Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

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15 Oct 2011

Browns vs. Raiders – Week 6

The Cleveland Browns head to Oakland on Sunday for the first time in four years to take on the Raiders.

The Opposition

Oakland record: 3-2
Offensive rank: 9th overall/22nd passing/2nd rushing
Defensive rank: 31st overall/29th passing/22nd rushing
All-time record: Browns trail 8-12 (including playoffs), with a 6-7 mark away from home
Last meeting: Browns won 23-9 in 2009
The line: Browns (+5.5)

What to Watch For

With two weeks off since their last game, Browns coach Pat Shurmur and defensive coordinator Dick Jauron spent the bye week reviewing the first quarter of the season to find out what worked and what didn’t and claim to have adjusted the playbook and personnel accordingly.

With eight starters in their first or second year, and with a new offensive and defensive system being put into place, the Browns treated the first four games of the season as almost an extension of training camp, trying different personnel packages and plays to try and accelerate the learning process for not only the players but the coaches as well.

“We are still young together, but we know a lot more than we did when the preseason started about our guys,” Jauron said this week. “We’re still learning though week-to-week. We threw some stuff out that we didn’t care for and we didn’t add a whole lot. We really like the way our guys played, their enthusiasm and we felt the longer we can keep them together and do somewhat similar things, the better off we’ll be.”

This week on Sirius NFL Radio, the always excellent Pat Kirwin and Tim Ryan were talking about how teams missed about 1,000 snaps of practice this year because of the NFL lockout. There’s no question that the Browns could have used that practice time.

Now that they are through the initial part of the schedule it is time for this team to start showing what it is capable of. The Raiders present both an opportunity and a challenge.

Oakland is second in the league in rushing, led by Darren McFadden, the NFL’s top rusher wtih 519 yards and an average of 5.7 yards per rush. The Browns continue to struggle against the rush, ranking 25th, meaning the Browns should see a steady diet of McFadden left and McFadden right.

“I think the biggest thing we can do against him is set the edge and make him cut back and use the rest of our defense instead of putting (it all) on one guy,” linebacker Chris Gocong said in published reports. “But it’s a hard thing to do.”

If the defense can limit McFadden, however, the Browns could be in for a good day. The Raiders are a weak passing team (22nd) while the Browns have the fourth-best pass defense in the league. Stop McFadden on first and second down and the Browns could make it a long day for Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell.

On offense, this would be as good a time as any for the Browns to get the West Coast offense untracked as the Raiders are next-to-last in defense in the league.

Inserting Greg Little into the starting lineup at wide receiver over Brian Robiskie (three catches on the year) is a good start, as it puts another playmaker on the field against Oakland’s 29th-ranked pass defense. Also, if Tony Pashos can make it through the game without hurting himself, the Browns can give Evan Moore additional snaps as they don’t need Alex Smith to help with blocking on the right side.

The big worry on offense is Alex Mack. It sounds as if the Browns center will play after having his appendix removed, but if he has to come out the Browns are left with Steve Vallos at center, lining up next to rookie Jason Pinkston at left guard and second-year player Shawn Lauvao at right guard.

Not sure the thought of that will help quarterback Colt McCoy sleep any better tonight.

Oh, and it would be nice if the Browns could score some points in the first quarter for a change. This year they have been outscored 27-3 in the opening period.

“I’m very optimistic, the practices have been good, the guys have been focused, their energy level was good,” Shurmur said on Friday. “They practiced hard, I saw very few mistakes and again, as I tell them every week, good practices don’t guarantee good performances in the game. All it does is give you the best opportunity, but I feel very confident that we’ll go out and play well.”

The Most Painful Browns vs. Raiders game We’ve Ever Seen

If you don’t know by now, we don’t know what to tell you.

The Prediction

We expect the Browns to play a sharper game this week now that they have had two weeks of preparation.

But will that be enough against a Raider team that, while not great, is pretty good? And playing their first home game since owner Al Davis passed away?

Unfortunately, we don’t think so.

We’ll take the Raiders and the points.

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

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, Oakland Raiders, Red Right 88 | Leave a comment
04 Jan 2011
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Wrapping up Browns vs. Steelers

There’s really not anything left to say about the Browns’ loss to Pittsburgh to end the season on Sunday.

It’s no real surprise the Browns loss, Pittsburgh is currently the better team and had something to play for. The Browns are still a work in progress and were short-handed due to injuries and a lack of talent.

The only real surprise was the final score. For the first time all season the Browns were not competitive and picked a bad time for it. If this loss had come in Week 6 it would still have been disappointing, but would have been forgotten as the season went along. But coming in the season finality made the loss seem worse to some, and that memory is what too many will probably take from this season.

***

A day later and we’re still divided over the firing of Eric Mangini.

We were ready to give Mangini another year to see if the Browns were really improving or not. But Mike Holmgren was not and, in the end, his opinion is the one that counts.

One thing we can’t shake, however, is Holmgren saying in November that “wins and losses are not the only criteria” and that “there’s more to look at.”

We’re not sure what Holmgren saw this year to make him believe the Browns should have finished with more than 5 wins. Apparently he believed the team that beat New England and New Orleans was the true Browns team and the losses to Cincy, Buffalo and Jacksonville were not acceptable.

On the flip side, it’s hard to overlook Mangini’s 10-22 record and 2-10 mark in the division and that seems to be what sealed the deal in Holmgren’s eyes.

The division record points out just how far the Browns still need to go and just how difficult it is going to be to be consistently competitive.

Until they show us otherwise, we have to assume the Steelers and the Ravens are going to have double-digit wins each season, which puts the Browns squarely in the toughest division in the league. This isn’t the NFC West (which the Browns would have owned this year) and the next coach needs to get the Browns to a point where they can compete in the division if they have any hope of being a playoff contender.

Holmgren had made his decision; while we’re not 100 percent behind it, it’s done so we need to move on.

Here’s a nice, fair take on Mangini from CBSSports.com.

***

Speaking of the next coach, the Browns are reportedly going to interview St. Louis offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur on Thursday.

Shurmur’s time in St. Louis appears to have been a mixed bag this season.

Shurmur has the requisite ties to Holmgren, having worked with Andy Reid in Philadelphia. But we have to wonder about him as the Rams ranked 26th in offense this year (21st in passing and 25th in rushing).

The team is also expected to interview Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell and Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

***

Finally, today is the 30th anniversary of the Browns playoff loss to Oakland in the Red Right 88 game.

That was the day we learned what it meant to be a Browns (and Cleveland) fan. We were obviously much younger then and that was the first Browns team we fell in love with.

If only Brian Sipe had thrown the ball to Dave Logan this site would exist under a different name and would possibly have a different tone to it. But that’s not the way it worked out.

If you’re in the mood, video of the final drive is here. If you want to relive that magical season, Jonathan Knight’s book, Kardiac Kids: The Story of the 1980 Cleveland Browns, is an excellent read.

Posted in Brian Sipe, Cleveland Browns, Kardiac Kids, Mike Holmgren, NFL, Red Right 88
13 Sep 2010

Two is Better than One

The Browns are better off this season at the quarterback position – despite what happened Sunday in Tampa. And the team may be putting that depth to the test this week against Kansas City.

The Plain Dealer is reporting the Jake Delhomme is scheduled for an MRI on his right ankle after injuring it during Sunday’s game. Delhomme was visibly limping for most of the second half, and it looked like it was affecting his throwing as his right foot is his plant foot.

With Seneca Wallace on the roster, the Browns actually have one of the better starting/back-up quarterback situations in the league. If the team needs to turn to him for a week or two, things should be fine. As WFNY points out, they can use both quarterbacks without it turning into the mess from last season.

So no worries on Delhomme’s ankle; odds are the MRI is just a precautionary procedure, you know, teams do that all the time.

Of course, T.I.C.

***

Much like the Browns, we’re off to a bit of a disappointing start to the 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational over at Cleveland Frowns:

Saints (-5) vs. Minnesota – PUSH thanks to Garret Hartley. Jackass

Notre Dame (-3.5) vs. Michigan – FAIL. This is the only pick we regret as we had narrowed it down to this game or Oklahoma (-7) vs. Florida State. The lesson? Notre Dame ruins everything.

Indianapolis (-2) vs. Houston – FAIL

Cleveland (+3) vs. Tampa Bay – PUSH

So 0-2-2 to start the season. Time to head back to the Red Right 88 lab and crunch some data in preparation for Week 2.

Just remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Jake Delhomme, NFL, Red Right 88 | Leave a comment

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