You go over the pond for nine days and take some time off and come back and some things have changed. Tiger Woods actually loses a tournament. The Indians have jettisoned another pitcher. The Cavs added two more players. The weather has turned very warm.
But among the changes is one consistency: The Browns are the Browns.
Was that one bad preseason performance the other night or what? These guys have been doing all his work, all these practices, all this offseason activity, and that was their first chance to show what they’d learned and how they’d play under a new coach. And THAT was the result.
In one sense, it’s comforting. Consistency like the Browns have displayed is rare and to be treasured. That it’s consistently bad is merely an unfortunate byproduct.
There were interceptions, an inability to run the ball and stop the run (where have we heard that before) and silly mistakes. There was a quarterback trying to win a job given the chance to throw two (count ‘em … two) passes. And there was the oh-so-familiar dropped pass in the end zone by the one-time Pro Bowl receiver.
I’ve never been one to believe that preseason games matter a lot. Except to a team like the Browns, which has new systems and needs a new attitude. The Browns didn’t get anything out of the other night, except a lengthy list of things that still need to be solved – starting with deciding on a stinking quarterback and going with him. I ran into Brady Quinn at a local Panera on Sunday; he held the door for me and a friend (clearly he didn’t recognize me as a reporter). Based on that act of kindness, Quinn is ahead. But that’s about the only way to judge that he’s ahead.
Preseason games are about approach and intensity and effort and professionalism. All were lacking the other night. The TV camera kept going back to Eric Mangini on the sideline, and he looked as baffled and perplexed as Romeo Crennel looked. When a team lacks talent, a coach wonders what he’s going to do.
The Browns have three more practice games to get it right. But if the lack of talent and professionalism that showed the other night is indicative of the team, then 2009 is going to be one more long one.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder when Panera will recruit quinn as a spokesperson…i swear, i've never seen a qb who's started as many games as quinn endorse so many products.
That's right, based on the results of one preason game the team is doomed to mediocrity all season long. Pshaw.
bob, how about based on a decade of crap?
get real. this team is a disaster. who is going to run the ball? jamal "i need a dozen steps to move an inch" lewis? the line is crap. the receivers are crap. the defense is crap. the new coach is crap too but most browns fans seem to think a guy with a sub-.500 coaching record who deservedly got s—canned from his last gig is a good fit. i guess looking at it that way he is.
that game wasn't an anomaly. that is cleveland browns football.
Did you and Brady share a loaf of the Irish soda bread?
Jamal running is starting to remind me of Fred Flinstone bowling.
The Browns make the the Indians results look like the the last 15 years of Red Wings hockey.
The football equivalent of the Hooterville Fire Department band.
Patrick:
The realities of your third paragraph are an indictment of team leadership. Not easily repaired.
Last year's losers gave this year's losers an easier schedule, so we are guaranteed some wins. Hopefully they'll come at home so the hard core fans can enjoy them.
cnpeters, jamal should retire to his rightful role at this point–high school football coach or ice cream scooper at baskin robbins
Once he takes off the Orange helmet he's back to being the middleman in a cocaine ring again anyway – at least to me he is.
I can overlook a lot when they're wearing the uniform. CC went from being an ace to a fat guy with a stupid hat. Victor went from a sweet hitting catcher to a crybaby who hangs out with steroid freaks.