How close are the Browns to winning?
Watching the playoffs this weekend got us dreaming of a Browns playoff game and wondering how far the Browns really are from being a winning team.
After watching the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game we were left with the feeling that the Browns were years away from fielding a competitive team, and with the Steelers and Ravens playing in the same division, things don’t look good.
But is that really the case?
Of the eight teams playing this weekend, the Browns faced five of them a combined seven times this year. And the results made us feel a little better. Consider that the Browns:
- were driving for, at worse, a game-tying interception against Atlanta before Jake Delhomme threw a TAINT with four minutes to go.
- pushed the Jets into overtime before losing with 16 seconds left.
- were one of only two teams to beat New England this year
- were competitive against Baltimore, losing by a touchdown in Week 3 and by 10 in Week 16 when the Browns were hit with numerous injuries
- had their struggles with Pittsburgh, most notably in the season-ending game when, once again, injuries left them at a competitive disadvantage
So maybe the team isn’t as bad as its 5-11 record would look on the surface.
And maybe that explains some of the comments team president Mike Holmgren made at the end of the season when he said, “We want to win here in Cleveland and we did not win enough games this year. … I have high expectations and I’m not going to settle, I’m just not going to settle.”
It’s great that Holmgren isn’t willing to settle for the same old same, but we do have to pause and wonder how closely his desire matches the team’s current reality.
***
Did you hear? John Fox and Jon Gruden are WINNERS! Or so says The Plain Dealer’s Tony Grossi, who apparently is miffed that Holmgren didn’t take his counsel when Holmgren was searching for a new coach.
How else to explain this exchange in his weekly Hey, Tony segment:
Hey, Tony: How come you make excuses for the shortcomings of the coaches you like, for example you used the laughable excuse that “Jon Gruden fell into the veteran trap.” Kinda makes you sound like a shill for some coaches. — Michael B, Dover, Ohio
Hey, Michael: Call it what you will. I think there are two types of coaches — winners and losers. Winners are the coaches with winning records. Losers are coaches with losing records. It is not complicated. I believe there are underlying reasons why certain coaches win and others don’t. I’m talking about career records, not just one or two seasons affected by injuries. Jon Gruden: winner. John Fox: winner. Bill Parcells: winner. I frown at excuses like, “Well, he played a tough schedule.” Or, “He didn’t have the players.” Over the course of a coach’s career, those excuses don’t wash. Gruden was fired after consecutive seasons of 9-7. Winner.
Yep, that’s the same Jon Gruden who had a 45-51 record over his final six seasons in Tampa. And the same John Fox who put together a 73-71 record in nine seasons in Carolina.
Fox’s record includes a 10-22 mark over the past two season. Why does that record sound familiar?
True winners, for sure.
***
The Browns plan to interview Dave Wannstedt and Dick Jauron this week for the team’s vacant defensive coordinator position, according to The Plain Dealer.
Wannstedt was defensive coordinator in Dallas under Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys went from 20th in his first year to 1st in his fourth year in yards allowed. In his five years as head coach in Miami, the Dolphins ranked in the top 10 each year in yards allowed.
Not a bad alternative if they can’t land Jauron.
Red Right 88 
This post completely fails to account for the idea that coaching might have been keeping this team in games despite a glaring lack of talent.
“So maybe the team is” actually a lot worse “than it's 5-11 record would look on the surface.”
Nothing written here suggests it's one way or the other.
That's because there is no hard-and-fast, black-and-white answer. I think the team was what it's record was, based on the fact that almost everyone pegged the Browns at 5-6 wins before the season started.
I'm more trying to figure out what Holmgren saw to make him believe the team's record should have been better than it was. And wondering if his view is realistic or based on over optimism. If he's being over optimistic, things could get a lot worse before they get better.
As for coaching, the “Mangini was wrongly fired” angle is well past its expiration date. The Don put him on the rowboat out on Lake Tahoe; he's not coming back.
It's time to start figuring out where this team is headed, not worrying about where it's been.