay, so it was. And You know what, I'm right there with you, Browns fans.

There's plenty on the record about how much I dislike Pat Shurmur, so I don't really have to go much into that. Other than the fact that earlier this week he said that "the most important thing is this is our next game."

Wrong, Shurmur. This is Pittsburgh week. It used to be a rivalry! But as Daryl Ruiter put it this week, all that has gone away.

If I were Shurmur, I would've shown the team this hit from Joe "Turkey" Jones on Terry Bradshaw all week long.

Look, I know that's illegal, but it's still one of the great moments in Browns history. You don't need to go out and kill the other team, but you have to be able to go out there with that kind of passion, that kind of high motor, that kind of fire in your eyes and heart. That's the only way we can beat the Steelers.

What would a W mean tonight? For starters, it would be the first win inside the division for quarterback Colt McCoy, who is so far 0-7 against the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals. That's no good, as obviously you have to beat the teams inside your division in order to make it to the next level in the NFL—it's one of the many strengths of the league. But I think Colt knows this and he's going to do everything he can tonight.

But on this team, with the (lack of) talent around him, in a primetime stage with the Steelers still battling the Ravens for the division lead—damn, is it going to be like climbing Mount Everest.

The good news is that Peyton Hillis is healthy enough to be "active" and if his hamstring doesn't tighten up on him (or get "sore" as Shurmur said it did last week), we could have a running game today. That is, if Mr. Shurmur decides to utilise it. Look, you're not going to beat people if you only give Peyton Hillis two carries in the second half, like he had last week. Yes, that's right, Hillis only had two carries in the second half last week! I know we were down, but there's still no excuse for that.

I know Hardesty is supposed to be playing more tonight as well, but I have absolutely no confidence in that guy. I'm sorry, but when it takes you 33 carries to get just 95 yards against the Seahawks, there's nothing you can hang your hat on. The dude has stone hands too, and with temperatures below freezing, let's just hope Shurmur calls throws his way.

On the other side of the ball, man the defense could have a really, really tough time containing the Steelers passing attack. If there's any matchup I'd like to see, it's Jabaal Sheard versus the Steelers o-line. This is a homecoming of sorts for Sheard, who played college ball at Pitt and is used to the home locker room at Heinz Field. Hopefully he can get some good penetration and strip/sack Ben Roethlisberger (I have the hardest time spelling that name...) like he did last week to Joe Flacco.

Turnovers are definitely going to be a big key to the game. If the Browns can force some and turn them into points, they have a chance at making the game interesting. If, however, the Browns are the ones fumbling and throwing interceptions they're going to dig themselves into a hole they won't even be able to see clearly out of.

Alright, so that was sort of a long intro to what is a pretty obvious prediction, so here goes.

The Prediction: PIT 33 - CLE 10.

As usual, we'll probably score a touchdown in garbage time, but you know what we might be lucky to even do that. If the offensive line doesn't step it up and protect Colt, they really could get him killed this week as we're facing one of the most feared defenders in James Harrison. Ask Mohamed Massaquoi, after a hit from this guy, your career might not be the same.

I'll see you at the half. Hopefully it'll still be a game by then...
~MAS

The Final Word — We Got Spanked, Plain and Simple

As I continue to watch Browns games this year, it's starting to become more and more difficult to justify my Browns fandom. I love football, especially the NFL, and so I watch a whole lot of it—good teams, bad teams, those in-between. 9.23 The Fan Brown beat reporter Daryl Ruiter tweeted out earlier that Josh Cribbs said there's a "big gap" between the talent level of the Browns and their other AFC North opponents. Cribbs may have overstepped by saying that in the heat of the moment right after the 24-10 loss to Ravens, but he's right. So. Incredibly. Right.

And it's not just the AFC North that we have to contend with. I'm not sure how the heck we beat Miami, because I'm telling you, we wouldn't beat them today. And we're certainly nowhere close to the same orbit as the 49ers, Patriots, Saints, and Packers. Hell, even the Giants gave the Packers a great game today. You think we could do that with the horse crap product the Browns are putting on the field right now? 

Yeah, I don't think so either. 

The score today was a whole lot closer than the game actually was. Honestly, I can't think of any better word to use to describe their effort today than "pathetic." And no one can escape this—the offense, defense, special teams or the coaching. There was no positive unit today, and that makes this a complete team loss. 

I don't often think like that when going over a game, but think about it. The Browns were down just 10-0 at the half. They came out, traded punts with the Ravens, before taking the ball down the field and scoring  a field goal on a drive highlighted by a 52 yard pass from Colt McCoy to Peyton Hillis. It was a wheel route, and I guess the Ravens just forgot he was there. And after that, the Browns pretty much got nothing, but they cut into the lead 10-3, and suddenly it felt like a whole new ballgame. 

But then the defense came out and showed their pathetic side by giving up a 67 yard run to Ray Rice on the first play after the kickoff. Are you kidding me?! 

I don't have to tell you how after that, the wind was just completely knocked out of the Browns' sails. 

And so begins our talk of the myriad of problems the Browns had today, the most glaring of which was the Browns (lack of) run defense. They gave up 295 yards on the ground today—204 of them to Ray Rice on 29 carries. Yikes. 

Colt McCoy looked really bad today, going 17/35 on his throws for just 192 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Peyton Hillis didn't look too great either, gaining just 45 yards on 12 carries—but he only carried the ball twice in the second half. Yes, a healthy Hillis only carried the ball two times in the second half, when we came into the third quarter down by just 10 points. 

And that bring me to my newest favorite whipping boy—head coach Pat Shurmur. What the hell was he doing today? Let me be clear, hell yes I still want this guy fired, because he's completely incompetent! 

What have we been saying since week one? The offense lacks creativity. You know how many times Josh Cribbs got the ball in his hands today? A big fat zero! He's a playmaker! You have to put the ball in his hands somehow, someway. Put him at running back and throw it to him in the flat. Screen pass. Reverse. Something!

Now I know Colt didn't execute well, but the fact is that it looks like there are too many three step drop and throws that result in just five yard plays. I found this little gem out today—last year Pat Shurmur's offense in St. Louis averaged 5.9 yards per passing play. This year, it's the same number in Cleveland. 

Can you guess what the Packers and Saints average?

Aaron Rodgers gets a whopping 9.6 yards per play, and Drew Brees (who I think might be playing even better than Rodgers) averages 8.02. Those guys are playing a completely different sport than McCoy and the Browns offense, and it's not going to get any better until the coaches figure out how to maximize the talent we have. 

Look, the bottom line is it was bad today and we've got the Steelers on Thursday (grrrrrrreat...). This team is just nowhere near good enough to compete with the big boys and they proved it today. But none of that is an excuse to just go out and lay down like they did today. 

There's absolutely no excuse for that, and to me, it makes this year's version of the Browns a complete embarrassment to the history, colors and fans of this franchise. 

I'll see you Thursday...

~MAS

Start Me Up - Browns @ Texans

Well here we are again, folks, it's Sunday and we're all about to subject ourselves to three hours of torture at the hands of the Browns. Why do we do it? We love 'em, yeah, but man oh man is this one probably going to be tough to watch.

The Browns go into Houston without Peyton Hillis, Montario Hardesty, and the offense may come back without their dignity. Chris Ogbannaya will make his first start as a Brown against his former team (granted he was on the practice squad, but still), and I'm hoping we can find lightning in a bottle. I actually thought Ogbannaya was the most effective running back the Browns have had watching him in his first couple of games. Perhaps that's because other teams don't have any film on him yet, but it could be because he's talented. Maybe he'll be our Ryan Grant—someone who was on the Giants practice squad and then turned into a very effective runner for the Packers (well...until he was hurt and the Packers won the Super Bowl without him, but that's not important).

In other offensive news, Mohammad Massaquoi is back today. Yay... Look, there is absolutely no offensive weapon that we have that might actually put fear in the hearts and minds of the Texans defense, which is led by one of the best defensive coordinators around in Wade Phillips. He's taken a squad that consistently brought the Texans down and turned it into a 3-4 machine, as they rank third in total defense and fifth in points per game. Look for Colt McCoy to be running around all day long like a chicken with its head cut off with Houston's pass rush and the Browns swiss cheese for an offensive line. Bleh.

Ont the defensive side of the ball, I'm not so worried. Matt Schuab is without his biggest weapon in Andre Johnson, who is out with a hamstring injury (that nobody is questioning...sorry Peyton Hillis). Unfortunately, they've still got one of the league's top rushers in Arian Foster, who is ninth in the NFL with 532 yards and four rushing touchdowns. The biggest problem for the defense is going to be staying off the field, as the offense is probably going to look like poo. Hopefully Dick Jauron has his squad prepared for a long game...

So let's get to the bottom line.

The Prediction: CLE 10 - HOU 20

The defense will keep Houston off the scoreboard for the most part, but Browns turnovers/generally ineffective offense will be the downfall of the Browns today. Maybe I'll be wrong...but don't count on it.

No halftime blurb today, as I've got something to do mid-game, but look for a final word later tonight after I watch the rest of what might be a DVR'd mess.

See you then,
~MAS

Start Me Up - Browns vs. Seahawks

A couple of weeks ago, I would've chalked this one up as a game the Browns would win easily. Now? Not so much.

First off, it looks like we're going to be without Peyton Hillis after that hamstring injury PR fiasco that happened last week. Despite the fact that the Browns haven't been running the ball well, when you take away the only player that defenses might fear, it's clearly not a good thing. Montario Hardesty will get his second start of his young career, and the last time he started a game he played pretty well. But that was against the Dolphins—a team that still hasn't won a game. If the Browns are going to win today, they're going to need Hardesty to not only run the ball better, but catch the ball too. He was regarded as a good receiving back, and we need to see that in action since so far he's shown nothing but stone hands.

Speaking of offense, we really need to buck this trend of only starting to play it in the second quarter. The Browns have scored a grand total of 3—yes three—points in five first quarters sof ar this season. That's ridiculous. To me, it speaks volumes about the way head coach Pat Shurmur just hasn't had his team prepared to start the game. I know he's a young, first-time head coach, but there's no excuse for the way the Browns have driven the struggle bus in the first quarter.

Other than that, we'll have to look out for Seattle's no huddle offense. Charlie Whitehurst will probably get the start with Tavaris Jackson out with an injury, and Whiethurst proved to be pretty effective with that offense in Seattle's last game against the Giants. Yes, the Giants struggled in that game and Eli Manning may have thrown it away with his three interceptions, but they won that game.

One thing that plays in the Browns favor with the no-huddle element is that they don't substitute much on defense. I read from Terry Pluto that by and large Dick Jauron stays in his base defense, with the linebackers D'Qwell Jaackson and Scott Fujita playing 90% or more of the snaps, with TJ Ward, Sheldon Brown, Jayme Mitchell, Jabaal Sheard and Athyba Rubin also rarely being out of the game. If Joe Haden is healthy enough to play today, he'll be in there the whole time too. So the point is that even if they go no huddle, it shouldn't mess us up too much. That being said, it'll largely depend on Jackson to make sure the defense gets lined up correctly in those cases, especially with Fujita out this week after suffering a concussion.

Alright, so what's the bottom line today? Well...I just don't have a good feeling about it. No Peyton Hillis. No Scott Fujita. Seahawks coming off of a bye week, and off a great win against the Giants. All those elements seem to spell "Browns will lose" to me...

The Prediction: SEA 24 - CLE 17

It might be a late touchdown that seals it, or Seattle will run Marshawn Lynch all over the field and we'll score in garbage time to make the score look better than it really is, but when it comes down to it, I just don't think the Browns will have the personnel available to win today. It's not even that Seattle is that good, I just think we're that bad.

I hope I'm wrong.

See you at the half,
~MAS

Well...That Wasn't Pretty

Okay, I know I wasn't expecting the Browns to win today but...man. Wow.

First off, the offense was in a word, offensive. This whole "west coast offense" thing is really on my nerves. Case in point—we had the ball on the one yard line. First down and one. What do we do? We throw a freaking play action pass to freaking Alex Smith! We have Peyton Hillis! Run the damn football! Ground 'n Pound!


Maybe that's just not the offense we should expect, but if I'm a head coach—better yet, if I'm an offensive lineman, that's what I want. We need one yard, we should never have to pass the football. Never. And yes, I know we got the touchdown, but that is always going to bother me.

Speaking of having Peyton Hillis...Oh, where to start on this one. What in the wide, wide world of sports are the Browns doing with him right now? We come out in the third quarter down 14-7, this guy is on the sideline without a helmet. Everybody wonders, "WTF is up?!" and the Browns beat writers tweet that the Browns say there's nothing wrong with him, it's a "coaches decision." Then, they tweet that Hillis pulled his hamstring. And about a minute later, he's in the game! Then we hear he was only in there for pass protection, and that he can't actually run the ball. I don't know who is running PR over there for the Browns, but Holmgren seriously needs to decide if this guy needs to be fired or not, because this is way past ridiculous.

If Hillis is hurt, fine, he's hurt. But don't say he's not hurt, then he is hurt, and then put him into the game! That just means you're putting the player at risk if that's true. And this is all happening on Shurmur's watch, and I'm really not his biggest fan right now.

First off, the way he handled Hillis not playing the Miami game is disgusting. Hillis literally lost 10 pounds, had a fever, and I'm sure his throat was killing him. I've had really bad strep throat, it sucks the life out of you. And for Shurmur to go on the podium and say, "It's my understanding that Peyton was sick," is absolutely absurd. He should've said "Peyton was sick and couldn't go, if you'd lost 10 pounds in a week and had a fever, you probably wouldn't be going to work either." I think that's logical, no?

But I digress, the real issue at hand with Shurmur is that his offense right now just can't get a darn thing going. And it's such a shame too, because the defense has played remarkably well. The defensive unit only gave up 10 points today—the other 14 came from horrendous special teams play.

Taking a look at the stats, Colt McCoy threw way too many times yet again today, completing just 21 of his 45 attempts for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns. Why is he passing so much? Well because the Browns refuse to do anything offensively in the first quarter, so they start out down, and then have to pass. Plus, with Hillis being hurt, Hardesty just doesn't seem ready to take the full load of the offense. Oakland's defense was not ranked well at all against the run, and we really should've been able to at least get 100 yards total, but the offensive line couldn't get their reach blocks all day long, meaning there were no outside lanes. The most telling stat of all from the running game? The longest run of the day from a running back was Hardesty for 7—yes just seven—yards. That's never going to be good enough.

The defensive side of the ball continues to impress in some ways, but disappoint in others. They got fairly lucky that Jason Campbell had to come out of the game, because when he was at the helm they really couldn't stop the Raiders on third downs. They did hold Darren McFadden to under 100 yards, with 91 on 20 carries, but all told the Raiders had 40 carries for 151 yards.

But the biggest offender of the day was the special teams unit. I said this in the Halftime Blurb, I believe, but I don't know that we ever had a touchdown return last year under Mangini, and if we did it certainly wasn't often. (Update: According to Terry Pluto, the Browns hadn't had a kickoff returned on them since '08. The longest return was 46 yards in '09, 32 yards last season. I thought I was right about that.) The last couple of years, we did the little things well—very few penalties, and good execution on special teams. I'm really, really missing that right now, especially because Marv Albert was saying the whole game, "Oh, I wonder if they'll fake!" Why didn't Shurmur think that too?

The bottom line? Today the Browns should have come out fresh from the bye week, but instead they came out the same old "let's not play offense in the first quarter" way and they totally stunk. The Raiders didn't even need that extra emotion, because the Browns couldn't move the ball.

But this team is going to have to get a whole lot better, because right now it just seems like each week they're getting worse. And in Cleveland, that's just not going to cut it.

Start Me Up - Browns @ Raiders

Wow, it seems like forever since I wrote a post here, but I guess I've been busy. Plus, the Browns haven't played in two weeks. But now everybody's back in the saddle—including me—and it's time for the only team I truly care about in the NFL to play once again. And I couldn't be happier about it.

However, to be honest, I'm just not feeling too great about this game. I think it's going to be a challenge any time we go all the way out to the west coast, but Oakland has been a pretty darn good team so far this year. Combine that with the fact that it's certainly going to be an emotional day as the Raiders commemorate the death of longtime franchise owner Al Davis, and I just don't think our prospects look very good for a win.

That being said, I think it's going to be a very competitive game, and the Browns will stay in it for the most part. After all, the Raiders are 31st in total defense so far this year giving up 422.4 yards per game—299.6 through the air and 122.8 on the ground, ranking 29th and 22nd, respectively. This is going to be a game where head coach Pat Shurmur has got to get Peyton Hillis going early and often. With all the yards the Raiders give up, it really shouldn't be too much of a problem for Hillis to get 100 yards. It'd be great if we could also get Hardesty enough carries to get around 30 yards too, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

I'm also expecting to see more out of the passing offense. It's not that they've looked terrible, but we've just got to start being more efficient and effective. That's going to come with utilizing receivers that can actually catch well—Massaquoi and Little should get plenty of playing time today for that purpose—and then getting good yards after the catch. That's what the west coast offense is built on, and I'm hoping they got enough good work in during the bye week to get better at them.

Another note for the offense is that I'm expecting that they'll use more Evan Moore—which is a great thing. He's been totally underused in the first four games, and the excuse I've heard is that he hasn't been in as much because he isn't a great blocker. But I don't care about his blocking, that's not why we signed him to an extension. This guy also needs to be involved in the offense early and often, and I'd really like to see him being used as a slot receiver. He is a complete miss-match for linebackers to cover with his speed, and his size also gives him an advantage over small cornerbacks. We've got the weapon, it's time to use it properly.

Defensively, the Browns are definitely going to struggle today. Joe Haden isn't playing with his sprained knee, which means Dimitri Patterson gets the start in his place alongside Sheldon Brown. Brown hasn't played to his normal high level, probably because he's getting a little long in the tooth. But without Haden,  the way Jason Campbell has been airing it out so far this year, the secondary could have a fairly long day. Unfortunately, also the 25th ranking Browns rushing defense is going up against the #2 ranked rushing offense, led by running back Darren McFadden. That could be a big problem.

So what do I really expect today? Well, Alex Mack is going to play, despite not practicing much this week after having an appendectomy just a couple weeks ago. And while that's good news, I don't expect him to play to his usual Pro-Bowl level, so the offensive line will probably struggle. Again. Josh Cribbs also apparently has a knee injury (I believe it's a sprained knee, but I'm not positive), so he might not return kicks. And even if he does he might not be at 100%.

None of that actually answered the question, so let me try that again.

The Prediction: CLE 24 - OAK 30

I think we're going to see quarterback Colt McCoy take another good step in the right direction in terms of his development, but I think the Raiders will really run the table most of the game with their running game. And ultimately, I just don't think the Browns will be able to overcome the emotion that the Raiders will be playing with. That's not to say they won't play well, but there are just too many external factors, if you ask me.

I'll see you at the half!
~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb - 9/25 Browns vs Dolphins

Well, so far this game hasn't gone particularly well, but it hasn't been particularly awful either as the Browns are down just 10-7 to the Dolphins. 

Offensively, this team needs to start coming out to play in the first quarter. It's ridiculous to me that we take at least a quarter to "warm up" and then we can finally complete some passes and score some points. Quarterback play from McCoy has been erratic, at best. He hasn't been his usual, accurate self, going 5/14 with 73 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the first half. I think Peyton Hillis' absence has consequences for the entire offense, but we've got to be better. Running the ball, Hardesty hasn't been bad so far, with six carries for 25 yards, good for a 4.2 average. We just have to be more consistent with that aspect of the game, as there have been some good runs, but also a few times when we've been stopped behind the line for three & four yard losses. Yikes.

In the passing game, Josh Cribbs obviously had the best catch with that touchdown reception. But an interesting thing is that Massaquoi has been targeted four times, but caught none of them. That's partially to blame on McCoy, but there were at least two of those passes that could've been caught, I think.

Defensively, I think these guys have been their consistent selves so far. Despite the fact that Chad Henne has looked awesome today so far, going 15/19 for 191 yards and a touchdown in the first half, we've held them to just 10 points. I'll take that. In the running game, rookie Daniel Thomas has been a force so far, with 12 carries for 50 yards, good for a 4.2 average. But the defensive line has been quit good, espeially Jayme Mitchell, who has 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defended and 2 QB hits. That's a great stat line for a game, let alone the first half.

So the key to victory? Get the offense going. We've got to control the clock a little more with the running game, and I'd really like to see McCoy getting back to looking like his accurate self with some nice short, quick passes. This is a winnable game, it's just going to be a matter of if we can get this game under our control or not. 

I'll see you after the game, hopefully to celebrate.

~MAS

Why Yes, That is a Sigh of Relief

It's no secret that I was super nervous for today's game. The prediction in the Start Me Up really says all you need to know. But oh is it nice to be pleasantly surprised with this 27-19 victory over the Colts.

Yes, the Colts are a shell of themselves without Peyton Manning, but in the NFL a win is a win, you can't turn up your nose at it. And besides, the Browns played pretty darn well today once we got out of the mess that was the first quarter.

Offensively, the Browns made the West Coast offense look exactly like it's supposed to. Colt McCoy was  20/32 for 211 yards and a touchdown. That's a 69% completion rate and a 97.3 rating. Hopefully Colt can keep that up, because we haven't seen consistent production like that for a very long time. Mohammed Massaquoi was today's leading receiver with 3 catches for 45 yards, while Josh Cribbs and Greg Little also had nice games with 3 catches for 41 yards, and 4 catches for 38 yards, respectively. Evan Moore made the touchdown catch—a 16 yarder. I'd still like to see a little bit better production out of the wide outs, but when we score 27 points and win it's a little hard to complain.

One thing I'm still not too happy about is the running game. I'm not sure what it's going to take to get these guys going up front, but 94 yards on 27 carries is just not good enough for Hillis. Don't get me wrong, he had some big runs, especially late in the game, but we've got to get him averaging more than 3.5 yards a carry. He's a better back than that, bur tight now the offensive line is not doing him justice.

The other thing I didn't like today was the fumbles. Four times the Browns put the ball on the ground today, four times. I don't care that we only lost one, we've got to do a much better job of securing the football. Those bounces won't go our way when we're playing better teams.

Defensively, I just think we did a really great job. There were a few times when the Colts got down in the red zone, and the Browns defense never seemed to waver until "garbage time" at the end of the game. We did allow 109 yards on the ground, but thats's really not so bad considering what we allowed against Cedric Benson last week. Kerry Collins was just 19/38 for 191 yards, 1 TD (in garbage time) and 1 INT.

Individually, the defensive line had a fantastic day. Rookie Jabaal Sheard showed a whole lot of progress from last week, with 5 tackles—one for loss—a sack, and a QB hit. As I said in the Halftime Blurb, Phil Taylor and Athyba Rubin also had great games with five and four tackles, respectively. There was a drive when the Browns just gave up run after run after run, but for the most part, I think this new look defensive front has made some major improvements from last year.

Also, we have got to find ways to keep the ball in Josh Cribbs' hands. I mean, this guy must have really been hurt last year, because he didn't look anything like he has so far this year. He is a game changer no matter where he is on the field, and it's a pleasure to watch him.

So what's the bottom line? The Browns got a win. We won't be 0-16. And we're tied for 1st place in our division! (Never mind that the rest of the division has a 1-1 record too.)

Enjoy this one Browns fans. It's going to be a Happy Monday!

See you next week,
~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb - 9/11 vs Bengals

Well, thanks to DirecTV's Sunday Ticket To Go debacle, I haven't been able to see a lot of the game today. However, from what I did see - which was midway through the second quarter forward - the Browns have been playing a whole lot better.

I was expecting a lot out of this game, but I don't think that's unfair. Offensively, the Browns have done a whole lot better in the 2nd quarter than the first, and defensively, these guys have done a lot better in pressuring rookie (ginger) Andy Dalton. But what is completely unacceptable is the fact that we have 10 penalties. 10 freaking penalties! As I tweeted a littler earlier, say what you want about Eric Mangini, but this team had a lot more discipline last year. At least in this first game.

But taking a look at the stats, Colt McCoy is 8/16 for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns, good for a 114.1 rating. I'll take that in any first half. The running game, however has got to pick it up. Montario Hardesty did a good job in his two carries gaining 12 yards, and Peyton Hillis has 8 carries for 37 yards. But because the Browns O looked so bad in the first quarter, we haven't had enough time to really establish the running game. I'd look for them to do that in the second half.

Defensively, I've been really impressed with D'Qwell Jackson. You want your middle linebacker to be the team's leader in tackles, and so far he has done just that with 6 tackles and a sack in the first half. We have 3 sacks total, and 6 QB hits - all stats I'm pretty happy with. You want to get that rookie QB on the ground as much as possible.

However, Dalton is 10/15 for 81 yards and a touchdown - those stats are too good for a rookie making his first career start in week 1. We're holding the Bengals to 3.1 yards a carry, which is good. Cedric Benson leads the team with 11 carries for 36 yards.

The key to victory in the second half is going to be cutting down on those penalties. 10 in a game is bad, but in a half? That's just disgusting. The Browns are also going to need to create some turnovers, and really take the wind out of Dalton's sails. We've got to bark at him, really welcome him to the NFL. Plus, we've got to score some more touchdowns, preferably a few of the rushing variety. Get the big man, Hillis, going, they can't stop him.

I'll see you after the game, hopefully to celebrate!
~MAS

Start Me Up - Steelers vs. Browns

Well Browns fans, we've come a long way this season and it comes to a close today as the 11-4 Pittsburgh Steelers come into town to face our 5-10 Cleveland Browns in the regular season finale.

There is a heck of a lot riding on this game - for the Steelers. If they win, they secure the #2 seed in the AFC, which means a bye week to start the playoffs and then facing the winner of the Ravens/Colts (I'm projecting that the Colts will win their division with Peyton Manning...) in the divisional round at home. If the Steelers lose, they have to go to Kansas City next week, and if they win that game they face New England in Foxboro for the divisional round.

Now, which scenario would you prefer?

That's why this game has extreme importance, and not just because of the "rivalry." Let's be serious, before last season's 13-6 shocker the Browns had lost to the Steelers two times a year since 2003, when Tim Couch had his best game as a Brown and led us to a 33-13 victory. On the ESPN "Game Preview" page, it shows the Browns record against the Steelers since 2001 which is a horrendous 2-18.

Offensively, the Browns are going to have to take risks and be creative. Why not? We're 5-10, and boy would it be nice to give the Steelers a parting shot - especially if you're Eric Mangini and could be about to lose your job. Peyton Hillis will not be 100% in all likelihood, which means Mike Bell and even Josh Cribbs could see a lot of time in the backfield. I'm not particularly fond of those odds for our running game, but it has a chance.

Colt McCoy has a distinct advantage that no other quarterback in Eric Mangini's short tenure as the Browns head coach has had (so far) in that he will be facing the same divisional opponent twice in the same year (nope, it's 2011 now!) season. His first outing against the Steelers was his NFL debut, in which he not only wasn't eaten alive, but was 23/33 for 281 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also managed four rushes for 22 yards. To me, McCoy rarely looks overmatched, and I think he'll have a decent showing against the defense ranked 14th in the league against the pass. (They're 1st against the run, with only 64.1 yards given up per game. Yikes.)

Defensively, the Browns are going to have their hands full with Ben Roethlisberger and company. Mike Wallace has emerged as a great primary target and big play threat, as he's caught 57 passes for 1102 yards and 9 touchdowns this season - that's an average of 20.2 yards per catch. Rashard Mendenhall has also had a great season, with 1237 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. With the Browns defense failing to stop the run effectively in the last few weeks, their ranking in that category has fallen down to 26th in the league, while their passing D has been effective enough to stay at #13. I'd expect the Steelers to try and pound it down the Browns throats and dare the team in brown and orange to stop them.

I would love to see Eric Mangini close out the 2010 campaign with a win, but I honestly don't think that's going to happen. I believe the Browns will empty the playbook, give everything they've got and leave it all on the field, but it won't be enough to get past a very motivated Steelers team on the shore of Lake Erie today.

The Prediction: PIT 28 - CLE 17

See you at the half,
~MAS

Not a Good Look

How else can you describe what happened at Cleveland Browns Stadium today? The Browns have lost three in a row, and allowed the Baltimore Ravens to clinch a playoff birth with their 20-10 loss today.

I think to say it was ugly would be an understatement. The Browns managed just 280 yards of offense today, and had 4 turnovers - 3 interceptions and a fumble. Colt McCoy had his worst day as a pro, going 15/29 for 149 yards and those three interceptions, earning him a 27.0 QB rating. Yikes. The running game was no better, as Peyton Hillis was game planned against, and only managed 12 carries for 35 yards. I think he was hurt, as Mike Bell was in for a lot of the game, and had 7 carries for 27 yards along with 2 receptions for 48 yards. Also on the receiving end, Chansi Stuckey had 4 catches for 39 yards, many of which coming on a drive that ended in an Ed Reed interception in the 4th quarter.

What's amazing about this game is that the Ravens somehow had less total yards than the Browns with only 258. That's because the Ravens focused on the running game today on the cold shore of Lake Erie and the Browns didn't force Joe Flacco to beat them. In total, the Ravens had 161 yards on the ground, a glaring number that highlights why the Browns sometimes have a tough time getting off fo the field. The ground attack was led by Ray Rice, who had 92 yards on 25 carries. It's nice to note that the Browns didn't allow an individual 100 yard rusher, but I guess that doesn't matter when you allow 161 total, does it?

In the air, Flacco was an efficient 12/19 for 102 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception by Joe Haden, his 6th of the season. No wide receiver had more than 50 yards for the Ravens, with Derrick Mason leading the charge with 4 catches for 50, and Anquan Boldin was held to 2 catches for only 15 yards. Clearly the strength of the Browns team is their passing defense, which has been brought on with the emergence of both Joe Haden and T.J. Ward. It's been nice to see them progress and become great players this season.

So what does all this mean? Well, first off the Browns are 5-10, and have lost double digit games for the 3rd consecutive season, and 7th time in the last 8 years. Yikes. It also doesn't make the case for keeping Eric Mangini any stronger, as the Browns have now lost three in a row. I still think the turning point of the season was when the Browns lost to the Jets in week 10 - to me they just haven't looked the same.

This game was also really poor for Colt McCoy, who didn't make his case stronger to be the Browns quarterback for the long term by not playing well in the cold weather. It's the first time he has looked like a rookie all season, but I really expect him to bounce back and have a better game next week against Pittsburgh.

Try to enjoy the rest of your day and the rest of the Holidays, Browns fans. I'll be back with you next week for the final game of the season as the Steelers come to town.

~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb, 12/26 Vs. Ravens

The Browns have looked a little inconsistent so far today. They've made some plays on offense as evidenced by that last drive before the half, but they've also turned the ball over three times, pretty atypical of them. That's clearly not helping out the defense, and the Browns go into the half down 13-10.

I think this is one of the only games where Colt McCoy has looked like a rookie for at least a little bit. I think he sort of shed that on the last drive, but when he threw the second interception to Ed Reed, he clearly read the coverage incorrectly. It's been nice to see the Browns use some trickery with the Wildcat, especially with the touchdown pass from Mohammed Massaquoi to Brian Robiskie. I was pleasantly surprised to see Josh Cribbs being more effective today, I guess his toes must be healing.

If you look at the numbers, the running game is clearly in peril. I guess Peyton Hillis is hurting a little bit as we've seen a lot of Mike Bell. The two have combined for 28 yards on 11 rushes, a 2.5 average. Cribbs has two rushes for 8 yards, and Colt McCoy had a 7 yard scramble towards the end of the half. Passing, McCoy is 8/12 for 70 yards and 2 interceptions, not great numbers. It's worth mentioning again that Robiskie had a fantastic catch in the endzone, and he's seems to be coming on strong in these last couple of weeks.

Defensively, I don't think the Browns have done too bad of a job - it's just been that the offensive turnovers have killed them. The Ravens have scored 10 points off of turnovers, which means to me that the defense is only truly liable for 3 points. That being said, the Ravens running game has done much too well against the Browns today, as Ray Rice has 38 yards on 9 carries, LeRon McClain has 19 yards on 2  carries, and Willis McGahee has 17 yards on 3 carries. Flacco is 8/14 for 56 yards and a TD, pretty good numbers if you're the Browns defense. Also, Anquan Bolden has not dominated the Browns like he did earlier this season as he's been held to 1 catch for 9 yards.

If the Browns don't turn the football over in the second half, they have a real chance to win this game. But I think it's going to take a lot for the Browns to pull this one out as the Ravens do have a lot riding on this game. We'll see what happens.

See you after,
~MAS

How do you Lose to a 2-10 Team?

Well, if you're the Cleveland Browns, it's really quite simple. You combine an offensive coordinator who, for whatever reason, refuses to run the ball on first down against the rushing defense rated dead last in the league with a quarterback who used to be a moderately good gunslinger, but now looks like he should be coaching in the league rather than playing, and *bam* you've got a game you easily could have should have won that results in a huge loss.

This is not the first time the Browns have lost a game where they were supposed to win this season, but it has got to be the worst. I'd go as far to say that this is the worst loss of Eric Mangini's career as coach of the Cleveland Browns. That's not to say that he should be fired, but I do know someone who should based on his play calling today...

You know what, I'm going to shift gears and start with something more positive - the Defense. Positive being a relative term, of course, Rob Ryan's crew only gave up 13 points today, and that should be a number that is good enough to win a ballgame. When you're talking about points, all things considered 13 is a pretty good number. The passing defense contained Ryan Fitzpatrick to just 142 passing yards and a touchdown, also pretty good. But what concerns me about the defensive performance is that they gave up a whopping 192 rushing yards. That was led by Fred Jackson, who had 112 yards on 29 carries, then Fitzpatrick who had 49 yards on 4 carries, and rookie CJ Spiller also gashed the Browns for 33 yards on 8 carries. Yikes. Still, the end result was only giving up 13 points, and that really should have been good enough to win the game.

But, of course, it wasn't. This game was so bad, offensively, I'm not even sure where to start. I'll congratulate Peyton Hillis once again for gaining 1000 rushing yards this season, and being the first white running back to do it since 1985, but that's it for the positives. Jake Delhomme's numbers? 12/20 for 86 yards and an interception. Those are Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson kind of numbers, if you ask me. I thought those days were over. You can argue that the interception was not really Delhomme's fault because he got hit as he threw the ball, but guess what? He still fumbled the ball and failed to execute plays time and time again on third down.

When I was watching the game, though, it was almost like Brian Daboll was setting up the offense to fail. When you have the defense lined up against you that's dead last in the run, and you have a big bruising back, you really ought to be running the football the whole game if you know your quarterback is inconsistent. Now, I'm not an offensive coordinator, but I do know that when Colt McCoy was in at quarterback we ran a lot of bootlegs because it appeared to be one of not only his but the offenses strengths. My question is, why did we not run one of them today?

I'll tell you, there were plays today where we lined up and I could just tell that we weren't going to get anything, especially on third down. One of them came with about seven minutes left to go in the fourth quarter when the Browns lined up with third and three and ended up throwing to Robert Royal. Now, someone, anyone, please tell me why oh why in the wide wide world of sports would you throw to Robert Royal on third down and three with the game on the line? Brian Daboll, what are you thinking?!

The Browns had a grand total of five possessions in the second half and did absolutely nothing with them. The two that came in the third quarter were of 5 then 8 plays, and both resulted in punts. In the fourth quarter, it was 3 plays and a fumble, 3 plays and a punt, and 3 plays and an intercepted pass. You're clearly not going to win with that kind of lack in execution of, really, anything.

Obviously this is a frustrating game for the players, the coaches, the organization, the city and the fans. It's back to the drawing board as the Browns will take on the Bengals next week. And as we now know, defeating a 2-win team is not going to be any small task.

See you next week,
~MAS

Close Game, Great Win: Browns 13 - Dolphins 10

I have to say that once the Browns gave up the touchdown to the Dolphins early in the fourth quarter, I thought here we go again, the Browns are going to lose yet another game in the fourth quarter. And then it didn't happen! In fact, I'd say this game had the type of ending that we're really used to seeing against Cleveland rather than for Cleveland - an interception that turns into a virtually impossible-for-you-to-lose situation. Either way, the Browns found a way to get the win today in Miami, 13-10.

Jake Delhomme didn't set the world on fire by any means today, and tried so hard to throw a fourth quarter pick six, but he didn't turn the ball over and overall had a good day. That's not to say that I'm giving him a shining endorsement, but he did do everything he needed to do to lead the offense to a win. His final numbers today were 24/34 for 217 yards and a touchdown, good for a QB rating of 97.3. The good thing about those numbers from Delhomme is that you can't say that he only "managed" the game, especially because the rushing game was pretty much a non-factor. Peyton Hillis was the only one to rush the ball today (besides Delhomme's kneel downs at the end of the game) and he had 57 yards on 18 carries, for a 3.2 average. Not great numbers, and like I said in the Halftime Blurb, I think the offensive line's lack of blocking had a lot to do to that.

In terms of the passing game, Ben Watson had a fantastic game, with a career high 10 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. Wide Receiver Brian Robiskie didn't have the type of great game I was hoping he'd have, but it was nice to see Brian Daboll key in on the fact that the Dolphins were not covering Watson well at all and take advantage of it. It was also nice to see Mohammed Massaquoi get that 37 yard pass from Delhomme, as we haven't seen a lot of long passes this year.

Defensively the Browns came up big today and I think Rob Ryan is again putting himself on the list of coaching candidates for many teams coming up this off-season. Ryan's gang picked off Michigan graduate Chad Henne 3 times, and only allowed him 174 passing yards and a touchdown, going 16/32. That adds up to a rating of 37.8 - Anderson and Quinn kind of numbers. The two headed rushing attack was also contained as both Brown and Williams were held to 50 and 48 yards, respectively and the team had a total of 114 yards on 32 rushes, an average of 3.6 a carry.

Commentators Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf mentioned this plenty of times during the broadcast, but Joe Haden had an excellent game today with 5 tackles, 4 of them solo, 4 passes defended and one interception - his fourth in four games. I also said this in the Blurb, but he's clearly established himself as a starter on this defense. I think he's also making a good push for defensive rookie of the year, but I won't push it. I'd also like to give a shout out to Shaun Rogers who had a great game today, really dominating the offensive line of the Dolphins. He was around Chad Henne or whoever else had the ball all day and ended up with 3 tackles, all solo, a sack, a QB knockdown, and a tackle for loss. The emergence of nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin has been a great help to the Browns and Rogers, as he is now mostly used on passing downs where he can come in and just obliterate an offensive line.

I think this is a great win for the Browns not only because they played smart football, keeping away from their turnovers and creating them for the other team, but they found a way to win a close game. True, they did it against Carolina last week, but that was more about the kicker missing a field goal rather than the defense creating a stop like they did today. It's a very encouraging sign, and all the more encouraging for Eric Mangini and his staff.

Next week the Browns travel to Buffalo who might be a much better team than their 2-10 record would indicate as they took the Steelers to OT last week and gave Big Ben fits. I'd expect another Snow Bowl as these two teams seem to love to have, and I think it'll be a good game. Until then, enjoy the win Browns fans and check back mid-week for some filler to get you to the weekend. Go Browns!

~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb, 11/20 Vs. Jaguars

You know, when the game started I actually had a pretty bad feeling about it. It seemed to me like the Browns were just going to have a let down game after their first drive. But then they came back, overcame a situation where they had 2nd and 21, and ended up going the distance on a 16-play, 92 yard drive that took 9:57 off of the clock to score a touchdown on a play that I didn't even know could happen in the Browns favor. I feel like that was just something teams could only do to the Browns. And then the D has a huge let down, allowing the Jaguars to score a late first half touchdown to put them up 10-7 going into the half.

Offensively, the Browns have looked pretty good - especially McCoy and Hillis. With Cribbs out for this game, you'd think there would be a few more opportunities for Massaquoi, Robiskie and Stuckey, but this just doesn't seem to be a wide-receiver friendly offense, to me. Thank goodness Ben Watson wasn't out for too long, because Robert Royal is just not the viable tight end passing option that we need. But back to that first combination, McCoy so far is having a great day statistically going 10/14 for 135 yards passing and a touchdown, and he also has 9 rushing yards. Hillis has been terrific with 12 rushes for 35 yards and 5 receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. Hopefully Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll can make the proper adjustments to keep the Browns rolling in the second half.

Defensively, the Browns looked pretty good before the last Jacksonville drive where they allowed the touchdown. They didn't look horrible that drive either, but they weren't coming up with the timely plays that they needed in order to get out of the drive. Statistically, the Browns allowed David Garrard (who's name I have been spelling wrong since Wednesday...) to go 9/14 for 85 yards and a touchdown, and allowed Maurice Jones-Drew 46 yards on eight carries. The Browns also allowed the Jags to go 2/4 on 3rd down, a stat I think is really important because it shows if the defense can actually suspend drives when they have the chance.

I'm not sure what to really think about this game right now because the Browns have just looked so inconsistent.  Whether or not the Browns win will depend on if they get their mess together in the locker room and come out with fire and intensity on Defense, as the Jags deferred to the second half. I think this is a really important game for Mangini and his coaching staff, as a 4-6 record looks a lot better than a 3-7 record - at least to me. See you after the game,

~MAS

What a Win!

This was one of the best games of Cleveland Browns football I've ever had the privilege to watch. It was a game full of story lines - Mangini vs. Belichick, McCoy's first start at home - and the Browns came out as if they were the 6-1 team and spanked the Patriots to the tune of a 34-14 victory.

There are so many good things to write about this game, but I'm going to focus on Peyton Hillis first. I don't have to tell you how great #40 has been for the Browns, but he had a career day today with over 200 total yards. He rushed for 184 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns, the longest of those carries a 35 yard touchdown run to seal the game. Hillis also caught 3 passes for 36 yards. When you're talking about the midseason MVP of the Browns, it's got to be this guy. So far he has 644 yards and 8 total touchdowns, 7 of them rushing.

I could gush about Hillis for days, but I'd also like to give some props to rookie Colt McCoy who again managed the offense quite well en route to victory today. His final numbers on the day? 14/19 for 174 yards. Does that set the world on fire? No. But it was exactly the type of performance the Browns needed today.

I feel like everyone is saying this, but I think it's worth repeating - McCoy shows such an incredible amount of poise and determination when he is on the field. Most people just stop with the "poise in the pocket" but I think that the kid simply has a winning personality. You look at the play where he ran 16 yards for a touchdown in this game and, to me, it just shows how much he wants to win. When I look at McCoy playing, he just doesn't seem to panic. He lets the play develop, and if it breaks down, then he'll scramble. Because of his mobility, he extends plays well and can then throw a very accurate pass - as he did today in the red zone throwing a dart to Josh Cribbs for a first down. I don't think the Browns have had a quarterback with this kind of potential since they ruined Tim Couch's career, and they also haven't had such a good game manager since the days of Kelly Holcomb (who's #10 jersey I'm proudly wearing today).

But that's enough about the offense, Rob Ryan's defensive crew yet again came out to play today. They may not have had the same type of special performance that they did against the Saints a couple of weeks ago, but anytime you can hold the Patriots to 14 points you're doing your job well. Tom Brady had a pretty good day on paper, going 19/36 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, but a lot of those incompletions had him reeling in frustration. The Browns also forced an interception off of Cleveland native Brian Hoyer in the last 3 minutes of the game to get the ball for the end of the game. But the Browns offensive dominance really helped the defense as evidenced by the measly 68 yards on the ground. I sort of hate to say this, because selfishly I don't want the Browns to lose him, but I think Rob Ryan may be coaching himself onto the short lists of teams that will be searching for a head coach after the season. We'll see about that.

But what's the bottom line today? The Browns dominated an excellent team for an excellent win. I say props to everybody in the Browns organization, especially coach Mangini and coordinators Daboll and Ryan. Next week we've got the Ryan bowl as the Browns take on the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, who (barely) defeated the Motor City Kitties (a.k.a. Detroit Lions) in OT today. But for now, we've got a lot to celebrate about Browns fans!

~MAS

We Got One!

It doesn't matter how you get it, you just want to get it, and today the Browns got their first win of the season. It was really starting to look bleak there during the second half, but the team stayed strong and controlled the clock in the fourth quarter to come away with a 23-20 victory against the Bengals.

I was really impressed by the tough running from Peyton Hillis today, especially in the second half. I have been an especially harsh critic of Brian Daboll, especially for what I found to be his lack of halftime adjustments, but I thought the Browns did a really nice job controlling the ball in the second half. Another thing that the Browns did well today was stay away from the turnovers. Even though Seneca Wallace threw an interception, it didn't turn out to be very costly - a credit to the defense. But again, I can't say enough about Hillis and how nice it is to see a big bruising back for the Browns' running game. I saw a graphic during the game today that I believe said that Peyton Hillis was the first Browns running back since 1975 to have a rushing touchdown in the first four games of the season. That's also great to see since the Browns haven't really had a consistent running attack since they came back in '99.

On the defensive side, it's definitely your day when you give up 371 yards passing and you still win. Carson Palmer really looked like he was back in form, and T.O. didn't look like he'd been in the league since 1996 (which I'm a little pissed about, because he's on my fantasy team and would've had a whopping 41 points if I'd started him...). But Rob Ryan's squad was able to pull out the victory with a little strategy called "Bend but not Break." It's not that I recommend that kind of thing, but if you're going to win in this league, a lot of times that is what's going to happen. Even though they gave up a disgusting amount of passing yards, they held the Bengals to only 67 yards rushing.

T.J. Ward committed a hit on Jordan Shipley that will probably get him fined, but all the same I think it gives off a nice impression to the rest of the league. I mean, yes I know Shipley got a concussion, and I know concussions are dangerous, and I'm not advocating for getting concussions, but I think that it's important to have a strong safety who's an enforcer - especially in the AFC North. I'm just saying that if you didn't know, now you know that Ward is a serious heavy hitter.

All in all, what's important is that the Browns got a huge win this week. Absolutely huge. We've got the Falcons next week - a game we can win if we play to our potential. I think having Jake Delhomme back next week will definitely help the passing offense, which has not been nearly as offensive as the past few years, but Mohammed Massaqoui could definitely use the boost of having his starting QB back in the huddle. But celebrate this win, Browns fans, it's always good to have one in the division. See you next week,

~MAS