Red Right 88

It’s only one game, Browns fans

One game.

For any Browns fans still on the ledge, it’s time to get a grip and come back inside.

While Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati was certainly frustrating, it was still only one game.

More importantly, it was the first game under a new coaching staff, installing a new offense and new defense, with several new players, after a shortened off-season that kept the team from getting in the kind of work it needed.

There was certainly much to not like about Sunday’s game, but some of what went wrong can be corrected – starting with the penalties.

Ten penalties in the first half is unacceptable, but there’s no reason to believe it will continue. And blaming the penalties on the coaching staff is a stretch. Unless someone can find the play in the Browns playbook that calls for All-Pro tackle Joe Thomas to commit a false start, the players need to carry the water for the penalties.

“The three offsides penalties were from guys who had played a year ago, so who knows,” Shurmur said in his Monday press conference. “All I know is we’ve got to correct it and everybody in there today is going through that process.

“You practice it, you try to recreate those same situations. You usually get what you emphasize and that’s been emphasized and we have worked on using multiple cadences. It’s a little bit punitive when they jump off sides in practice, although you folks don’t seeing them running laps, we have ways that we take care of it. There is an emphasis there, a general execution that when it doesn’t happen you go back and you re-emphasize it because they didn’t hear enough the first time you do it again. Then you do it again and that is just part of it.”

And it’s curious that, with all the cameras CBS had at the game, there was never a replay of coach Pat Shurmur’s bizarre sideline penalty or the unnecessary roughness penalty on T.J. Ward at the end of the first quarter.

It’s also time to let go of the botched play on the A.J. Green touchdown reception. Somebody should have obviously called a timeout, but there’s absolutely no reason to think that something like that will happen again. And that play didn’t cost the Browns the game.

Don’t forget, the Browns had that same play in the offensive playbook the past two years – if the defense wasn’t ready the quarterback was supposed to call for the snap. Of course, former coach Eric Mangini just wanted the quarterback to fall forward for two or three yards and waste a down. Give the Bengals credit for actually running a play.

There are real issues we need to worry about, however, starting with the offensive line.

The right side of the line is still not very good and it’s starting to look like the coaching staff and front office made a mistake in thinking they could rely on Tony Pashos at right tackle. Pashos is a good player, but he’s given the team no reason to think that he can stay healthy and on the field. And, for now, Oniel Cousins and Artis Hicks are not exactly setting the league on fire.

“I think they both had some good plays and then there were some things where it makes it tough to say this guy is your starter right now,” Shurmur said. “As we move forward, we’ll still keep an eye on what’s happening with the left guard, but as we move forward you might still see a rotation over there at the right side.”

The wide receivers look like they are going to be a concern as well. The group only had six receptions (three by Mohamed Massaquoi; zero; again, by Brian Robiskie) and, like the right side of the line, didn’t show anyone why the team likes the current group.

“There are a lot of factors involved when you don’t get enough completions,” Shurmur said. “Some of it has to do with progression, some of it has to do with the routes, some of it has to do with protection and maybe having to move slightly. Each play is different and I probably have a little different view of it. We’ve just got to be better.”

The running game also looked like a concern, as Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty combined for just 75 yards on the ground. Twelve different players alone exceeded that number on Sunday. Much like last year, the Browns need to be able to run the ball if they are going to have any success on offense this season.

Houston ran for 167 yards on Sunday against Indianapolis, the Browns next opponent, so this week could give us a good indication of what the Browns can do in the running game.

Of course, this all ties together. The running game suffers because teams don’t fear the wide receivers and because the right side of the line is struggling. Basically, it’s all big, depressing pile of poo.

But in the big picture it is just one game in what is an ongoing production. The Browns need to figure out what went wrong on Sunday, work it out in practice this week and, come Sunday, just do their jobs.

“The important thing is for the guys to understand their mistakes and then talk about specifically how you are going to correct them,” Shurmur said. “Then you go to work beating the next opponent because it’s a long season. A lot has been made of the first game, but places I have been we have lost the first game or two and still been in the playoffs and you had a terrific years I think that’s the important piece is to keep the focus and move on.”

And, come Sunday at 4:15 p.m., if the Browns are walking off the field with a win over the Colts, everyone will forget what happened against the Bengals.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Taking a look at the Browns roster

The Cleveland Browns set their 53-man roster over the weekend and, overall, we’re about as comfortable as we can be about a rebuilding team coming off consecutive 5-11 seasons.

The good news is the team has gotten considerably younger as general manager Tom Heckert has been able to purge the team of a larger number of its older players since arriving in town at the start of the last year.

The main drawback, as it always seems to be with the Browns, is depth, especially at running back, along the defensive line and at linebacker.

The Browns are all-in with Colt McCoy at quarterback this year, and we’re fine with that. The team needs to figure out what they have in McCoy in an attempt to finally stop the revolving door at quarterback.

If McCoy shows he can be a starting quarterback in the league, then the team can move on to bigger issues in the draft and free agency. If he craps the bed this year, the Browns have options in next year’s draft to fix the problem. If he lands somewhere in the middle, they can still figure things out.

Seneca Wallace remains a capable back up – if he has to go in for a half or a game, the team will be OK. If he has to take over as the full-time starter, then we’ll know things have taken a turn for the worse.

It’s hard to miss what you never had, but we’re worried the Browns will miss Brandon Jackson, who was supposed to take some of the pressure off of Peyton Hillis this fall. Hopefully Montario Hardesty can stay healthy and be productive because, if not, it’s easy to see Hillis wearing down again come Thanksgiving.

We like the fact that the Browns are building a beefy backfield with Hillis (240 pounds), Hardesty (225) and Owen Marecic (248); the thought of them pounding it out against Pittsburgh and Baltimore is appealing, but we’d feel a little better if Lawrence Vickers was still leading the way.

Eric Steinbach leaves a huge hole to fill at left guard, but if someone has to get hurt at least it happened early enough that rookie Jason Pinkston got plenty of reps with the first-team offense. We like the pick up of veteran lineman Artis Hicks, who has 68 career starts, 57 of them coming at the guard position. He will provide good back-up if (when?) Pinkston struggles.

The good news on Pinkston? He gets to lineup between Joe Thomas and Alex Mack – you can’t find a better situation for a rookie lineman that between those two.

The receiving group is, to be generous, a continual work in progress. Individually, there’s no real standout, but taken collectively with the tight ends and the Browns might be better than OK this year.

If McCoy does his job correctly in the West Coast offense, he will be spreading the ball around which should make up for the Browns not having a stud wide receiver. Between Josh Cribbs, Brian Robiskie, Mohamed Massaquoi, Greg Little, Ben Watson and Evan Moore, the Browns should be able to put together an average passing attack, which will make it that much easier for them to run the ball.

And if the majority of the passes are dinks and dunks, that’s OK with us. A seven-yard completion on first down is the same as a seven-yard run – both mean second-and-short, which is all good for an offense. We’re definitely looking forward to seeing what Little and Cribbs can do with the ball when McCoy hits them in stride.

Defensively, after we don’t know how many years of watching the Browns try to fit round pegs into square holes in a futile effort to build a 3-4 defense, the 4-3 has finally come back to Cleveland.

It’s going to be fun – and at times frustrating – watching rookies Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard chasing quarterbacks this year, Ahtyba Rubin will be solid as usual, and we’re interested to see if Jayme Mitchell can reward the faith the front office has put into him.

With linebackers Scott Fujita, Chris Gocong and D’Qwell Jackson, the starting front seven isn’t all that bad. The problem, again, is going to be depth. If (when?) someone goes down with an injury the drop off from the starters to the back-ups is big.

We have a feeling that if the league would have had a regular off season, the front seven would look a little bit different than it does today, but there’s nothing the Browns can do about that now. They are still one draft and one true free-agency period away from building a solid front seven.

Joe Haden and T.J. Ward should be even better in their second season, especially in defensive coordinator Dick Jauron’s “play faster” defense. Hopefully Sheldon Brown can hold up at the other corner, safety Usama Young is a Kent State guy so we don’t worry about him, and Mike Adams would like you to know that you can’t stop Mike Adams, you can only hope to contain Mike Adams.

The secondary is another area where they team got younger, with rookies Buster Skrine, James Dockery and Eric Hagg joining the squad.

Much like with Steinbach, you can’t underestimate the loss of punter Reggie Hodges but, again, at least it came earlier enough in training camp that the Browns had an opportunity to get a decent replacement.

Richmond McGee looks like he’ll be OK as the punter, we never have to worry about Phil Dawson or Ryan Pontbriand, and it may not matter who handles the kickoff return duties with the new rules in place.

So is this is Browns team that will compete for the division title this year? No, the lack of depth at key positions and lack of experience at others will be too much to overcome, especially in the AFC North.

But do we expect them to be competitive and make actual progress – unlike the imaginary progress at the end of the 2009 season – this year? Most certainly.

It’s easy to see areas where the roster is better than it was at this same time last year.

And while the Browns are still a ways away from being consistently competitive, with the season-opener less than a week away, we’re OK with the direction they’re heading.