Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

19 Jan 2015

Who should the Browns hire to replace Kyle Shanahan?

The Cleveland Browns entered the 2014 season with high hopes for an offense led by coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

For the first few weeks of the season that belief was rewarded as the Browns were averaging 26.8 points per game and running the ball effectively under Shanahan’s zone-blocking scheme.

Things took a turn for the worst, however, after the team lost center Alex Mack to a broken leg during the Week 5 win against Pittsburgh. Suddenly, the running game struggled, quarterback Brian Hoyer wasn’t as effective running the play-action portion of the offense, and the lack of production started to slowly bring the team down.

It go so bad that the Browns were forced to turn to an unready Johnny Manziel with three games remaining on the schedule. The results were disastrous.

Once the season ended, Shanahan waited until head coach Mike Pettine left town to start calling around looking for another job – despite still being under contract with the Browns.

Posted in 5 Questions, Cleveland Browns and tagged 5 Questions, Cleveland Browns

18 Jan 2015

Is the Browns victory train getting any closer to the station?

http://youtu.be/d_X9eqYa6CQ

Following the completion of today’s conference championship games, we will have reached that portion of the calendar where there is only one meaningful game left before closing the books on the 2014 NFL season.

Of course, this being Cleveland, we’re already a few weeks past the final game for the Cleveland Browns and now stand roughly eight months away from the team’s next meaningful game.

We started thinking about where the Browns have been and where they are headed this past week when Cat Stevens’ Peace Train came on the radio, with a particular lyric catching our attention:

Now I’ve been smiling lately,
thinking about the good things to come.
And I believe it could be,
something good has begun.

As those words started to sink in, we realized that despite yet another disappointing end to the season, we’re starting to feel pretty good about the direction the team is heading.

Posted in 5 Questions, Cleveland Browns and tagged 5 Questions, Cleveland Browns | Leave a comment

12 Jan 2015

On the playoffs and the downside of veteran QBs

If Sunday really was the last time we see Peyton Manning on an NFL field as an active player – and it yesterday wasn’t the end, it certainly is coming soon – then the Denver Broncos are about to learn the same hard lesson that teams, including Minnesota and Kansas City, have learned before.

It is also a lesson that the Cleveland Browns and certain corners of the fan base should heed.

When you sign an aging veteran quarterback, no matter how good they are, rather than develop a quarterback, and don’t end up winning a Super Bowl, you run the risk of setting your franchise back even further than you were before you signed said quarterback.

The Chiefs learned that lesson back in the day with Joe Montana, the Vikings learned it a few years ago with Brett Favre, and now the Broncos are about to learn it as well.

Posted in bad quarterback play, Cleveland Browns, Kent State, NFL, Ohio State and tagged NFL, quarterbacks | Leave a comment

08 Jan 2015

Cavs bring back the popular mid-season roster makeover

After a four-year hiatus while LeBron James was off in Miami, the Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed a fan favorite back to the franchise this week.

We’re talking, of course, about the mid-season roster makeover.

Recalling the days of Flip Wilson, Ben Wallace and Wally Sczerbiak, general manager David Griffin spent a busy couple of days turning Dion Waiters, a couple of spare parts and a couple of first-round draft picks into Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.

“What I’m most proud of, and our front office staff is most excited about, is that we’ve put together a team that we believe can compete at the highest level,” Griffin said in reflecting on the moves. “And we feel like we’ve done it without completely mortgaging the future. People look at the number of picks we’ve given away and everybody thinks, ‘Oh, my goodness, they’ve given away the farm!’ Well, we had an unbelievable farm, so we were putting it to work and we’re really pleased with where we are now. We’re going to make a first-round pick this year and we feel good about the situation we’re in.”

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers and tagged Cleveland Cavaliers | Leave a comment

07 Jan 2015

Perception, reality and the Cleveland Browns

Ever since the Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, Browns fans have lived in a perpetual state of “hope for the best but expect the worse.”

That conditioned response isn’t reserved for what happens on the field on Sunday afternoons, but extends to what happens within the walls of team headquarters in Berea.

The latest example comes from a pair of “reports” on Tuesday that got Browns fans fired up.

Jason La Canfora, a CBS Sports NDL “Insider” got the ball rolling when he went on a Cleveland radio station to share his “insider knowledge” about alleged growing problems for the Browns.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, perceptions and tagged Cleveland Browns | Leave a comment

05 Jan 2015

Thumbs up, thumbs down on your 2014 Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns finished the 2014 season in much the same fashion as they have in years past.

The club posted a losing record for the seventh consecutive year, missed the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year, ran its December losing streak to 12 games and counting, and started its third-string quarterback in the season finale for the third consecutive year.

While the results may be familiar, it doesn’t feel like the “Same Old Browns.”

The five-game losing streak to close out the season notwithstanding, the Browns did some nice things during the recently completed campaign, which should give fans hope that a better tomorrow is finally on the way.

With that in mind, let’s run through a “thumbs up, thumbs down” look at your 2014 Cleveland Browns.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns | Leave a comment

04 Jan 2015

5 Questions – Liverpool FC edition

Liverpool opened the 2014-15 Premier League season in August with high hopes for a promising year.

The club was coming off a second-place finish in the previous season’s campaign, had once again made Anfield a site that opposing teams feared, and were returning to Champions League play after a four-year hiatus.

While Luis Suarez had taken his talents to Spain, confidence was high that Daniel Sturridge would slide into the No. 1 goal scoring spot, with Raheem Sterling making a similar progression as Sturridge’s sidekick.

The club was active over the summer, bringing in Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic, Emre Can, Alberto Moreno and Dejan Lovren, adding youth and depth to the squad, and Rickie Lambert for experience. And just after the start of the season, Liverpool added the mercurial Mario Balotelli to bolster the offense.

One of the biggest advantages was the continued guidance of manager Brendan Rodgers, who rarely made a misstep as Liverpool battled Manchester City down to the season’s final game in 2013-14.

As the calendar turns to 2015, however, things are not going as planned at Anfield.

Posted in Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool, Steven Gerrard and tagged Brendand Rodgers, Liverpool, Steven Gerrard | Leave a comment

03 Jan 2015

From the editor’s notebook …

When you follow a particular team or player as a fan you know that, eventually, father time will be the ultimate winner.

Such was the case this week with the surprising and disappointing news that Steven Gerrard will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the Premier League season and plans to finish his career with a club in Major League Soccer.

“This has been the toughest decision of my life and one which both me and my family have agonised over for a good deal of time,” Gerrard said in announcing the move. “I am making the announcement now so that the manager and the team are not distracted by stories or speculation about my future.”

While Gerrard is obviously not the player he once was, it will still be strange to see him in another club’s kit after wearing Liverpool red for 17 years.

Posted in Liverpool and tagged College Football, Liverpool, Steven Gerrard | Leave a comment

27 Dec 2014

Connor Shaw, come on down

It should be a fun afternoon on Sunday in Baltimore as Connor Shaw steps off the practice squad to take over as starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

As we all know by now, Shaw will be the 22nd starting quarterback to take the field for the Browns since they returned in 1999. It also marks the third consecutive year, and fourth in the past five, that the Browns will trot out their third-string quarterback for the season finale.

With any luck, Shaw will be more Jason Campbell (22-of-41 for 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception in 2013) or Thad Lewis (22-of-32 for 204 yards, one touchdown and one interception in 2012) than Bruce Gradkowski (five-of-16 for 18 yards and two interceptions in 2008) or Doug Pederson (13-of-30 for 75 yards in 2000).

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns, Connor Shaw | Leave a comment

27 Dec 2014

Return from Achilles injury far from certain for Varejao

The good news is that Friday’s surgery on Anderson Varejao’s torn Achilles tendon was reportedly a success.

The bad news is that there is a very real chance that we have seen the last of Varejao in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform (or any NBA uniform for that matter).

Varejao, who was averaging 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds, will miss the remainder of this season and based on the history of NBA players returning from Achilles injuries, if he does come back he may not be the same player.

According to a study in The American Journal of Sports Medicine by doctors at Drexel University’s College of Medicine, almost 40 percent of NBA players who suffer an Achilles injury never play again, and those that do make it back tend to see a “significant decrease in playing time and performance.”

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers and tagged Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers | Leave a comment

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