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In Cleveland, hope dies last

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22 Nov 2011

Browns just can’t win with some fans

“Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” – Vince Lombardi

After watching the Browns for more years than we care to admit, we know all about the habit of losing that surrounds the franchise.

And in some ways this year is no different as, even after Sunday’s win against Jacksonville, the Browns still sit at just 4-6 on the season.

But there is a subset of fans who have decided that, even when the Browns win, that the team are losers, Pat Shurmur isn’t qualified to coach a junior high JV team and every decision Mike Holmgren makes is wrong.

What we don’t understand is why? What did people realistically expect out of this team this year? A division title? A playoff game?

The Browns entered the season off of consecutive 5-11 seasons (and the year before that they were just 4-12) with holes to fill and questions to answer all over the team.

So far, the team is what they should be – they lose to teams that are better than them, and beat, or at least are competitive, against teams of equal talent.

Should that really be a surprise?

The angst has reached such a low that some are longing for the days of Eric Mangini and his 10-22 record (33-47 career mark). The common refrain is that under Mangini the Browns were “competitive.”

But was that really the case?

In their six losses this year, the Browns have lost by an average of 10.6 points. Last year in the 11 losses, the margin was 9.2. In 2009 it was a ridiculous 15.2. Is that really a regression for the current team?

People moan about the offense, as if the Browns were the reincarnation of Air Coryell under former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. But after finishing 32nd (2009) and 29th (2010) the past two years, the Browns currently sit at 29th overall. The passing game is 23rd (after being 32nd and 29th). Only the running game – hit hard by injuries – has dropped, from 20th last year to 29th this year.

But that hasn’t really impacted scoring. Even with all their troubles getting into the end zone this year, the Browns are right in line, averaging 14.5 points per game this year, compared to 15.3 in ’09 and 16.9 in ’10. Add in a couple of Phil Dawson field goals and the Browns would be right where they have been the past few seasons.

There’s no question the defense is better, ranking 5th overall and 1st against the pass. For someone who was sold as a defensive genius, the Browns finished 31st and 22nd overall in defense under Mangini, and never higher than 18th against the pass. The one constant has been the Browns inability to stop the run, no matter who the coach is.

It’s expected the defense should be improved, however, as the Browns have focused on defense in the last two drafts. But by saying that, isn’t that a sign of progress?

The bottom line in all this is the Browns are still not a good team. After four years of Phil Savage and his “talent evaluation” plus the infamous 2009 draft by Mangini – where the Browns had four of the first 52 picks and somehow only walked out with one NFL-caliber player and a No. 3/4 wide receiver – left this team in a serious hole.

But more importantly, this isn’t a finished team.

This team is still playing catch-up after not having a normal off-season of OTAs, mini-camps and training camp that would have provided a young quarterback and wide receivers about 1,000 snaps of practice.

Through 10 games of the season so far, the Browns have had 653 snaps on offense, so you don’t think those 1,000 snaps would have helped? The simple fact is there’s no replacing that missed time that the team desperately needed.

General manager Tom Heckert has done a nice job in his first two drafts, and with two first round picks next year and multiple picks in later rounds, the team should keep adding young talent.

Judging from the past two weeks, Shurmur may have figured out what Colt McCoy does best and started fitting the game plan around those skills (we would have liked to seen that sooner, but as Mick Jagger once said, you can’t always get what you want).

The franchise is finally going about things the correct way, something fans have been waiting for for we don’t know how long, but people still want to piss and moan and take a micro-view of the team. There’s no guarantee that things are going to work out, but the important part is the Browns are doing it the correct way.

We don’t get to see wins around here very often, let’s just try and enjoy them when we do.

(Photo by Cleveland Browns.com)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, football, NFL | Leave a comment
21 Nov 2011

Browns win? Browns win!

The Cleveland Browns finally sent the faithful home with something to cheer about, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, 14-10.

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty, but the Browns found a way to get the job done.

“Everybody played their hearts out and it’s about time it went our way,” linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said in published reports. “We knew it was up to us. Right there. We had to make the play and we did.”

In typical Browns fashion, the team should have gone up 17-10 when Phil Dawson kicked a 38-yard field goal that was probably good but the refs ruled was a miss with 2:49 left in the game. Jacksonville then marched down the field all the way to the Browns 3-yard-line, where Jacksonville quarterback Blaine Gabbert’s third-down pass was incomplete as time expired, sealing the win.

“A lot of games come down to the last drive in the NFL,” said Browns coach Pat Shurmur. “That’s just the way it is. You stop them, you win. You kick your field goal or score your touchdown, you win. I think we were on the good end of it. I think as we move forward, and that’s what we’re doing, we’re moving forward into the second half of our year. As we move forward, we can try to build on this victory. I think that’s where we’re at.”

So how did the Browns hold up to pregame questions?

Can the Browns score a touchdown in the first quarter? Nope, still 0-10 on the year.

Can the Browns score a touchdown in the third quarter? Nope, still 0-10 on the year.

Can the Browns score a touchdown at home? Now we’re getting somewhere. Chris Ogbonnaya scored from the 1 in the second quarter and Josh Cribbs caught a 3-yard pass from Colt McCoy in the fourth.

“The play to Cribbs, he is my second read,” McCoy said. “The nickel-back played outside of Greg (Little) when he ran his route and so Josh has to win one-on-one in the end zone, and he did a nice job, and made a nice catch.”

Can the Browns stop the run? Cleveland held Jacksonville to just 3.7 yards per rush and limited Maurice Jones-Drew to 87 yards. They also stopped Jones-Drew twice inside the 5-yard-line on the final drive of the game.

Can the Browns move the ball against the Jaguars? The Browns had 334 yards and 20 first downs against the No. 4 defense in the NFL. In addition, Ogbonnaya had a career-best 115 yards (with a long run of 40) and a 5.5 yard per carry average against a solid run defense.

“It felt good. It was a good atmosphere,” Ogbonnaya said. “The fans are really nice in Cleveland. They really get into the game, regardless of what is going on. That definitely helps somebody like me as a running back. Once I get into a rhythm and get comfortable, you hear the energy of the crowd and that gives you a little more incentive to play well.”

Does the Browns offense and McCoy have the proper amount of “lust for the end zone?” Against the 5th-best pass defense in the league, McCoy spread the ball around to seven different receivers, with Greg Little catching a team-high 5 passes and Jordon Norwood pulling in a catch-and-run for 51 yards.

“Jordan has done a really nice job,” McCoy said. “He made some really nice catches for us today. He continues to grow each week. Jordan is a guy who is going to do the right thing every time. We run a lot of option-routes with him. He is really smart and the one big play that he had they blitzed off of the edge and that’s his choice. He can sit, he can go out, he can go in and he made a really nice play.”

So after all the injuries and the ups-and-downs of the season so far, the Browns find themselves one ridiculously botched kick from being at .500 after 10 games for the first time in what seems like forever. The team still has a very long way to go, but they are competitive against the teams they should be competitive with.

And, at least for one game, the offense shook off some of its problems and did enough to help the team pull out a win.

“The game isn’t over, especially with Browns football and the way things have been going for years (someone has been paying attention), we’ve got to keep playing,” Cribbs said. “It (the win) doesn’t take any pressure off, we still have to go. We still have to have the mentality that we are playing down and we have to keep on scoring. It seemed like that at the end. We didn’t make the field goal but we have to keep on scoring and have that scoring mentality every time we have the football.”

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, winning | Leave a comment
20 Nov 2011

Browns vs. Jaguars – Week 11

The Cleveland Browns are home again on Sunday to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars it what is probably one of only two games left on the schedule that the Browns have a realistic chance of winning.

The Opposition

Jacksonville record: 3-6 (3rd in the AFC South)
Offensive rank: 32rd overall/32nd passing/11th rushing
Defensive rank: 4th overall/5th passing/14th rushing
All-time record: Browns trail 4-9; the Browns are 1-5 at home against the Jaguars, but they did win the most recent home game, part of the mirage that was the four-game winning streak to close the 2009 season
Last meeting: Jacksonville won 24-20 in 2010
The line: Browns (+1)

What to Watch For

Can the Browns score a touchdown in the first quarter? They haven’t done it this season.

Can the Browns score a touchdown in the third quarter? They haven’t done it this season.

Can the Browns score a touchdown at home? They have gone 123 minutes without one at home – the last touchdown coming with 11:36 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Oct. 2 game vs. Tennessee.

Can the Browns stop the run? The defense has given up 568 rushing yards – the most in the NFL since Oct. 30 – during its season-worst three-game skid. Jacksonville is averaging 121.4 yards per game on the ground. Maurice Jones-Drew has rushed for 854 yards, 4.5 yards per carry, this season. The Browns are giving up 142.8 yards per game on the ground.

Can the Browns move the ball against the Jaguars? Jacksonville is fourth overall in defense, but near the middle of the pack against the run, giving up 107.1 yards per game. Of course, the Browns can’t run the ball, they are averaging 87 yards per game (30th in the NFL) as they struggle with giving playing time to their 4th-string running back.

Montario Hardesty “leads” the Browns in rushing with 244 yards, but he probably won’t play on Sunday. Peyton Hillis is second with 211 yards and he definitely won’t play Sunday. Chris Ogbonnaya is third with 170 yards and Colt McCoy is fourth at 120. Unless you are Denver or Philadelphia, having your quarterback be one of your leading rushers is not a good thing.

Does the Browns offense and McCoy have the proper amount of “lust for the end zone?” If the Browns can’t run the ball they are going to have to find a way to pass it. Mohamed Massaquoi should be back for the Browns, and Jacksonville’s top cornerback, Rashean Mathis, is out for the season with an injury. Will that be enough to help a Browns team that has scored touchdowns on just 44.4 percent of its trips into the red zone? That’s the 23rd in the league, if you are scoring at home.

The Craziest Browns vs. Jaguars Game We’ve Seen

The 2001 “Bottlegate” game, although last year’s game, when the Browns forced six turnovers and still managed to lose, is a close second. And let’s not forget the 2002 game when Tim Couch hit Quincy Morgan – there’s a tandem – with a Hail Mary pass for the win.

The Prediction

This may sound like a bit of a cop-out, but who knows with this team anymore?

Injuries have robbed the Browns of the kind of running game they needed to help McCoy and the receivers, but somehow the Browns keep fighting and, against teams at their level, find themselves in the game at the end.

But the Browns also make mistakes at the worst times and just are not talented enough to overcome those mistakes.

Maybe today’s the day, however, and the Browns can send fans into the holiday week with something to be thankful for – a win (and even a touchdown!).

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 5-3-1.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL | Leave a comment
14 Nov 2011

Seeing things we wish we could unsee

We can understand the thought process of Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur near the end of Sunday’s game with St. Louis.

The Browns were holding a first-and-goal at the 8, trailing 13-12. For the most part the team had battled all day. The Browns hadn’t found the end zone, of course, but they had mixed in some plays that brought the offense alive at times. The defense had forced two turnovers and kept the Rams out of the end zone since the 14:53 mark of the second quarter.

Rewarding the players and fans with a win would be a good start to the second half of the season. And Shurmur knew he had Phil Dawson – four-of-four on the day – in his back pocket.

Still, it seemed like a perfect time to take a shot in the end zone.

1st-and-goal from the 8: Chris Ogbonnaya over right guard for minus 1 yard.

OK, the Browns are setting the Rams up; St. Louis obviously knows about the awesomeness of Dawson.

2nd-and-goal from the 9: Alex Smith fumbles the hand off; Josh Cribbs recovers at the St. Louis 7.

Wait, what? Isn’t Smith a tight end? Why is he taking a hand off out of the backfield? Now the Browns are surely going to take a shot. Let’s see what they have coming out of a St. Louis timeout.

3rd-and-goal from the 7: Chris Ogbonnaya over right guard for 3.

Seriously? Another run to the right side? Oh well, at least the Browns have Dawson and long-snapper Ryan Pontbriand, one of the best in the business.

4th-and-goal from the 4: Pontbriand’s snap hits Alex Mack in the leg, rolls to holder Brad Maynard and Dawson shanks the 22-yard attempt.

Welcome to another Sunday of Browns football. (Pounding head on the keyboard).

“I told the team they played hard from the first snap until the last and you have to play hard, you have to be productive and you’ve got to take care of the basics'” Shurmur said after the game. “We didn’t take care of the basics at the end. You fumble, give them points and then you’re set up to get points, you don’t get points and this is the result. That’s the reality of it.

“We were in a position to score points. Our defense was playing extremely well and I wanted to make sure that we were going to get an opportunity to kick a field and go ahead, so that’s what I chose to do.”

Bah!

“It’s on me,” Pontbriand said after the game in published reports. “My fault. It’s my job to get the ball back there and it didn’t get there. On those plays, I’m always upside down and never see a thing. From my point of view, everything was normal. But as soon as it came out, I knew something was wrong. It looked like a snap I had never snapped before.”

The pretty much sums up what it is like to watch the Browns year in and year out: seeing things you’ve never seen before.

“You leave with a helpless feeling. It’s tough,” quarterback Colt McCoy said in published reports. “We should have won — more than once. You kind of scratch your head and wonder, `Where is all this bad luck coming from? Why?'”

The two biggest mistakes of the day came from the most unlikely of players. The Rams go-ahead field goal was set up by Cribbs fumble on a punt return in the fourth quarter. Then there was the field goal miscue involving Dawson, Mack and Pontbriand. All four are among the team’s best players.

The Browns have now gone 123 minutes at home without scoring a touchdown and have yet to score a touchdown in the first or third quarters the entire season.

Talk about seeing things you’ve never seen before.

As usual, there were some bright spots for the Browns, but they weren’t enough to carry the team to a win:

  • Ogbonnaya ran for 90 yards and a 4.7 yard per carry average, with a long run of 32 yards, making us wonder what a healthy Peyton Hillis would have done against the Rams 32nd-ranked run defense.
  • Cribbs had a 15-yard run
  • Greg Little had a 10-yard run and caught six passes with a long of 52 yards
  • Seneca Wallace had a 21-yard reception, officially making him more productive for the Browns this year than former wide receiver Brian Robiskie.
  • Phil Taylor notched his team-high fourth sack of the year

“I thought we did a good job but we just didn’t win the game,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “My boy (Josh) Cribbs is a beast and that (fumble) doesn’t happen but once in a lifetime. Then you have Phil (Dawson), who is automatic from 55 yards, but the kick didn’t work out for us. They still won the game but stuff happened that usually doesn’t.”

If nothing else, the Browns at least now have a title for the 2011 highlight film: Stuff Happened That Usually Doesn’t: The 2011 Cleveland Browns.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, more of the same, NFL | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2011

Browns vs. Rams – Week 10

The Cleveland Browns welcome the St. Louis Rams back to their ancestral home on Sunday.

The Browns come into the game having lost four out of their last five, while the Rams are riding a streak that has seen them drop nine out of their last 11 games dating back to last season.

Should be one heck of a day.

The Opposition

St. Louis record: 1-7 (4th in the NFC West)
Offensive rank: 23rd overall/26th passing/17th rushing
Defensive rank: 24th overall/12th passing/32nd rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 12-10 (including playoffs); the Browns are 6-5 at home against the Rams
Last meeting: Rams won 27-20 in 2007
The line: Browns (-2.5)

What to Watch For

Rams running back Steven Jackson is the key to the game.

Jackson has rushed for 289 of his 579 yards over the past two games and his 5.1 yards per carry is the highest since his rookie year.

At that pace, if Jackson hadn’t missed most of three games he would be among the league leaders in rushing yardage.

The Browns, of course, have the 31st-ranked rush defense in the NFL, giving up 144 yards per game on the ground. And they will be without safety T.J. Ward this weekend (and perhaps longer), which means more Usama Young at the position.

Oh boy.

“They have a tremendous running back and they’ve had success running the ball,” defensive coordinator Dick Jauron said. “We’re going to have to step up. He’s a very powerful back. He’s probably bigger and stronger than anybody we’ve seen to this point or as big and as strong as anybody we’ve seen to this point. He’s got good breakaway speed. When he gets to the secondary, he can go and give you issues.”

If the Browns – who have given up 151 yards rushing to Oakland, 174 to San Francisco and 261 to Houston – can keep Jackson under control, they have a real chance to win the game.

If – and that is currently a big if – the Browns were ever going to get anything going on offense this would be the week. The Rams are 32nd against the run and have put eight cornerbacks – including three of their top four – on injured reserve since the start of training camp.

Of course, St. Louis allowed a season-low 262 yards last week, the second consecutive game they’ve held their opponent under 300 yards.

But, still, we don’t think it’s asking too much for the Browns to outscore a team that is only averaging 12.5 points per game.

The Browns vs. Rams Game That Will Be Hard to Top

The 1950 NFL Championship Game, won by Cleveland, 30-28, on Lou Groza’s 16-yard field goal.

The Browns also beat the Rams for the 1955 title, and lost to them in 1951 – breaking a six-year run of titles in Cleveland.

The Prediction

This game has Phil Dawson written all over it.

The Browns just need to keep Jackson under control, keep the game close and let Dawson win it with his leg – would it really be that hard for anyone to imagine a 3-0 Browns win?

We’ll take the Browns minus the points.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 5-2-1.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, St. Louis Rams | Leave a comment
07 Nov 2011

Browns lose themselves deep in Texas

Every time we think the Browns can’t sink any lower, they drain a little more water out of the pool.

Case in point: Sunday’s 30-12 loss to the Houston Texans.

The Browns went in to the game as 11 point underdogs and certainly played that way.

The Browns totaled 10 first downs and 172 yards of offense.

Houston’s Arian Foster rushed for 124 yards, Ben Tate ran for 115 and both scored touchdowns.

Cleveland’s Chris Ogbonnaya finished with 28 yards rushing, Thomas Clayton had 10; the Browns finished with just 44 yards on the ground.

The Browns have now gone eight consecutive games without scoring a touchdown in the first or third quarter.

“They came from the first snap to the last and it’s frustrating,” quarterback Colt McCoy said in published reports. “They were able to create a lot of pressure up front. At times, it was hard to overcome.”

The Texans got the ball to open the game and went 82 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Ogbonnaya fumbled on the Browns first offensive play, the Texans scored six plays later and the game was essentially over.

“We spend the whole week working on the run game, play-action, things that you’re going to do,” McCoy said, “and then both times you have to completely abandon that and get into something else because you’re down two touchdowns. We’re not good enough to overcome that.”

The Browns are broken – especially on offense – right now and there seems little anyone can do to fix the problem.

The team can’t do anything on offense – it can run, it can throw long, it can’t throw short, it can’t protect the quarterback (it will be a miracle in McCoy makes it 16 games in one piece).

“I don’t think we did very good overall protecting the quarterback,” tackle Joe Thomas said in the understatement of the season. “We’ve got to play better if we want to win in the future. It wasn’t anything we didn’t expect. They open the playbook up when you’re down, 14-0, right away. There’s nothing that they can’t do. You can’t spot them 14. That’s just the bottom line.”

Josh Cribbs continue to be the lone bright spot on offense – and the one player that really seems to bring it every week. Cribbs, playing in his 100th career game, had a 64-yard kickoff return, five receptions and a touchdown. He’s already set career bests with 22 catches for 298 yards. He also had three tackles on special teams.

Everyone else? Not much.

“I don’t want to say we’re at a crossroads, but this is a point where you can go one of two ways — pack it in and fold or keep trying to get better,” linebacker Scott Fujita said in published reports. “And defensively we can’t afford to take a step back.”

We knew coming into the season that things could get rough. With only two drafts under his belt and a reduced off-season, there has only been so much that general manager Tom Heckert could do to clean up the mess left for him by Phil Savage and Eric Mangini. There are only four players left on the team from Savage’s last draft in 2008 and Mangini’s one-and-only draft in 2009.

Maybe if they didn’t have so many holes to fill across the team Heckert would have realized what a bad idea it was to go into the season relying on Tony Pashos at right tackle, who’s been a turnstile and is now injured again.

Unfortunately there is nothing the Browns can do about those problems now. They have to face the last half of the season with the team they have, not they one we wish for.

And the team is left to come home, lick its wounds, and get ready for the 1-7 Rams next weekend at home. The Rams have somehow managed to score fewer points than the Browns this season, so we should all be in for some kind of offensive treat next weekend.

For now, we’ll leave it to Cribbs to sum up the loss to the Texans.

“They beat us up,” he said in published reports. “They beat us up front, all across the board. Give them credit, they were whooping us up front. They whipped us all over.”

That they did.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, horror show, Josh Cribbs, NFL | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2011

Browns vs. Texans – Week 9

The Cleveland Browns travel to Houston on Sunday to take on the Texans.

They say everything is bigger in Texas – does that mean we may actually see the offense show up?

The Opposition

Houston record: 5-3 (1st in the AFC South)
Offensive rank: 7th overall/11th passing/4th rushing
Defensive rank: 3rd overall/5th passing/6th rushing
All-time record: Series tied 3-3; the Browns are 1-2 in Houston
Last meeting: Texans won 16-6 in 2008
The line: Browns (+11)

What to Watch For

Can Cleveland actually get anything done on offense?

The Browns have struggled all year to score points; they have gone seven consecutive games without a touchdown in the first and third quarters and that has to end for them to have any hope of pulling off the upset.

Things won’t be easy this week as they face a Texans team that has allowed fewer than 200 yards in consecutive weeks and ranks third in the NFL in defense.

But just how some will try to downgrade the Browns defensive accomplishments because of the quality of the opposition, the Texans have gotten fat against Indianapolis, Miami, Tennessee and Jacksonville, which account for four of their five wins.

The Browns need to get some kind of passing game going to the wide receivers. Teams have been able to cover the outside receivers with no problem this year, meaning the Browns have seen several seven- and eight-men in the box which have worked to choke the running game.

If Greg Little, Joshua Cribbs, etc., can get something going the offense may not have to consist solely of dump offs to the tight ends and backs.

Of course with starting running back Peyton Hillis and backup Montario Hardesty both out for Sunday’s game, the Browns will be forced to rely on Chris Ogbonnaya, who was signed off Houston’s practice squad on Oct. 18, and Thomas Clayton, who signed Tuesday following a workout at the team’s practice facility.

So it looks like the Texans won’t have to worry about the passing game or the running game from the Browns on Sunday.

That sounds like a recipe for a long day.

The Quintessential Browns vs. Texans Game

Seriously?

The Prediction

It’s hard to see the Browns being able to pull this out on Sunday.

The offense is a mess, the veteran players had to hold an intervention this week with Hillis, the franchise hasn’t had a winning record in the month of November since Marty Schottenheimer was coach, they are still cleaning up after former coach Eric Mangini, they can’t pass or run the ball, they can’t stop the run on defense.

Do we need to go on?

The Browns do have two things working in their favor: wide receiver Andre Johnson will miss his fifth consecutive game and quarterback Matt Schaub may be do to have one of those games where me makes silly mistakes.

Will that be enough to allow the Browns to hit the halfway mark of the season a .500 record?

Probably not. We’ll take the Texans to cover.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 4-2-1.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, NFL | Leave a comment
29 Oct 2011

Browns vs. 49ers – Week 8

The Cleveland Browns continue their tour of the NFC West Division as they travel to San Francisco on Sunday to take on the flavor-of-the-month 49ers.

The Opposition

San Francisco record: 5-1 (1st in the NFC West)
Offensive rank: 27th overall/31st passing/6th rushing
Defensive rank: 11th overall/22nd passing/2ndh rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 18-8 (including AAFC games), with an 8-5 mark away from home
Last meeting: Browns won 20-7 in 2007
The line: Browns (+9.5)

What to Watch For

This is going to be a game of contrasts.

The 49ers can run the ball (6th) in the NFL; the Browns can’t stop the run (20th).

The 49ers can’t pass the ball (31st in the NFL); the Browns have the top pass defense in the league.

The Browns can’t run the ball (29th in the NFL); the 49ers are tough to run on (2nd in the NFL).

The Browns can’t really pass the ball either (22nd in the NFL); but the 49ers can’t stop the pass (22nd).

The Browns possibly (likely?) will be without Peyton Hillis again this week, as his hamstring continues to bark. Injuries continue to plague Hillis, who has seen his numbers drop across the board through the first six games this year as compared to last year (28 fewer carries, 180 less yards, almost a full yard difference in yards per carry).

The team clearly misses him as they are only averaging 91.2 yards per game on the ground. If Hillis can’t go, we’re not sure how much success Montario Hardesty and Chris Ogbonnaya can have, although Ogbonnaya looked good catching the ball last week.

Meanwhile, San Francisco is averaging 193.3 yards per game in October, and running back Frank Gore has rushed for more than 125 yards in each of his last three games.

If the Browns can slow down the San Francisco rushing attack, and at least move the ball well enough on offense to keep the clock moving (like last week against Seattle) they may be able to find a way to keep themselves in the game.

And let’s not even get started on the special teams.

The one Browns vs. 49ers Game That Will Be Hard to Top

The 1949 AAFC Championship Game the Browns won 21-7. It was the Browns fourth consecutive league title and the last game in AAFC history.

The Prediction

This is one of those games we could see the Browns winning under certain circumstances.

The 49ers are not as good as their record indicates and are one of the current media darlings in the NFL. Things are going to start evening out for them.

The Browns may have history on their side as well, as San Francisco is looking for its first five-game winning streak since late in 2001.

Cleveland also won on its last visit to San Francisco, the Kelly Holcomb “teeny-tiny fracture” game in 2003.

But with the offense currently struggling, and with Hillis possibly missing the game, Ben Watson maybe limited because of a head injury and Mohamed Massaquoi definitely out, it’s not going to be an easy day.

We have to go with the 49ers and the points this week.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 3-2-1.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, San Francisco | Leave a comment
23 Oct 2011

Browns vs. Seahawks – Week 7

The Cleveland Browns return home on Sunday looking for their first win in almost a month as they take on the Seattle Seahawks.

The Opposition

Seattle record: 2-3 (2nd in the NFC West)
Offensive rank: 30th overall/26th passing/29th rushing
Defensive rank: 18th overall/23rd passing/8th rushing
All-time record: Browns trail 5-11, with a 2-4 mark away from home
Last meeting: Browns won 33-30 (in OT) in 2007
The line: Browns (-3)

What to Watch For

  • Can the Browns actually score some points in the first quarter? So far this season they scored three points total in the first quarter, the lowest amount possible for an offense to score.
  • Seattle, which beat the Giants on the road in their last game, have won two consecutive road games since late in 2007.
  • In addition to their regular offensive struggles, the Browns are going to be tested by the Seahawks’ rush defense, ranked 8th in the league. Seattle leads the NFL in rushing average, giving up just 3.1 yards per carry, and haven’t given up more than 70 yards to a running back all season.
  • Compounding the problem, Peyton Hillis is questionable with a hamstring injury.
  • The Browns may be catching a break as the Seahawks will start backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. Normal starter Tavaris Jackson is one of the worst quarterbacks in the league, so what does that say about his backup?
  • Of course, the last time Whitehurst started a game for an injured quarterback, he threw for 192 yards and a touchdown to help Seattle beat St. Louis and win the division.
  • Not helping matters is that linebacker Scott Fujita is out and cornerback Joe Haden is questionable after not playing last week.

The Most Memorable Browns vs. Seahawks Game We’ve Seen

That’s a tough one. When we think of the Browns playing the Seahawks we mostly think of Todd Philcox in 1993. We completely forgot about the game in 1994 where the Browns earned a playoff berth.

So we’ll go with the 2007 game where the Browns won in overtime.

The Prediction

Who knows with this Browns team anymore?

The standings say the Seahawks are not very good and they historically struggle when they have to travel East for 1 p.m. games.

Of course, they have played a far more difficult schedule than the Browns this year, having faced Pittsburgh, Atlanta, the Giants and San Francisco so far (combined record 16-8).

But if a team ever needed a win, it is the Browns after the week they’ve had.

Let’s take the Browns to win, but not cover, on a late Phil Dawson field goal.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 3-2-0.

(Photo by Life Magazine)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, Seattle Seahawks | Leave a comment
19 Oct 2011
2 Comments

Just another day in Browns paradise

The NFL trading deadline came and went at 4 p.m. today and, despite speculation that the Browns could, possibly, maybe, sort of, you know, consider, kind of, trading starting running back Peyton Hillis, the team thankfully didn’t make any moves.

The Browns were probably too busy picking up the pieces from Sunday’s loss in Oakland to do anything ridiculous. And the coaching staff certainly has plenty of work to do, starting with quarterback Colt McCoy, who seems to be struggling to get the offense in gear, especially when he’s under pressure.

Or does he?

“There were a couple times when we had pressures that should have been picked up that weren’t and there were reasons for it,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said in his Monday press conference. “It may have appeared that Colt didn’t see it coming, he saw it coming and thought it was picked up. I wouldn’t say there’s anything consistent. We’ve just got to get better.”

The offensive problems are all inter-connected – McCoy holds onto the ball too long because the wide receivers can’t get open which puts pressure on the offensive line resulting in McCoy dumping the ball off for a four-yard gain or getting drilled by the defense.

And lets not forget the offensive line’s role in this tragic comedy.

Coming into the season the Browns three best offensive linemen were Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Eric Steinbach. Thomas and Mack were first-round draft picks and Steinbach was taken at the top of the second round. That’s how you build an offensive line in the NFL – with very high draft picks.

When Steinbach was lost for the season, rookie Jason Pinkston stepped in. Not only is Pinkston learning a new position, people seem to forget he was a fifth-round draft pick. Right guard Shawn Lauvao was picked at the bottom of the third round and Tony Pashos was a fifth-round pick.

It’s nice to see players the Browns drafted (Pinkston and Lauvao) on the field, but the reality is they are the types of players that generally are not starters at the NFL level. We heard a stat earlier in the season about how something like only 40 percent of players taken in the fourth round or later in the NFL draft ever become contributing players. The Browns are asking a lot out of their offensive linemen not named Thomas or Mack.

Sunday’s game was a perfect example. There was one blitz where a Raider safety came straight up the middle to nail McCoy. But watching the play again showed that at the snap Pinkston turned to his left to help Thomas double team a Raider (why Thomas would need help is an unknown), Mack picked up the player to his left and, with Lauvao, Pashos and running back Montario Hardesty picking up their players, there was a gap for the defensive back to waltz right through.

If Pinkston had just taken his man, Mack would have been free and waiting to pick up the extra blitzer. But that’s the way things have been going for the Browns so far this year.

So who gets the blame on that one? Pinkston? Mack, who called out the blocking assignments? McCoy for not getting rid of the ball quicker? Or maybe it was a team breakdown.

We didn’t have high expectations coming into the season, not with all the changes the Browns made and the shortened NFL off-season. But we also didn’t think we’d be this exhausted just five games into the season.

A win on Sunday against Seattle would be nice, but it won’t solve all the problems the Browns currently have.

***

The Browns did make a move on Tuesday, signing running back Chris Ogbonnaya off the Houston Texans’ practice squad and waiving undrafted rookie running back Armond Smith.

Ogbonnaya played in two games this season for the Texans, carrying the ball three times for six yards.

With the way the season is going, would anyone be surprised if he got 20 carries on Sunday against the Seahawks?

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL

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