Please excuse this brief interlude …
Somehow today I have a vision of Herb Score, watching all the greats play a pickup game on a real field of dreams. Score has a microphone, of course, and he looks out and says: "Tris Speaker on deck … swinging that bat with the lead donut on it."
Herb just all made us feel like we were sitting with him in the living room watching the game, didn't he?
Sympathy and condolences to Score's family.
First and 10
1) Just a guess, but this does not seem to be a good time of the season for a team to be questioning each other's hearts. I mean, heading to the 10th game it seems that a team should be coming together, not splintering. Just a hunch on my part there.
2) When the Browns beat Jacksonville to get to 3-4, I honestly thought they had figured things out and were on the upswing. A double-digit lead in the second half against Baltimore followed, and it seemed they'd win that game going away. We all know what happened, and clearly that planted doubt in the team's collective mind, which led to the Denver debacle. It's just two weeks later, but the last thing the Browns have done is figure things out.
3) At this point, there are many serious questions being asked about the defense. Can't imagine why.
4) Should the Browns junk the three-four? Did they overrate players? Is there a linebacker on the team? Why is it so hard to tackle with the game on the line? It's never good to make major decisions in an emotional time, and this is as emotional a time as this team has had in some time. But the problem is the defense now needs major attention, both in terms of personnel and in terms of approach. This could take a couple offseasons to shore up, but by that time the offense could have a totally different look, with a new running back and changes at tight end and wide receiver. At that point, the offense will need rebuilding. And the Browns might never catch up to the tail they keep chasing.
5) Sheesh. This play for next year stuff sure is getting old, isn't it?
6) The Browns now have lost 100 games since 1999. They've won 53. Is that ugly or what? 53-100. That's an average of 10 losses per season. And the 10th season is not finished yet. For crying out loud.
7) Here's a problem with the defense. The Browns got these big guys up front, who were supposed to provide a foursome to help against the run. Then Robaire Smith got hurt, which left three viable linemen. They are all big guys who get winded when the other team keeps them on the field rushing the passer play after play, especially when two games are playing five days. Add in the corners are not the strongest – big limb there, eh? – and the formula to beat the Browns isn't difficult: Spread the field, let the big guys dig deeper in the muck as they try to get to the quarterback and then let receivers take advantage of the secondary. Of course it doesn't hurt that the linebackers are not exactly making a ton of plays.
8) Apparently Corey Williams is hampered by a shoulder injury that might need offseaon surgery. That doesn't help the cause, though Williams is gritting through.
9) On the other side of the ball, center Hank Fraley is not having the kind of season he had a year ago, and right tackle Kevin Shaffer is really struggling. Add in the fact that Eric Steinbach has been hurt. This all explains why the offensive line has not matched last year's play.
10) Brandon Marshall and Braylon Edwards exchanged signed jerseys after the game. Huh? Could these two guys be more impressed with each other? It figures on one level, though. Edwards leads the league in dropped passes, and Marshall is second. Normally this would be the end of First and 10, but it's tough to let it go by without a reference to Brady Quinn, who proved that even a change of quarterback cannot make everyone else play better. Quinn handled himself very well. Look for the Browns to expand his responsibilities for the Monday nighter in Buffalo, but look for Quinn to have a much more difficult time against a defense that is far better than Denver's.
You're An Idiot
A regular reader and e-mailer wrote and suggested I use this as (and I quote) "an idiot I hear from periodically."
How does one turn down that opportunity?
So I offer this thought from Scott Huler, who wrote prior to the Denver game:
"Dear Pat,
"In Cleveland, the first week of November, 2008, will be remembered as the week we finally got the change we needed, turned around a decade of madness at the highest levels, and put forward a leader who brings us hope that the future at long last may look brighter. Plus, oh yeah, there was a presidential election too."
Clever, eh?
But here's hoping the country's big-picture results are better than the Browns' results were in that first Brady Quinn start.
Yes, he did well, but the same elements of the team that had been struggling continued to struggle.
And the Browns lost. Another. Embarrassing. Game.
Three and Out
Dear Pat,
What a woeful performance by the defense against the Broncos. My friends and I try harder in our annual "Turkey Bowl" Thanksgiving Day football game.
Disgusting.
The bad play by the defense, particularly the secondary, raises a question. Have the Browns thought about using Joshua Cribbs as a DB? He's clearly shown he can tackle on special teams (Yes, I know…a cornerback wrapping up and tacking instead of trying to make a pathetic arm tackle is a novel concept) and he's definitely got the speed to keep up with the league's best wideouts. What do you think?
John A. Mazi
Fairlawn
Dear John,
I've thought of using Cribbs at running back.
And some think he can play quarterback.
He already plays receiver.
And returns kickoffs and punts.
He's also the best cover guy on the special teams.
At this rate, maybe the Browns should just use five linemen and Cribbs on offense and two defensive linemen and Cribbs on defense.
Can't be worse than it has been, can it?
Dear Pat,
What the heck has happened to the Browns' defense? Didn't anyone ever tell them that there are four quarters?
Maybe there should be a special fourth quarter team that is well rested and ready to defend the lead providing that they can get there again. I have never seen such a tired looking bunch of professionals.
Maybe Romeo should run them up and down the field to build up their leg muscles. They certainly can't be any worse than they are now.
Mrs. Elizabeth R. Heckman
Dear Elizabeth,
You're right. They can't be any worse.
Dear Pat,
Thanks for allowing me to vent a bit, whether you really wanted to or not. Between me and you, and having been a sports reporter before (I just do news now) I know I shouldn't really get invested in these games. But I'm dumb enough that I do, and maybe I'm extra frustrated having first watched my Terps lay an egg before the Browns did the same. But how much more does this franchise really expect the fans to take? I'm way, way past being even frustrated. I'm ready to give up, as some of the players have evidently.
Living in Maryland, most all of my friends are either Ravens or Steelers fans, with some Redskins mixed in. Sunday's game was just horrible. Last night left me astonished. Seeing guys like Cribbs and D'Qwell Jackson make progress this year has been overshadowed by some players who have regressed. I don't see fire, and I don't see players being held accountable. I think Phil Savage is the right guy in charge, but I can't for the life of me figure out how he's allowed Terry Cousin to get beat so often (and Brandon McDonald, sadly, did a perfect impression of him last night) on defense.
I'm just demoralized, and being the only Browns fan I know, it's extra hard not to give up. How much more do they want us to take? I'm near my limit for this year, if I haven't already passed it. Sometimes I think I have.
Anyway, thanks for telling it like it is, even when it hurts to read.
John Domen
Maryland
Dear John,
A few years back when I worked at the Browns, the team had a bad home loss and I walked up to then-president John Collins after the game and said: "How much more can you ask from these fans?"
"We can't ask anything more," Collins said, well aware of the frustration felt by those who pay for tickets.
Gerard Warren then walked by and bellowed "J-C" very loudly, as if the loss had not happened.
Sadly, its' several years later and the situation is unchanged.
The fans can't give more, the Browns can't ask more, and some of the players just keep bellowing instead of playing.
(Want to be recognized in "Three and Out"? It's a rare treat. Comment here or send an e-mail to pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com, and put "First and 10" in the subject line)
so pat, do you still think romeo deserves to keep his job?
I wish I could just switch teams and pull for some other team, any but Detroit would probably work. I've even moved away from NE Ohio but some suborn sense of sadistic loyalty keeps me a Browns fan. Do you know any cure for this unhealthy addiction?
Ryan Stampfle
Myrtle Beach, SC
"9) On the other side of the ball, center Hank Fraley is not having the kind of season he had a year ago, and right tackle Kevin Shaffer is really struggling. Add in the fact that Eric Steinbach has been hurt. This all explains why the offensive line has not matched last year's play."
I don't get it. What you just wrote doesn't explain a thing. All you wrote is that two guys are really sucking, and the other guy is hurt. But it doesn't explain why the two guys are really sucking, unless they actually suck, they actually sucked last season as much as they suck this season, and there actually were other reasons the offense was functional last season. In the absence of injury, a guy doesn't suddenly block well one season, and then not block the next. These guys aren't 60-years-old.
As I said, you didn't explain a thing.
Also, what's the deal with Wisconsin's finest fisherman? Either I smell fish that somebody left on the sink for a week, or I smell a blue-collar Tony Mandarich.
The offensive line problem is far more than just about Eric Steinbach's body failing him. Evidently, it's also about lack of talent by everybody on the offensive line. By the way, if Steinbach was so darned good both before and after they acquired him, then why hasn't he ever made it onto the Pro Bowl, not even once? I've never seen a photo of him wearing that cute colorful Hawaii necklace they put around your neck when you land at the airport. What's that thing called, a lay, or however you're supposed to spell it. I think the Browns got stuck with a bad lay.
ryan, when you find the cure let me know. i haven't lived in n.e. ohio since 1995 but here i am torturing myself watching this horribly run organization year after year. like a brainwashed fool i sat there and watched joel skinner hold the indians back from the series, jose mesa give game 7 away and have seen an endless string of buffoonery from the browns. romeo has been an obvious bust since 2006 and instead of being proactive and getting someone capable in there we are stuck with the eternal theme of "next year".
the best thing i ever did in life was leave the area so my family could be free of mindless cleveland sports. my wife is from texas and my daughter will never know the ugly gray skies and decayed city of cleveland, ohio. i have a friend from cleveland who lives about an hour away. he is just as demented with his sports mania. but he broke the curse as well. his wife and children will never understand why dad is beating his head against his hand after another cleveland loss. we are the last of the cursed in our families. but that won't help me and my friend while we still live. we endlessly refresh our box scores on the internet to see the latest play, shot or pitch. this is our fate. to be a tortured cleveland fan.
help me lebron james, you're my only hope.
One thing I do know: the Browns need to draft more FOOTBALL playmakers like Josh Cribbs, and I thought comparing Julian Edelman to JC was pretty accurate. The KSU QB will do anything to advance the ball and/or make a play. If the Browns don't sign him, rest assured *some* NFL team will see his value and, as usual, make our front office look like chumps.
I was watching Raising Arizona the other night and had an epiphony about the Browns.
"You want to find an outlaw, you call an outlaw. You want a Dunkin Doughnuts, call a cop."
Well, if you want the status quo, keep Crennell or fire him and hire some newbie to come in and do the same ole same ole which is lose ole lose ole.
You want to win? Call Cowher. That dot behind the word that is a period. Period. Will it cost you? Yes. Do you get what you pay for? Yes.
We can win without Cowher. He was, is, and always will be the enemy! No true Browns fan wants that spitting idiot!
Hey sydbar…. I DO!
Grand Rapids MI.
The entire organization needs to be gutted. The Browns have long suffered from inadequete coaching and GM's. These guys bring in talented players who don't have the mental make up needed to succeed at the next level. I'd rather have a team full of 7th round draft picks who play their hearts out than have this current crop of supposed 'playoff contending' Browns.
Cowher is not the enemy. Back in the early 90's, when the Browns were looking for a head coach, it was between Cowher and Belichick. We know how that turned out – we got the guy who was learning on the job, had no concept of personal relations and who I think was the one factor (outside of Modell's financial issues) mostly responisble for why the Browns left town. Pittsburgh got the guy who was ready and hungry. I'm pretty sure if Cowher had his choice of jobs back then, he'd have picked Cleveland. That doesn't make him the enemy.
Anyhow, got off-track, but just trying to say he is not the enemy. Over the last 15 years, he's the only thing I liked about Pittsburgh and those years after the Browns left, I rooted for them solely because of him and thoughts of what could have been in Cleveland.
That being said, I don't think he's the right coach now. He doesn't have the same hunger. He'd be doing it more for the money. If our GM stays, and even if he hires Cowher, don't know how long the 2 could co-exist. Cowher would be an improvement over any one we've had since Marty but right now, we need a good young coach. The Redskins, Falcons, Ravens all have first-year coaches who are doing much better than expected. Why can't we for once finally hit the gold mine with a new head coach!
I know the history, I've been a Browns fan for 35 years. I liked Cowher when he was on Schottenheimer's staff. And I'm not faulting him for taking the Pittsburgh job. I further acknowledge that he is a fine coach. But he is a Pittsburgh Steeler through and through, and consequently a member of the enemy team. He is not the only good coach available, so we don't need him. We need Savage or whomever makes the decision on the next Browns coach, to find the right guy not named Cowher. True Browns fans hate the Steelers and anything associated with them. It made me puke to hear Browns fans say they would root for Pittsburgh in the '05 Superbowl.
pffffff
apparently a "true browns fan" must be a braindead robot. i could care less if cowher coached pittsburgh. art modell—-the TRUE enemy of browns fans—-refused to hire cowher because he was too young for the job. art modell single handedly killed the cleveland browns and his co-conspirator al lerner took over the expansion team. now we see the joke continue with randy lerner raking in cash from "true browns fans" but caring very little for the perpetual mess the organization has been since 1999.
cowher is an enemy because art modell wouldn't hire him and he went to pittsburgh? what a joke. the real enemy wears brown and orange and his name is randy lerner. and his enemy father and enemy art modell will meet each other in hell. al lerner is not a savior of browns football. he just took over the cash cow supplied by loyal moron fans once modell got a better deal in baltimore.
i know, the rooney family is soooooo horrible with their dedication to winning, 5 lombardi trophies and a consistent, tough approach to football. a true browns fan apparently despises excellence. i am no steelers fan. i just know the organization that sydbar loves so much has been screwing their fans over since rat modell fired paul brown.
I never said the Browns were well run, and that Pittsburgh was poorly run. I'm speaking about emotions developed over many years of cheering my team on, and having them get their brains beat in year after year by Pittsburgh. It's part of the fun of being a sports fan. Developing rivalries – admiring yet hating the rival. It's not rational but it isn't required to be.
i felt the same way as you did until november 6, 1995. that was the day cold reality smacked me in the face and i found out loyalty in the nfl was a lie. how could i possibly hate the steelers more than i hate rat modell? it is not possible. how could i hate the steelers more than i hate al lerner for conspiring to stab cleveland in the back? again, not possible. the only thing i like about the whole situation is football being played again in cleveland. honestly, i wish they would have started fresh and dumped the name and the colors. the brown and orange are a sad reminder of betrayal and failure. the team really died with paul brown. the team called the browns that we have been watching ever since is something else entirely. a ghoulish reminder of champions that played before i was even born.
"True Browns fans hate the Steelers and anything associated with them."
I assume this doesn't work the other way around for true Steeler fans?
Because, as we know, before he was associated with the Steelers he was associated with the Browns. I feel the pain of those true Steeler fans feeling every victory was tainted, every playoff appearance was offensive, the Super Bowl win was a giant stain on their history all because a certain head coach was part of Cleveland first. All these true Steeler fans knowing in their heart of hearts that the successes of the past 15 years were all meaningless because a Brown was leading them.
Here is the cure boys and girls, and i am not kidding about this….FOLD the franchise. Save yourselves pain.
"True Browns fans hate the Steelers and anything associated with them."
I disagree. I've been a Browns fan for all 32-years of my life. My hate and disgust is more centered on that ratbird team. Do I hate the Squeelers? Absolutely. HOWEVER, I would much rather have "The Chin" as the team's next head coach. Do you realize why the rivalry was so strong when he was the coach over there? Because he bled brown and orange and Benedict Modell stabbed him in the back and brought in Billy. "The Chin" has played for this team and coached for this team. He UNDERSTANDS CLEVELAND football. We need a coach and management team that understands there is a difference between CLEVELAND football and what happens in the rest of the league. Unfortunately, we as Browns fans, have not seen any life of CLEVELAND football in almost 20 years.