Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

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25 Sep 2010

Browns vs. Ravens – Week 3

The Browns travel to Baltimore to hang out with Avon, Stringer, Wee-Bey and the gang, and to take on the Ravens in an attempt to avoid their fourth 0-3 start in the past five years.

The Opposition

Baltimore record: 1-1
Offensive rank: 25th overall/21st passing/26th rushing
Defensive rank: 2nd overall/2nd passing/13th rushing
All-time record: Browns trail 7-15-0, with a 3-8-0 mark in Baltimore
Last meeting in Baltimore: Browns lost, 34-3
The line: Browns (+10.5)

What to Watch For

After failing to score in the second half in their first two games, it will be interesting to see what the Browns can do offensively against Baltimore. The Ravens are only giving up 12 points a game, have been difficult to run against and have yet to give up a touchdown.

“You get into a third and long situation against this team and it’s really, really hard to pick up,” offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said in his Friday press conference. “You have got to stay on track and get some positive plays. You have got to understand that you’re going in there and you’re going to get some negative plays, but you’ve got to try to stay on track with this team and keep pounding it, keep hitting the completions and keep moving. When you get a chance to hit your shot, you hit it. They’re tough.”

One thing that could play into the Browns’ hands is that it looks like they will be without Jake Delhomme again this week as well as Brian Robiskie, which weakens an already soft receiving group. If the team can’t pass it will be forced to run, which the Browns should be doing anyway.

In addition, it looks like the offense will remember Josh Cribbs, as they plan to give him more opportunities out of the Flash package. Opposing teams can work to limit Cribbs in the kicking game, but they can’t do anything about the Browns giving him the ball on offense, except try and stop him. “I think more touches for Josh would be a good thing,” Daboll said in the understatement of the season so far.

Having a mobile Seneca Wallace at quarterback can’t hurt, either, as the Ravens will surely bring pressure defensively, especially against the John St. Clair and Floyd Womack on the Browns right side of the offensive line.

Defensively, the Browns have to hope Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco continues his poor play. The Ravens have only scored 10 points in each of their first two games, and Flacco threw four interceptions last week against Cincinnati. The Browns secondary will be tested this week; hopefully the front seven can get some pressure on Flacco and help out T.J. Ward, Joe Haden and Sheldon Brown.

The Best Browns vs. Baltimore Game I’ve Ever Seen

Easily the 2007 game in Baltimore where Phil Dawson tied the game at the end of regulation and then won it in overtime. Seems more like 30 years ago rather than just three.

Here’s the Plain Dealer’s game story. Video from the game is available here.

The Prediction

It’s hard to see a way for the Browns to win this game based on how they’ve played the first two weeks. Certainly they won’t have a chance if they don’t score in the second half.

If they can force multiple turnovers, control the clock, get a defensive score and a special teams score, then they may have a chance. If not, we could be giving the NFL Sunday Ticket a good workout.

Posted in Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, NFL, Sunday Ticket | Leave a comment
23 Sep 2010

Building the Perfect Browns Coach

With the Browns 0-2 (again) and people busy monitoring the temperature of the office chairs in Berea (again, some more), reader jimkanicki asked where we at Red Right 88 stand on coach Eric Mangini.

I kind of talked around the answer, eventually pointing him to this post. It’s a tough question to answer, because I don’t think this is an either/or situation. In some ways it is still hard to evaluate Mangini, even 18 games into his tenure as coach as coach of the Browns and carrying the weight of a 28-38 career record.

I think either explicitly, by locking GM George Kokinis in an equipment shed last season so he couldn’t make any decisions; or implicitly, by Randy Lerner not telling him no, Mangini ran the show last season. And that just doesn’t work.

When he was a coach, Bill Parcells would talk about how if he was “cooking the dinner” then he should be the one “buying the groceries.” But when he took over as the top guy in Miami, he didn’t let the coach pick the players. It’s just too much for one person to handle.

Just like coaches have to put players in a position to succeed, the GM has to put the coach in a position to succeed, the president has to do the same for the GM and the owner for the president. That’s only fair.

Now that the Browns have the proper structure in place, Mangini has the framework around him to maximize his potential to succeed. If he fails, it won’t be because he was distracted from doing his primary job. If the structure had been in place when he was hired last season, we would be able to evaluate him better at this stage.

All this got me to thinking, who would be the perfect coach for the Browns? Who would finally satisfy the fans?

So, armed with the knowledge of 30+ years of watching Browns football, plus countless hours reading books, news sites and other blogs on the Browns, as well as fan comments, we entered the Red Right 88 laboratory to build the perfect Browns coach.

First, you need someone who will win. The coach doesn’t have to go 16-0 every year, 14-2 will be fine; just don’t ever lose a division game. And they have to win the Super Bowl, not every year, just three out of ever four.

When the Browns were looking for a coach after firing Romeo Crennel, the call went up for Bill Cowher. After all, he won a Super Bowl with the help of an incompetent officiating crew. But what about those four AFC title game losses at home? That would never work here in Cleveland.

The coach also has to oversee an offensive attack that would make the famed Air Coryell offense in San Diego look like a Pop Warner team running the single wing, while getting the starting quarterback and his backup an equal amount of playing time.

The defense must be a combination of the Steel Curtain, the ’86 Bears, the Fearsome Foursome and Dallas’ Doomsday. And don’t give up more than 10 points a game; and never give up any points against a division opponent.

He should also make sure the every draft pick and free agent performs at an All Pro level.

Finally, he must handle the media flawlessly, providing quotes worthy of Shakespeare.

We think that sums up the expectations placed on the coach of the Browns. And despite working tirelessly to build someone to fill the role, we were unable to pull it off.

So, for now, we’ll ride with Mangini as coach and keep our pitchforks and torches in storage.

But we’ll keep our matches close at hand.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Eric Mangini, hot seats, unreasonable expectations | Leave a comment
23 Sep 2010
2 Comments

Still Struggling for Reception

By establishing Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie as the starting receivers, the Browns are relying on two second-year wide receivers.

The problem with that is there is growing evidence that a majority of wide receivers don’t adjust to the speed of the game and fully understand how to read defenses and run routes until their third season.

In his book, Take Your Eye off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look, Pat Kirwan, a senior analyst on NFL.com and former coach and front office member, highlights what a receiver must do during a play:

“It’s on the post-snap read that a receiver gets the true indicator of what the defensive back is going to do. If the cornerback lines up 7 or 8 yards off the line of scrimmage and is aligned with the receiver’s outside shoulder, it might look like off and soft to the receiver. But the receiver can’t be sure until after the snap, when he’ll see the cornerback backpedal and reveal his deep coverage principles. The receiver then immediately must decide whether he’s going to run a post, a deep curl or something in front of the deep coverage. That decision will also depend on another factor – the drop his quarterback will be taking, something the receiver must always be aware of.”

Another area young receivers struggle with is getting release off the line of scrimmage. Kirwan explains:

“Some great college receivers can’t even get off the line of scrimmage in the NFL. They never faced big, strong cornerbacks, guys who are 6’0″, 200 pounds and can bench 400 pounds. Some great college receivers never even have a chance to think about reading coverages because they’re too busy trying to get out of their stance.”

Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar gave still another example of the learning curve required of NFL wide receivers in an article in The Plain Dealer:

“Those passes down the sidelines that guys can’t catch and stay in bounds,” said Kosar. “If you watch them, you see that the receivers are 1-2 yards away from the sidelines as they run down field. That’s too close. They should be 5-6 yards. You want to give the quarterback about 15 feet to throw the ball between the receiver and the sidelines.”

On their training camp tour for Sirius NFL Radio, Kirwan and his on-air partner Tim Ryan talked about how the Browns receivers did not have the extra gear needed to get separation on a defensive back and give the quarterback an opportunity to drop the ball in. Without that speed, Massaquoi and Robiskie have to find other ways to get open, and that will only come with time.

The more you read about what it takes to be a successful NFL wide receiver, the more you realize what a big project this is for the team. And these examples are just the start; it’s not even taking into account how responsibilities change if you are the X, Y or Z receiver on a given play.

Of course, the Browns find themselves in this conundrum of their own doing. Because they did not have the proper people in place for the 2009 NFL Draft, they drafted two wide receivers in the same year, hoping they would be able to contribute sooner rather than later. By throwing in with Massaquoi and Robiskie, for better or worse the team has to live with the mistakes, limitations and growing pains.

There were calls during the preseason for the Browns to get a veteran player to be the No. 1 receiver. But there are a couple of problems with that. First, there are really only a handful of true No. 1 receivers in the league: Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. That’s pretty much it; everyone else is a notch (or further) behind that group.

So that leaves the team looking at two options, neither of which is very appealing:

  • Sign an older receiver on the downward part of his career – T.J. Houshmandzadeh or Terrell Owens for example. But having someone like that who is not a long-term solution would just slow the development of the young receivers even more.
  • Sign a problem player like Vincent Jackson. But if the Browns didn’t want to deal with Braylon Edwards or Kellen Winslow, why would they want to take a chance on someone who is only one more incident away from a year-long suspension?

Like most things, all this takes time and patience. The first Browns fans have; the second is continually being tested, but we haven’t hit the bottom of the well just yet.

Posted in Brian Robiskie, Cleveland Browns, Mohamed Massaquoi, NFL
21 Sep 2010

A Step in the Right Direction

Browns coach Eric Mangini may be on to something here as the team prepares for its first division game of the season, this Sunday in Baltimore.

In his Monday press conference, Mangini said the Browns should have used Josh Cribbs in the Wildcat more against KC:

“I feel like I would have used it more yesterday looking back. That’s something I would have done more of in retrospect. I think that whether they’re catching up or not catching up giving Josh (Cribbs) a few more chances to carry the ball sometimes they have caught up and he changes things.”

On getting Cribbs more opportunities:

“Yes, just to get Josh more touches. I think with him, they may load the box, they may do a lot of different things. He’s got a chance on any play.”

And why haven’t they used the Wildcat very much so far:

“You’re going through the course of the game and there’s a lot of things that, when you have a chance to sit in your offense and analyze, you think of. There are some decisions that you’d like to have back, but you don’t get to it at that point. I think every coach in the league goes through that process on Monday morning, win or lose. ‘I wish we had done this, I wish we had done more of that.’ When you have the benefit of time and reflection and you’ve seen how the game has unfolded, you always go through that process. Good and bad.”

This is good stuff. The first step to becoming more effective at work is awareness. If you don’t know a problem exists, you can’t fix it. Without feedback, most people believe they are doing just fine. It seems as if the feedback is starting to get through.

***

In a city with more than 10,000 taxi cabs running 24 hours a day, you would think it wouldn’t be that hard to avoid being arrested for drunk driving. The Alumni Office at the University of Michigan must be so proud.

***

A very solid article at the Orange & Brown Report on the early results of the Mike Holmgren era.

Posted in Braylon Edwards, Cleveland Browns, Eric Mangini, Josh Cribbs, Wildcat | Leave a comment
20 Sep 2010
2 Comments

Where do the Browns go from here?*

Some random thoughts on a Browns team that is 0-2 despite being on pace to only give up 264 points, the fewest since the team returned in 1999.

What We Know

This team can’t turn the ball over or commit an over abundance of penalties. Jake Delhomme threw what was essentially a TAINT against Tampa and Seneca Wallace threw a genuine one against Kansas City. Peyton Hillis fumbled deep in Tampa territory, Jerome Harrison fumbled to give KC a short field. Holding penalties, false starts, personal fouls. Add those all up and it’s not good news.

It’s not realistic to expect a team to play a perfect game. That’s just not going to happen. But the Browns have to work even harder than most teams to eliminate mistakes because they can least afford them.

Josh Cribbs is the team’s best wide receiver. Cribbs is the only receiver in the group that the defense has to worry about. Cribbs is a converted quarterback. So what does that say about the other three main receivers?

The defensive secondary is vastly improved over last year with the additions of Sheldon Brown, Joe Haden and T.J. Ward.

The team was smart not to give Jerome Harrison a new contract based on four games from last season. So far, it’s easy to see why the team drafted Montario Hardesty.

What We Fear

That Josh Cribbs may be the team’s best runner. We don’t really know this, though, because the Browns haven’t called his number much this year – only three rushing attempts after averaging 6.9 yards per rush last season. But if it’s true, that doesn’t say much for Harrison and Peyton Hillis.

That the four-game winning streak to end last season was a mirage, built not by a team that was finally showing improvement, but on a schedule that featured teams that had quit on the season (Oakland & Jacksonville), fluke games (Harrison vs. KC) and the most over-rated win in franchise history (Pittsburgh).

That Mohamed Massaquoi, Brian Robiskie and Chansi Stuckey may be the worse wide receiving group in the NFL.

That Jake Delhomme’s ankle injury is worse than we believe.

That the schedule is about to get decidedly more difficult over the next seven weeks.

That Brian Daboll is in over his head as an offensive coordinator.

That this team hasn’t improved as much as we’d hope.

What Does it all Mean?

The season is only two weeks old. We all knew this was a team that is still being rebuilt. We all wanted to believe the team was improving at least in some areas and it has – unquestionably in the secondary and, despite the first two games, at quarterback.

This is not, in any way, a “here we go again” scenario. But it’s also not the end of last season; the four-game winning streak is over and it’s clear that there was no carry-over. While not expecting the Browns to morph into a powerhouse overnight, we were hopeful that the team could be competitive, which in some fashion they have been the first two weeks.

There is still much that needs to be improved on, but that doesn’t mean we can’t raise our expectations of the team, if only slightly. That also doesn’t absolve anyone from taking their share of the blame. We can’t just say, “the talent is not there” and let the coaches off the hook. You win as a team, you lose as a team.

And while it is certainly not going to get any easier in the coming weeks, there’s no reason to give up on the season just yet.

*The Browns go to Baltimore for a game on Sunday against the Ravens.

***

The weekend wasn’t a total loss as we bounced back with a big week in the 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational over at Cleveland Frowns, going 3-0-1:

Penn State (-21) vs. Kent State. Win!

Green Bay (-13.5) vs. Buffalo. Win!

Houston (-3) vs. Washington. Push thanks to a big comeback from the Texans.

Atlanta (-6.5) vs. Arizona. Win! Finally, Derek Anderson does something for a Cleveland fan.

Season so far: 3-2-3.

***

Here’s what everyone else is saying:

More about second-half planning and execution: Waiting for Next Year

Browns perfecting second-half disappearing act: Waiting for Next Year

Adjust your expectations: Cleveland Frowns (careful, Frowns is grouchy this week).

Here’s some Cribbs notes for Eric Mangini: Bill Livingston

Error-prone ways a torment to Eric Mangini: Terry Pluto (he’s not the only one being tormented)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, doubts, expectations, fears
20 Sep 2010

Who asked for a sequel?

Two weeks into the season. Two games that looked like mirror images. Two losses for the Browns already.

This is quickly shaping up to be a long season.

For the second week in a row, the Browns played a decent, if not perfect, first half to take a lead into halftime. And for the second week in a row, they came out in the second half and did absolutely nothing offensively, wasting another solid effort by the defense.

Consider:

  • The Browns scored 14 points in the first half, zero in the second.
  • They only gained 55 yards in total offense in the second half after putting up 254 yards in the first. And three first downs.
  • Their four second half “drives” covered 5 plays, 6 plays, 4 plays and 3 plays; all ended in a punt.

Just what is offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and the rest of the offensive staff doing at halftime?

The Browns defense held its own:

  • Giving up only three field goals, one on a short field after the refs blew a call and ruled Jerome Harrison had fumbled the ball.
  • Intercepting KC quarterback Matt Cassel twice and holding him to a 46.1 QB rating for the game.
  • Limiting KC rushers to just 3.6 yards per carry.
  • Holding the Chiefs to just six points in the second half, after giving up just seven points in the second half last week against Tampa. Think about that for a minute: you hold the opposing team to two field goals in the second half and you still find a way to lose?

Apparently the coaches on the defensive side of the ball have the whole halftime adjustment thing down.

Seneca Wallace wasn’t bad filling in for the injured Jake Delhomme, although he did deliver the weekly TAINT on a poor throw in the second quarter. And while it wasn’t the greatest throw, intended receiver Chansi Stuckey wasn’t exactly a firebrand running his route.

We knew going into the season that the wide receivers were going to be a weakness, but after two weeks it seems the group is even worse than expected. On Sunday:

  • Brian Robiskie had his weekly catch, for 12 yards, bringing his two game total to 2 receptions for 18 yards.
  • Stuckey had one catch for 11 yards; he’s at 5 catches for 41 yards on the season.
  • Mohammed Massaquoi had one catch for nine yards; he’s at 3 receptions for 55 yards on the year.

In no way is this a knock on Josh Cribbs, but if a converted quarterback is your top receiver (5 catches on the year for 85 yards, including a sweet TD off a Wallace pass on Sunday), your receiving group is in big trouble.

The Browns failed to mount any kind of ground game, averaging only 2.8 yards per rush. Running the ball is supposed to be the offensive’s strength; if they lose the running game it’s going to only get worse.

It would be one thing if these two games were against teams far superior to the Browns, but they weren’t. Tampa and KC really aren’t that much better (it at all better) than the Browns. That’s what makes these past two weeks so frustrating.

“I feel like we had a lot of this conversation last week,” coach Eric Mangini said in his post-game press conference.

You’re not the only one coach.

Posted in bad sequels, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, long season | Leave a comment
18 Sep 2010

Browns vs. Chiefs – Week 2

The Browns come home Sunday for Week 2 against Kansas City. After last week’s self-inflicted mess in Tampa, there’s no where to go but up for the Orange & Brown.

The Opposition

Kansas City record: 1-0
Offensive rank: 29th overall/31st passing/6th rushing
Defensive rank: 29th overall/29th passing/18th rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 10-9-2, with a 7-2-1 mark in Cleveland
Last meeting: Browns won 41-34 in 2009
The line: Browns (-3)

What to Watch For

This is going to start sounding like a broken record after a few weeks, but for the Browns to win they have to run the ball effectively and stay away from turnovers/mistakes. Last week’s game against Tampa showed that this team has virtually no margin for error this season, and if they turn the ball over or make too many mistakes they just won’t have a chance.

They where able to take care of the first part against Tampa. The Browns averaged 4.5 yards per rush, with Jerome Harrison (5.8 yards per rush) and Peyton Hillis (4.6) leading the way. That’s the plan the Browns have to follow.

The Browns also need to have a better run/pass balance. Last week they threw 38 passes to just 23 runs; although it was 28 passes/23 runs before they threw the ball on their last 10 offensive plays of the game. But, even so, any game where the Browns throw more than they run is probably going to end up as a loss.

So while game conditions can dictate what the Browns have to do offensively, they need to do a better job of not putting themselves in a position where they have to throw the ball too much. That’s just not a strength of this team and they need to get the running game going and keep it going against the Chiefs.

The other big story will be if Seneca Wallace takes over at quarterback for the injured Jake Delhomme. Former Indians manager Mike Hargrove was fond of saying that starters were starters for a reason; which means your backups are not the best players.

But Wallace should be fine, at least for one week against the Chiefs. One of the biggest hurdles a backup QB has to clear is the lack of playing time as the starting QB takes all or most of the practice reps during the week.

If this were Week 10 and Wallace had been holding a clipboard for two months, it would be a different story. But we’re close enough to training camp that Wallace hasn’t had time to get rusty, plus he’s an active member of the offense in the Flash/Cyclone package – or so we’re told, we didn’t see much of that against Tampa – so he should be OK, especially playing at home.

As for the Chiefs, the bandwagon got pretty crowded after their opening week win over San Diego. But if you look closer, quarterback Matt Cassell was 10-for-22 for 68 yards and the team really only made two big plays on offense: Jamaal Charles’ 56-yard TD run and Dexter McCluster’s 94-yard punt return. It’s not as if they laid the hammer down on the Chargers. And you can’t count on special teams scores on a weekly basis.

The Best Browns vs. Kansas City Game I’ve Ever Seen

For two teams that don’t play each other very often, the Browns and the Chiefs have had some nutty games through the years, especially in Cleveland. You had the 1995 game where the Browns returned two interceptions for touchdowns; the Dwayne Rudd helmet toss game in 2002; and the 2006 game where Derek Anderson came off the bench and led the Browns to an overtime win and, in the process, turning the next three years of Browns football into an ulcer-inducing mess.

But the best one was the 1989 game that ended in a 10-10 tie in Marty Schottenheimer’s return to Cleveland as KC’s coach. It was one of the most physical Browns games I can remember.

Here’s The Plain Dealer’s game story, as well as video in Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The Prediction

The Browns know they let a game get away from them last week. They were better than Tampa and, if they hadn’t turned the ball over, would have won. The defense was sound, only giving up one big play.

The team will receive a boost as they will be making their home debut in front of a fan base who truly wants something to cheer for. T.J. Ward and Joe Haden had their first taste of regular season action last week and held their own. This week the maturation continues.

If Jake Delhomme is out, the Browns should concentrate on the run and bringing out more of the Flash/Cyclone package to help Seneca Wallace out.

The Browns take the win and build some momentum heading into a tough stretch of schedule.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, Seneca Wallace | Leave a comment
17 Sep 2010

Week 2 Picks

After a disappointing opening week of 0-2-2 in the 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational over at Cleveland Frowns, it’s time to start the comeback.

This week, we like:

Penn State (-21) vs. Kent State

Green Bay (-13.5) vs. Buffalo

Houston (-3) vs. Washington

And the money pick: Atlanta (-6.5) vs. Arizona.

Here’s why:

  • As a starting quarterback in the National Football League, Derek Anderson has never won consecutive road games (I know that’s not the same as not covering, but work with me here).
  • Last week against St. Louis, he threw 15 passes to Larry Fitzgerald – 12 of which were off the mark.
  • In Bill Simmons’ weekly picks column on ESPN, a reader asked “Have Ken Whisenhunt and most of the sports media ignored the past two seasons of schizophrenic Derek Anderson games? There is only one way your season ends with Derek Anderson: with your face in your hands, weeping.”
  • Browns fans in Cleveland haven’t forgotten.
  • The Cardinals are on the road this week against Atlanta.
  • Derek Anderson is the quarterback.
  • Until he proves otherwise, he is still Derek Anderson.

Confidence is high this week.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Derek Anderson, NFL, point spreads | Leave a comment
17 Sep 2010

The Browns must do … something … apparently … I don’t know

ESPN’s John Clayton confirmed a point in his mailbag that we (and others) have been making all week:

“The key to the start of any season is not to overreact … there’s no need to panic. It’s a long season.”

Bill Simmons also agrees.

But not everyone got the message at ESPN, as AFC North beat writer James Walker has determined that the Browns are already in a “must-win” situation Sunday against Kansas City.

They must win or … what? Well, let’s find out:

“If the Cleveland Browns can lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they can lose to just about anybody. And considering their next eight opponents include only one team that didn’t have a winning record in 2009, the Browns desperately need a win Sunday …”

Really? So a team that was widely picked to only win about 3-4 games this season is in a “must-win” situation after just one week?

“The Browns, who won four straight to end the 2009 season, lost all momentum after last week’s loss to the Buccaneers.”

Did you get that? ALL MOMENTUM IS LOST. So, the Browns, no momentum. But the Bengals, Falcons & Jets, who also lost Week 1, and the Ravens & Steelers, who barely won Week 1? All momentum, baby.

“It’s no secret that Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini entered the year on the hot seat.”

Well, it might be a secret to Randy Lerner and Mike Holmgren. And they are the only ones who count here.

“The Browns weren’t expected to be a playoff team this season.”

So what’s the problem then? If they weren’t expected to be very good and they lost a game, then why hit the panic button?

The only thing the Browns “must do” on Sunday is show up and play. Nothing else. The season won’t be won or lost on Sunday, no one will lose their job, no one will be monkeying with the thermostat on Mangini’s office chair.

Oh boy, it’s going to be a long year.

***

For a more reasonable reading of the temperature of Mangini’s chair, check out this piece from Waiting for Next Year.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, hot seats, NFL, over reaction, utter nonsense | Leave a comment
15 Sep 2010
2 Comments

Hold on, I’m Adjusting

What do NFL teams do in the locker room at halftime?

In his new book, Take Your Eye off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look, Pat Kirwan, a senior analyst on NFL.com and former coach and front office member, offers a glimpse into what goes on while we’re grabbing a beer and restocking the chip bowl:

“… the booth coach typically gets down to the locker room ahead of everyone else. He sets up a quick statistical breakdown on the white board of everything that’s gone on so far.

“The goal is to give coaches enough material to use both in determining what adjustments are necessary and lecturing the players about what’s working and what isn’t. Some coordinators keep it simple – for example, they’ll decide that every play that gained 4 yards in the first half will be run again in the second half.

“Of course, most coaches aren’t going to have emptied the bucket in the first half. There should always be a few plays at various down and distances that a team didn’t show. Those will get unveiled in the second half.

“Then the coordinators write up new play-call sheets, filling new plays into each box. The key is to not rewrite the entire game plan. A coaching staff may be able to identify three new things to roll out; any more than that and they run the risk of confusing too many players.

“The team that had the best game plan going into the game – and the team that makes the best adjustments in the locker room – is usually the one that comes out on top.”

So now that we know what teams are supposed to do, the question becomes: just what are the Browns doing at halftime? Time and again, the Browns struggle in the second half; what worked in the first half rarely seems to work in the second, and the team, especially on offense, more often than not loses its way.

Last season, the Browns were outscored in the second half in nine of their 11 losses – the only exception being the two games against the Bengals. That’s probably not uncommon for a game where you lose, but consider that in their five wins, the Browns only outscored the opposition twice (KC and Oakland).

It happened again Sunday against Tampa – after a strong (for them) first half, the Browns wilted in the second. The question is why?

Maybe this is just another indicator of a team that isn’t very good. Maybe it’s an indictment of coordinators Brian Daboll and Rob Ryan. If the team plays well in the first half that would indicate the scouts did a good job creating a report on the opposition and the coaches prepared the team well during the week.

But it’s up to the coaches to adjust and put the team in a position to win in the second half of the game. And something is clearly wrong, especially on offense where it seems like Daboll is turning into Maurice Carthon. It could be that in all the talk last year about how coach Eric Mangini must go, we’ve missed the real culprit in all of this.

We know what we’ll be doing Sunday during halftime; the question is: what will the Browns be doing?

***

C’mon, Tony, didn’t we just cover this?

If Jake Delhomme is hurt it’s OK for Seneca Wallace to play on Sunday. That’s why you carry more than one quarterback on the team. This isn’t Derek Anderson vs. Brady Quinn all over. This is just the way an NFL team operates.

I wouldn’t expect the hoople heads to be able to tell the difference, but the main beat writer for the city’s biggest paper covering the most over-analyzed team in town should be able to see the difference.

Tell me how having Wallace under center will change the game plan; how will the Chiefs have to adjust; what kind of shenanigans can the Browns throw at Romeo Crennel with Wallace playing instead of Delhomme?

Just don’t give me more of the same.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, hoople heads, Jake Delhomme, Pat Kirwan, second-half adjustments

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