Red Right 88

12 Oct 2011

Simply put, U.S. needs better competition

Lots going on this week in non-Cleveland Browns style of football, starting with the U.S. Men’s National Team, which took on Ecuador Tuesday night in an international friendly.

The U.S. lost, 1-0, on a goal by Jaime Ayoví in the 79th minute. The Americans have now gone 23 games without scoring more than two goals, since beating Australia 3-1 in their last warmup before the 2010 World Cup.

“We created chances in the first half and really didn’t allow Ecuador anything,” coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in published reports. “They never really had a real threat until their goal.”

And the Titanic was a nice voyage until that whole iceberg thing.

Obviously that is a bit extreme, but the team is just 1-3-1 since Klinsmann took over for Bob Bradley. By comparison, Bradley was 10-0-1 to start his tenure with the team.

“Part of the attraction, obviously, is (Klinsmann’s) an innovative guy and wants to try things, not necessarily only things that have a 50-year track record of success, but some new things,” USSF president Sunil Gulati said in published reports. “So that always takes a little time for everyone — staff, coaching staff, players, leadership — and everyone’s adjusting.”

The good news is this is the time for the team to try some of these “innovative” things. The U.S. doesn’t play a match that matters until next summer when they resume qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. So things are not as dire as some would have you believe.

What the U.S. really needs is a higher level of competition. Not to bag too hard on CONCACAF, but Aruba, Turks and Caicos, and Belize don’t really offer the level of talent the U.S. needs to reach the next level internationally.

Certainly having Mexico be the only other viable team in the confederation makes it easier to qualify for the World Cup, but the soft schedule hurts once the World Cup starts.

What the United States needs is to play in a tournament like Euro 2012. Spain, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and England are among the teams that have already qualified for next summer’s tournament in Ukraine and Poland.

Qualifying is so tough, that Portugal, Euro 2004 runners-up, find themselves having to earn a spot via a playoff.

Unfortunately, unless the U.S. is ready to become a British colony again, or they get the governing bodies to agree to some creative geography, it ain’t going to happen.

Which means Klinsmann better have some creative tricks up his sleeve come 2014 in Brazil.

***

Speaking of Euro 2012, The New York Times had a good article this week about the challenges England coach Fabio Capello faces in dealing with talented – and hot-headed – striker Wayne Rooney.

Rooney has been the talk of English soccer since age 9, eventually joining Everton’s academy. At age 16, he scored for Everton against Arsenal, which at the time was riding a 30-game unbeaten streak in league play.

Two years later, Manchester United paid Everton about $47 million to gain Rooney’s services, the highest transfer fee every for an 18-year-old.

And while Rooney is by far England’s best player, he can easily loose his cool on the field – he, along with David Beckham, are the only England players sent off twice during international play – and the fate of the Three Lions next summer rests on his stocky shoulders.

“I cannot enter the head of Wayne Rooney when he plays,” Capello said. “I can speak before, I can substitute him, I can find different solutions, but …

“Rooney is a really good player, a really important player. For a long time, he has been the best player of the national team. But the player is difficult to understand. He can do something fantastic, and he can make a silly mistake.”

***

Just a few days shy of the one-year anniversary of their purchase of Liverpool, The Guardian has a two-part behind-the-scenes look at the John Henry and Fenway Sports Group, who also own the Boston Red Sox.

Henry is part of a group of Americans who are now owners of five of the English game’s most prestigious clubs: Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Sunderland.

One of the more interesting parts of the article is Henry’s admission that he is worried about a backlash from fans at both clubs, who may accuse the owners of concentrating too much on the other (sound familiar, Browns fans?)

“There was a lot of criticism in Boston that we weren’t going to spend money on the Red Sox after we did the Liverpool transaction,” Henry said. “Then there was the fear we wouldn’t spend in Liverpool. Hopefully the fans of both clubs will eventually see what we see clearly – that there is nothing to fear from the existence of the other club.”

Hear that, Browns fans?

Part two runs on Thursday.

***

Finally, from the always strong EPL Talk, comes a take on why Liverpool’s plan to sell their own overseas TV rights will never happen.

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, Liverpool, US soccer, Wayne Rooney | Leave a comment

11 Oct 2011

The lucky & unlucky in the NFL

It was Seneca, the Roman philosopher (not Seneca Wallace, the Cleveland Browns backup quarterback), who reportedly said, Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

And while that may be true, there is still an element of luck (both good and bad) involved in the NFL.

On Sunday, Eli Manning’s pass tips off the hands of Victor Cruz, bounces off Kam Chancellor and, 94 yards later, Brandon Browner hits the end zone to seal Seattle’s upset of the NY Giants.

Were the Seahawks more prepared than the Giants? Maybe. But luck certainly played a role.

If it weren’t for luck, how else to explain Buffalo being 4-1 despite having one of the worst defenses in the league? The Bills are 30th overall (26th against the pass, 29th against the rush) but have built their record on the fact that they have a turnover margin of +11, which is clearly not sustainable.

And what of the Steelers? Despite having a turnover margin of -10, Pittsburgh is 3-2 and only a half-game off the lead in the AFC North. Of course, that could be more a function of evil than luck, but nevertheless.

The Eagles have the third-best offense in the league, but their -10 turnover margin has resulted in a 1-4 record. No luck for them, obviously.

The Vikings obviously did something to offend Lady Luck over the summer, as in the first three weeks of the season they blew halftime leads of 10 points, 17 points and 20 points on their way to a 1-4 start to the season. You’d think that a team with the No. 3 rushing offense would be able to sustain a big second-half lead, wouldn’t you?

It was unlucky that Peyton Hillis missed the Miami game with an illness, as we’ve been subjected to a manufactured controversy that won’t go away.

But Marcus Benard was very lucky he walked away from a motorcycle crash with nothing worse than a broken hand.

Luckily for us, the Browns are done with their bye week and we’ll actually have something worth writing and talking about again.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Lady Luck | Leave a comment

11 Oct 2011

Likes, Dislikes, Hopes & Fears

Now that the bye week is out of the way, it’s time to take a look at the Cleveland Browns at the quarter mark of the 2011 NFL season.

Through four games there are things about the team that we like and dislike, plus some things we hope to see over the next 12 games and a few things we fear we’ll see.

Like: The Browns 2-2 record is their best since 2007.

Dislike: Both of the losses have come at home, although that is a little skewed by the fact the Browns have played three of their first four games at Cleveland Browns Stadium. But for a team that is 28-44 at home over the past nine seasons, that’s not a way to send the fans home happy.

Hope: That the Browns can stay competitive as they still have the NFC West and Jacksonville on the schedule; those five teams are a combined 8-16 on the season.

Fear: There are more games like the Tennessee one on the horizon.

Like: After giving up a ridiculous 11 penalties in the season opener, the Browns have settled down to the point where they have given up fewer penalties through four game (27 to 29) than they did through the same point last year. Turns out you can treat professional athletes as adults – rather than junior varsity high school players – and still see positive results.

Dislike: While the penalties are down, the timing and type of penalties that are being called are a bit troubling. The two penalties – even though one was highly suspect – at the end of the Miami game almost cost the Browns a win.

Hope: That whatever the coaching staff told the players after Week 1 continues to stick.

Fear: The Browns will commit a penalty at an inopportune time, costing the team a win.

Like: The Browns were able to get a sense of what Montario Hardesty can do at running back in the game against Miami. After missing his entire rookie year to a knee injury, Hardesty had a solid – if not spectacular – game against the Dolphins, showing that he can be a nice compliment to Peyton Hillis.

Dislike: The reason why Hardesty was on the field against Miami – Hillis missed the game because he was sick and, two weeks later, there are those who won’t let it go. Hillis didn’t play because he is soft. Hillis didn’t play because he wants a new contract. The nonsense has gotten out of control.

Hope: The Browns remember what they have in Hillis – a player who accounted for 71.5 percent of the Browns rushing yards and 84.6 percent of the team’s rushing touchdowns in 2010. If you factor in his 61 receptions for 477 yards and another two touchdowns, he was responsible for 34 percent of the team’s total offense and 50 percent of the offensive touchdowns last season.

Fear: The coaching staff can’t figure out the best way to use Hillis and Hardesty, meaning both players are ineffective and the offense suffers.

Like: The overall play of Dick Jauron’s think fast defense, especially the front four of Ahtyba Rubin, Phil Taylor, Jayme Mitchell and Jabaal Sheard who have been rather frisky through the first part of the season. Joe Haden is quickly turning into an All-Pro corner back in his second season. And D’Qwell Jackson has looked good after missing large parts of the past two seasons with injuries.

Dislike: 4-3, 3-4, 1-10, doesn’t matter, the Browns still can’t stop the run. They currently rank 26th in the NFL against the run. Because Haden is so good Sheldon Brown is seeing more activity on his side of the field and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Hope: The young front four continues to mature during the season and the Browns figure out a way to at least slow down opposing running backs.

Fear: Injuries will take their toll on the defense – which is still lacking in depth – and the players will start to break down in the season’s last quarter. Haden may miss this week’s game against Oakland, and on Monday Marcus Bernard suffered a broken arm in a motorcycle crash. This team can’t afford to have that happened and hope to be at least competitive.

Like: Colt McCoy has mostly done more good than bad through four games. He had a good game against the Colts, led a game-winning drive against the Dolphins and was OK against the Bengals.

Dislike: On of McCoy’s strong suits is supposed to be his completion percent, but on the year he’s only at 58 percent – good for just 23rd in the league. His 5.7 yards per attempt leave him 30th out of 32 quarterbacks. Of course, not all of those numbers are totally on McCoy’s shoulders (more on that in a minute).

Hope: The McCoy we saw on the final drive against the Dolphins – when he led an 80-yard drive by completing 9-of-13 passes, including the game-winning touchdown to Mohamed Massaquoi – is the real McCoy and he will continue to grow during the season.

Fear: The McCoy who throws a preponderance of check-downs, holds onto the ball too long and seems unsure of himself is the real McCoy. Which would mean the Browns will be in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes next April.

Like: Jason Pinkston’s play at left guard. The fifth-round draft choice switched positions after Eric Steinbach was put on injured reserve for the year and hasn’t been all that bad. We’re sure playing between Joe Thomas and Alex Mack has made his transition easier, but we don’t go into a game worried that Pinkston is going to be the weak link on the offensive line.

Dislike: The play at right tackle. Artis Hicks and Oniel Cousins showed why they were available on the waiver wire as they filled in the first three weeks for starter Tony Pashos. They also needed help from a tight end, which meant that Alex Smith was on the field at the expense of Evan Moore, a stronger offensive threat that the Browns need.

Hope: Pashos can stay healthy the final 12 games of the season and the offensive line can work itself into a stable unit.

Fear: Pashos hasn’t played a full season since 2008, so we haven’t seen the last of Hicks and Cousins.

Like: The (albeit) slow development of rookie Greg Little at wide receiver. After not playing his final year at North Carolina, Little has been adjusting to the speed of the NFL. In a part-time role he is second among the wide receivers with 14 receptions and third with 131 yards. Those numbers should go up as the Browns have promoted Little to one of the starting spots.

Dislike: Brian Robiskie taking playing time from anyone on offense. It’s clear by now that Robiskie just is not an NFL wide receiver. Doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, or that he doesn’t try hard, but the Browns just can’t afford to keep giving him playing time.

Hope: Little can turn into a reliable playmaker, Josh Cribbs can stay healthy, Mohamed Massaquoi can be at least a decent third receiver, and Ben Watson and Moore can continue to make plays at tight end.

Fear: The wide receivers will continued to not be able to gain separation, meaning McCoy will have to hold onto the ball too long – opening him up to repeated hits – or he will continue to have to dump the ball off for four-yard gains.

Like: The approach the coaching staff is taking with the team. The lockout took away weeks of key preparation time that the Browns – who have eight starters in either their first or second year – desperately needed. The coaches have used the first four games of the season as a sort of extended training camp as they continue to learn about the players.

Dislike: The defensive breakdown against Cincinnati that lead to the game-changing touchdown by the Bengals, the way coach Pat Shurmur has used Hardesty at the expense of Hillis, the overall play against Tennessee in the last home game before the break. The slow starts by the offense – the Browns have been outscored 27-3 in the first quarter this year.

Hope: The team will show improvement as the year moves along, giving the coaches and front office a clear indication of where the team needs help.

Fear: More games like the one against the Titans, more nonsense over Hillis, that Shurmur is in over his head as a first-year head coach.

We’ll give Shurmur the final word.

“What you’ve noticed from the first four weeks is we’ve got some good young talent that’s out there getting better each week,” he said on Monday at his weekly press conference. “I feel like our schemes are in place. As I mentioned earlier, there are some things that we’ll do more and emphasize and then there are some things about our scheme that we’ll, both sides of the ball and our kicking game that we’ll set aside. I felt good about that.”

(Photo from Cleveland Browns.com)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, quarter mark, reason for hope | Leave a comment

06 Oct 2011

1 Comment

It’s the NFL’s world

We’ve known for a long time that Cleveland is the Browns’ town.

Heck, Terry Pluto even wrote a book titled When all the World was Browns Town.

And it’s also well accepted that, while baseball still clings to the outdated title of being the National Pastime, the NFL is the National Passion.

So it didn’t completely surprise us to learn that fans – by an almost 2-to-1 margin – chose to watch the Curtis Painter-led Colts take on Tampa Bay on Monday night rather than watch Detroit (with Justin Verlander) take on the Yankees (with CC Sabathia) in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

The Monday Night Football game drew a 4.5 rating and 11 share in the coveted 18-49 demographic, and 10.84 million viewers. The baseball game got a 2.1 rating and 5 share in the demographic, and 6.05 million viewers.

Through the first weekend of the playoffs, the ratings for MLB playoff games were down 27 percent from the first three days of last year’s playoffs.

So much for the theory that everyone wants to watch the Yankees.

But we were surprised by this little nugget from USA Today: Fox’s NFL pregame show on Sunday received a bigger overnight rating than any of TBS’ baseball playoff games through the weekend.

Holy smokes!

What’s even more surprising is that people actually watch the pregame drivel that Fox, CBS and ESPN put out on Sundays before the NFL games.

That’s one of the beauties of following the Premiere League: the 11 a.m. game on Sunday finishes up about 5 minutes or so before the 1 p.m. NFL games kick off, so we don’t have to waste our time with pregame hoo-haa.

But still, it’s the NFL’s world, we just live in it.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, TV ratings

05 Oct 2011

2 Comments

This is what we’re worried about?

So it turns out that Peyton Hillis’ agent told Hillis to sit out the Miami game after Hillis came down with a case of strep throat.

“I would give him the same advice to him or any of my clients as if he were my son,” Kennard McGuire told The Associated Press. “The game is physical enough, and the way Peyton plays the game, he needs all the elements of his physical game. Him being sick, and the level of his sickness, is the equivalent of being injured.

“Not only could he have hurt himself but he could have hurt his team. Nobody embodies Cleveland like Peyton Hillis. If anyone wants to point a finger, point it at me.”

And this has become some kind of referendum on Hillis’ toughness as a player.

The thing we don’t get is: why? Why is this an issue?

We love living in Cleveland and rooting for the local teams. But this is one of those things that gets on our tits.

Nothing can ever be as simple as someone was too sick to go to work. There has to be some hidden agenda.

Of course McGuire wants to avoid Hillis getting injured – he’s the meal ticket. McGuire doesn’t get paid until Hillis gets paid and the bigger the contract the bigger McGuire’s piece will be.

That’s why, when a player switches agents, the new guy always wants to renegotiate the player’s contract – the agent doesn’t get paid under the old deal, he only gets his money under new contract.

We thought everyone around here understood that after the whole Manny Ramirez to Boston fiasco – agents will steer their clients to the highest bidder every time. Doesn’t matter if it’s not a good fit, just give me the greenbacks.

Was it disappointing that Hillis – the one player that opposing defenses have to worry about – didn’t play against Miami? Of course.

Was it the end of the world? Of course not.

In fact, one good thing came out of the Miami game (well two, counting that the Browns won) – the team found out that, if he can stay healthy, Montario Hardesty has a chance to be a contributing member of this offense.

Hillis and Hardesty give the Browns a solid starting and back-up option at running back, something the team hasn’t had since … Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner maybe?

But apparently we can’t focus on that; we have to go looking in dark corners for the bogeyman.

Heaven help Alex Mack – who’s out of the hospital after having his appendix removed. Coach Pat Shurmur said on Tuesday that it was too early to know if Mack will play or not against Oakland on Oct. 16.

After the Hillis brouhaha, there’s no telling what kind of nonsense we will be in for in Mack doesn’t suit up for the Raiders.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, Peyton Hillis, utter nonsense

05 Oct 2011

Things are tough all over

Pop quiz time.

All of the following quotes are from an NFL head coach, but only one is from Browns coach Pat Shurmur.

Can you guess which one?

“I don’t think a sense of urgency or lack of a sense of urgency is the issue. I think fundamental football is, better blocking, better tackling.”
“There are also a lot of things we need to work on, so that’s what we’re doing. But I’m telling you it’s not one person. It needs to be all of us pulling this thing together and doing our jobs a little bit better.”
“You’re always trying to learn from these situations that you’re in. I think he’s ended game situations, in relation to the football, are things he has to get better at. He knows that and he’ll be the first one to say that. So we have to find a way for him to get better at that.”
“In my opinion, this is a sport where you develop every day that you practice or every day that you meet and along the way as you’re developing, you need to win games so that’s the focus. We need to get better, we need to execute more efficiently and we need to put our guys in the right spots to do the right things and along the way we need to win.”

If you said the last quote is from Shurmur, take a bow.

But what about the rest?

The first quote is from Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, who’s 2-2 Steelers have lost both games they’ve played this year against good teams. (Sound familiar?)

The second is from Philadelphia’s Andy Reid, who’s seen the Eagles, the alleged “Dream Team,” get off to a 1-3 start.

The third is from Dallas’ Jason Garrett, who watched his Cowboys blow a 24-point third-quarter lead on Sunday against Detroit.

And let’s not forget New England who, because they have Tom Brady, are 3-1 despite being last in the league in yards allowed after giving up 504 yards to a Jason Campbell-led offense on Sunday.

The point of all this? (We’re sure we have a point here somewhere). Teams with far more talent than the Browns are struggling this year, so maybe things aren’t as dire as they appear to some.

It’s easy to put the blinders on when it comes to the Browns, but fans need to look around at the rest of the league to help keep things in perspective.

The Browns just hit the quarter-mark of the season with a 2-2 record. If they repeat that each quarter of the season, they end up 8-8 on the year, which many fans would have signed off on at the start of the year.

But this season isn’t about the final record. It’s about evaluating the talent on the team, figuring out which players fit best in Shumur’s West Coast offense and Dick Jauron’s 4-3, play fast think less, defense. And it’s about learning whether or not Colt McCoy is the quarterback who can take this team to the next level.

It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be frustrating – very frustrating – at times, and it’s not going to be fun. But there are also no shortcuts or quick fixes. The Browns have been down that road before and it just does not work.

Patience is hard to come by in our instant gratification society, and it’s a commodity that is severely lacking in many Browns fans. It seems like the Browns have been on the rebuilding merry-go-round since the late ’80s.

But patience is exactly what we need with this Browns team because things are tough all over.

Just take a look around the league.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, frustration, NFL | Leave a comment

02 Oct 2011

Browns stagger into the bye week

If a team ever needed a bye week, it’s the Cleveland Browns.

Looking like an expansion team, the Browns bumbled their way through a 31-13 loss to Tennessee on Sunday in a game that really wasn’t that close.

“This was a team loss,” said coach Pat Shurmur. “There’s a lot of things we need to get better at, and it starts with me. We just didn’t play extremely well. That’s my responsibility.”

The offense and the defense both had their worst days of the season and, when you are a team that is still lacking in talent at several positions, when that happens, well, you’re going to be on the wrong side of a 31-13 game.

“You see what happens when you let big plays happen,” Shurmur said. “The game changes on any team that plays and we let the score get out of hand, which makes it difficult. Then you’re fighting, scratching and clawing and you can’t do that.”

And while we know the second-half play calling was dictated in large part by the score, if there is anything we are certain of, it is this: the Browns are going to loss any game where Colt McCoy has to throw 61 passes.

“We’re growing every week,” McCoy said. “We are four weeks into it. We understand that we’ve got a lot of room for improvement (and) a long ways to go. We’ll go back and look at some things that consistency-wise we can play better. We can get guys open. They can get some yards after the catch. It’s one of those things that week to week, you’re kind of building your team. We’ve got to do a better job.”

The Titans turned in two big plays – an 80-yard touchdown reception by tight end Jared Cook, where Cook ran away from Scott Fujita in coverage and ran through what can be charitably described as a weak tackle attempt by Usama Young (Usama must have been in class the day they taught tackling in practice at Kent State); and an 97-yard interception return by Jordan Babineaux, where Babineaux ran almost the entire length of the field without ever coming close to being touched by a Browns player.

And let’s not forget about the Titans scoring with 33 seconds left before halftime, thanks to a 57-yard completion to Nate Washington where Tennessee executed a perfect pick play to get Washington open.

Somehow the Browns never seem to have those plays in their playbook, do they?

The offense was an out-of-synch mess all day, with odd personnel packages and a series of dump-off passes over the middle.

After the Titans had taken a 14-6 lead on Cook’s long touchdown in the second quarter, the Browns got the ball with 14 minutes to go. From that point until there was 6:45 on the clock in the third quarter, Cleveland managed to run 22 plays for 87 and three total first downs.

The coaches must have fallen in love with Montario Hardesty after his game against the Dolphins last week, forgetting that he is basically a rookie with one good NFL game under his belt.

How else to explain them only handing Peyton Hillis the ball 10 times on the game (only twice in the second half)? Or giving the ball to Armond Smith on a fourth-and-1 at the Titans’ 41 in the second quarter? Need we say that Smith did not make the first down?

Or that Hardesty had almost as many drops (4) as receptions (5)?

What’s going on around here?

“That is something for the coaches to decide,” Hillis said after the game. “I have no control over that; it needs to be handled by the coaches. I’m fine, I feel healthy and my body feels great. I’m just going to try and make the most of the opportunities and get in when I can.

“I’ve always found myself to be a rhythm guy. The game plan and what the coaches have decided, that’s what they want to go with. Being a player you have to follow the coaches’ orders and do what they tell you to do. You have to respect them.”

The defense wasn’t any better as the front four, which had totaled 11 sacks in the first three games, got no pressure on Hasselbeck, who completed 10-of-20 passes for 220 yards. The Browns didn’t record a sack and Ahyta Rubin had the only quarterback pressure.

Once again, for what seems like forever, the Browns struggled to cover the tight end. In addition to Cook’s touchdown, a wide-open Craig Stevens also caught a touchdown pass.

“It was just us,” said T.J. Ward. “We were missing tackles and we were not on our men like we should have been. We take complete responsibility for that. That’s not the Browns that we’ve been. We know that we can play much better than that. I don’t think the effort was there completely, but it just looked like, including myself, I am not just putting it off on the rest of my teammates, but we didn’t play how we should have played.”

Taking the micro view, this loss was bad, real bad. Any positives the Browns had built up in starting 2-1, be they real or perceived, were pretty much flushed down the toilet against the Titans.

But if you take the macro view, this loss, heading into the bye week, may end up doing the team some good. This team still has a long road ahead of it. Sunday’s loss should give the players plenty to work on and provide the coaches with ample learning opportunities to fill up everyone’s time during the bye week.

“We still have a long way to go,” Fujita said. “We still have a lot of room to grow. You have to go back to the film and find out where you are falling short. Defensively we gave up too many big plays today. We have to look at that closely, look at where we fell short and move forward.”

“There is a lot to work on,” McCoy said. “A lot of things we can improve on, a lot of things as a team that we can improve on. The bye week is good. Obviously, you would like to win going into your bye week because the taste of losing is not that good. We’ve got a lot to work on and we’ll get better.”

Will the lessons be learned? We’ll find out Oct. 16 in Oakland.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, stench | Leave a comment

01 Oct 2011

Browns vs. Titans – Week 4

The Cleveland Browns host the gang from Music City as they take on the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The Opposition

Tennessee record: 2-1
Offensive rank: 17th overall/7th passing/32nd rushing
Defensive rank: 1st overall/2nd passing/8th rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 33-28 (including playoffs), with a 15-15 mark in Cleveland
Last meeting: Titans won 28-9 in 2008
The line: Browns (-1)

What to Watch For

Can the Browns offense show up and actually play for a full 60 minutes?

There’s no added time in American football, so leaving it late like they did last week against the Dolphins is not really a sustainable winning strategy. Especially as Colt McCoy’s quarterback rating is 64.6 in the second half of games, compared to 97.2 in the first half.

McCoy’s biggest strength is supposed to be his accuracy, but he has struggled so far this season to to get into a rhythm with the receivers, and he has completed less than 50 percent of his passes in two of the three games so far.

The Browns are one of three NFL teams who have yet to score in the first quarter this year. The Titans are one of the other ones, so we may not see many fireworks in the first quarter.

The Titans have built their No. 1 defensive ranking, second against the pass, with strong performances the past two weeks against Joe Flacco (2 interceptions, 51.2 QB rating) and Kyle Orton (2 interceptions, 67.6 QB rating), so this may be a good week to heavily ride the ground game.

Montario Hardesty put up nice numbers last week with Peyton Hillis out; seeing the two of them healthy and pounding the ball on the ground in the same game is something we want.

On defense, the Browns are catching another break this week, as Tennessee will be without No. 1 receiver Kenny Britt. After Nate Washington (21 receptions on the year), the Titans will trot out Damian Williams (2 receptions), Marc Mariani (3 receptions) and Lavelle Hawkins (5 receptions) as wide receivers.

If the Browns can take away Tennessee’s passing game, they can load the box and focus on continuing Chris Johnson’s poor start to the season.

Johnson is off to a slow start, gaining just 98 yards through three games, a big part of the reason why the Titans rank last in the NFL in rushing offense.

Some (most?) of Johnson’s struggles can be attributed to the Titans’ weak play along the offensive line. Last week against Denver, Johnson ran 13 times and the Broncos were in the backfield on 10 of those. There was just no room for Johnson to get untracked.

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for defensive tackles Ahyta Rubin and Phil Taylor to have a big day.

The Best Browns vs. Titans (nee Oilers) Game We’ve Ever Seen

The 1988 home game vs. the Oilers that sent the Browns into the playoffs.

Don Strock rallied the Browns in the snow from a 23-7 deficit, hitting Webster Slaughter on a post pattern for a 22-yard game-winning touchdown.

The game was also the last win for Marty Schottenheimer as Browns coach. Who know that, 23 years later, the Browns would still be searching for a suitable coaching replacement?

The Prediction

We’ve had a bad feeling about this game all week.

It’s not that we can’t picture the Browns winning, it’s just that we’re struggling with the image of the Browns being 3-1 heading into next week’s bye. Is that possible?

The thought of Chris Johnson running against the Browns 29th-ranked rushing defense also gives us pause.

Of course, the Titans have lost six consecutive road games, with their last road win coming almost a year ago against Jacksonville.

So we’re going to have to go with the Titans and the points this week.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 1-2-0.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

30 Sep 2011

Reflections on an Indian Summer

The Cleveland Indians may have fallen short of a division title, and a .500 record after losing their last four games of the season, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a season to remember for the Tribe.

As disappointing as the second half of the season may have been, that’s how exciting it was as the Indians raced out to a 30-15 record and a seven-game lead in the Central Division.

From late-game heroics, sometimes from unlikely sources, one of the best bullpens in the league, some decent (and sometimes great) starting pitching, a baffling offensive slump, to the slow influx of younger players, the Indians kept the attention of NE Ohio well into September for the first time since 2007.

And we haven’t even gotten to the trade for Ubaldo Jimenez.

We learned that Justin Masterson has the makings of a solid starting pitcher. He led the team (with Josh Tomlin) in wins with 12, was tops in ERA at 3.21, in strikeouts with 158, and was second among the starters with a 1.28 WHIP.

Masterson’s win total would have been better with some support. In May and June he made a combined 11 starts but went 0-6 despite posting an ERA of 3.34.

A starting rotation next season that is fronted by Masterson, Jimenez and Josh Tomlin as the first three starters doesn’t look all that bad right now.

Rookie Vinnie Pestano was the surprise in a mostly dependable bullpen that also included Tony Sipp, Joe Smith, Rafael Perez and closer Chris Perez.

Pestano posted a 12.02 K/9 ratio, fourth best among AL relievers, walked only 24 batters in 62 innings of work and posted a 1.05 WHIP.

And despite some rough outings, Chris Perez took hold of the closer’s role this season. It’s never bothered us how a closer finishes the game, as long as they get through the final inning with the Indians still in the lead, it’s all good.

On offense, Asdrubal Cabrera had a breakout season. After hitting above .300 through mid-June, Cabrera cooled off a bit in the second half, but still led the team in batting average (.273), RBI (92, first among AL shortstops) and hits (165, which also topped AL shortstops). He also hit 25 home runs (after totaling 18 in his previous four seasons).

It seemed like Carlos Santana struggled all season, he only batted .239, but at the end of the day he led the team in home runs (27) and on-base percentage (.351). He topped AL catchers in runs (84) and walks (97).

On the negative side, injuries cut short the seasons of Grady Sizemore (again), Travis Hafner (again) and Shin-Soo Choo. The offense clearly missed their bats in the lineup. Oh, and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco will miss all of next year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Also, Matt LaPorta pretty much removed all doubt that he is the Tribe’s everyday first baseman of the future. There is also some concern about just how good Michael Brantley can be. No pressure though, LaPorta and Brantley were only the players the Tribe received for C.C. Sabathia.

Fausto Carmona continued to prove that 2007 was a fluke, as he was up and down all year, one good game to tease us followed by two or three bad starts. On the year, he went 7-15 with an ERA of 5.25. He did pitch 188.2 innings, which is something. If (when?) the Indians pick up his option for next year, they better hope they can find another starter so they can put Carmona in the No. 5 slot.

Which brings us to Jimenez, who the Tribe picked up at the trading deadline in one of the more controversial trades in recent memory.

Jimenez was sold to the fans as an ace, but that seems more like a paper title than something he actually earned. With the Tribe, Jimenez made 11 starts, posting an ERA of 5.10 and a WHIP of 1.45.

Not exactly the numbers you’d expect from a player you traded your two top pitching prospects for.

But that was this year, which is now in the books. While we all dreamed of October baseball back in May, the Tribe still finished in second place, which is something no one really dreamed of coming into the season.

The team made strides this year and have some nice pieces in place. The trick now is to build on this year’s success and foundation so that next year we will see a true Indian summer come October.

***

Bill Simmons had some interesting numbers in his running diary about the Red Sox losing the final game of the season to complete the biggest collapse in baseball history.

According to Simmons, From August 30 through September 24, the Red Sox were 2-18 in games in which they scored fewer than nine runs. Their team ERA for September was 5.90. Their starters finished 4-13 for the month with a 7.03 ERA.

Wow, no wonder they choked away the lead.

And of course the Braves were almost as historically bad, blowing an 8.5 game lead.

Lost in all that, somehow, was the Yankees finding a way to blow a 7-0 lead in the 8th inning to Tampa.

Using 11 different pitchers probably played a role, as the Yankees made a mockery of the regular-season final by pulling their starters are trotting out a cast of unknowns to the mound.

It’s ironic that a team that takes itself so overly important like the Yankees do, getting caught up in all the unimportant nonsense that can make baseball insufferable at times, would show such disrespect to the game and not get called out on it.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

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28 Sep 2011

Feeling a bit nervous about Sunday

Now that we are a few days away from the Browns last-minute win over Miami, our thoughts have turned to Sunday’s game against Tennessee.

And we admit we’re starting to get a little bit worried.

In the Titans, the Browns will be facing the No. 1 defense in the NFL. Tennessee is second against the pass, eighth against the run and the AFC’s best in the red zone, giving up just two touchdowns on six trips by the opposition inside the 20.

The Browns are catching a break, however, as starting wide receiver Kenny Britt is out for the year after injuring his knee. After Nate Washington (21 receptions on the year) who Joe Haden can shut down in his sleep, the Titans will trot out Damian Williams (2 receptions), Marc Mariani (3 receptions) and Lavelle Hawkins (5 receptions) – apparently wide receiver is even a bigger trouble spot in Nashville than in Cleveland.

Hopefully that means the Browns won’t have to focus on stopping Tennessee’s passing game because what worries us the most is Chris Johnson.

Johnson is off to a ridiculously slow start after holding out during training camp, gaining just 98 yards through three games, a big part of the reason why the Titans rank last in the NFL in rushing offense.

“Of course it’s frustrating,” Johnson told Fox Sports Tennessee after last week’s game. “In the first two games not having big ones, and then starting out this game with a couple of nice runs in the beginning, but all of them were getting called back. It’s always tough, but we have to hold our head up.”

You know Johnson is not going to go an entire season averaging 32.6 rushing yards per game; eventually he’s going to break out.

“It’s one of those things it just probably takes one nice run,” Johnson told ESPN. “It probably takes one or two breaks out of there to kind of get that feeling back again that we can do certain things… It’s got to improve if we’re going to win these next two weeks.”

We just hope it’s not Sunday against the Browns 29th-ranked rush defense.

***

Turns out we were right when we said the excessive celebration penalty on Mohamed Massaquoi and Ben Watson was highly suspect.

Former vice president of NFL officiating Mike Pereira told The Plain Dealer that “It strikes me as technically being a foul but also one you could have gone without making, frankly.

“I personally like the rule about not going to the ground to demonstrate because you were having guys lay down on the ground and act like they were putting a pillow under their heads and all that kind of stuff. Clearly, you really had over-the-top things that happened. The problem is that when you do something like that, then you get into this area where, geez, all of a sudden you get into where you take it literally and it becomes a little picky.”

Thankfully the penalty didn’t end up costing the Browns the game, but it sure was close.

***

Speaking of being excessive, apparently there are now limits on how much standing you can do at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Head over to Cleveland Frowns to read about the ridiculousness that is the “excessive standing” policy at home games.

Just makes us that much more thankful that we can stand all we want at home while enjoying NFL Sunday Ticket.

***

We can’t began to explain how much it gets on our tits that the Steelers can put up a winning record every year while having a crap offensive line.

***

Finally, linebacker Chris Gocong is the latest player to hit the Browns ATM in the form of a contract extension.

The Browns reached a three-year, $16.8 million contract with Gocong, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Gocong becomes the fourth player to get a new deal from the Browns this year, joining left tackle Joe Thomas, defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin and tight end Evan Moore.

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