Red Right 88

Browns delivering latest in a series of strange seasons

Even when you take into account all the strange things we wish we could unsee from the Cleveland Browns since 1999, this season has still been one of the more stranger ones from the guys in Orange and Brown.

Once 6-3 and dreaming of the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2002, the Browns must win on Sunday in Baltimore to avoid posting a losing record for the seventh consecutive season.

And they may be forced to do it with a third-string quarterback starting the season finale for the third year in the row and the fourth time in the past five seasons. (File that one under, “the more things change the more they stay the same.”)

If undrafted rookie Connor Shaw joins Jason Campbell, Thaddeus Lewis, Bruce Gradkowski and Colt McCoy on the list of forgettable quarterbacks it would be a fitting end to a once-promising season.

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Another typical December afternoon for the Browns

It was another typical December afternoon for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in Charlotte.

We just never thought we’d see it from this team.

The Browns delivered an uninspired effort in losing the Carolina Panthers, the Browns 11th consecutive loss in the month of December. It’s been more than two years since the Browns won a game in the final month of the calendar year and, dating back to the 2010 season, are now 3-20 in the month of December.

The short-term view of the loss means that the Browns, who were once 6-3 this season, can’t post a winning record this year – the best they can do is beat a Baltimore team that is fighting for a playoff spot next week to grab a .500 record. For a team that hasn’t won more than five games since 2007 that’s not an altogether bad outcome, but will still be disappointing based on where the Browns were just a few weeks ago.

The long-term view shows that the Browns have plenty of problems, especially when it comes to the offense.

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Don’t blame Mike Pettine for being loyal to his players

There are plenty of words to describe the Cleveland Browns loss to Indianapolis on Sunday.

Disappointing. Frustrating.  Exasperating. Frustrating. Take your pick – they all work.

Even though the loss probably put an end to the Browns hopes of making the playoffs, that doesn’t mean that head coach Mike Pettine was wrong to stick with Brian Hoyer as the starting quarterback for the game.

Hoyer received a lot – OK, probably all – the blame from many quarters for the loss, but we still understand Pettine’s reasons for keeping Hoyer in the starting spot. They made sense, regardless of the outcome, and reveal why we believe that no matter how strange the coaching search was last winter, the Browns walked away with a coach who gets it.

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Browns season may have come to a close in loss to Colts

The Cleveland Browns entered Sunday’s game against Indianapolis knowing that one more loss and their dreams of making the playoffs this season were down.

Head coach Mike Pettine and the team went into the biggest game of the year backing quarterback Brian Hoyer, who was coming off a five-game stretch during November that featured some of the poorest quarterback play seen in these parts in a while – and that’s saying something.

On Sunday, the team had Hoyer’s back (except for running backs Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West, who averaged just 3.7 yards per carry against a Colts defense that came into the game giving up 4.5 per carry. Oh, and kicker Billy Cundiff; definitely Cundiff.) But Hoyer couldn’t reward the faith that his coach and his teammates had shown in him.

And because of that, the season is pretty much over for the Browns.

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Can Brian Hoyer reward Mike Pettine’s faith in him?

The Cleveland Browns return home on Sunday to face the Indianapolis Colts in the penultimate home game of the 2014 NFL season.

It seems like only yesterday that quarterback Brian Hoyer was rallying the Browns in the second half of the season-opening game against Pittsburgh.

Now the Browns need that Hoyer (or at least a close proximity) to show up if they hope to turn an encouraging season into a special one.

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Is it time to unleash Johnny Football on the NFL?

Who should get the starting nod at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns this Sunday against Indianapolis – Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel?

That’s the question facing head coach Mike Pettine, and if he gets the answer correct the Browns just may be able to extend the season into January.

Hoyer has forced the coaching staff into making a decision based on his play during the month of November. Despite helping the Browns go 3-2 over a five-game stretch, Hoyer only completed 54 percent of his passes, while throwing for three touchdowns against eight interceptions, resulting in a quarterback rating of 66.2 for the month.

That performance is reminiscent of Derek Anderson’s December to forget in 2007, when he put up a month that saw him complete 53 percent of his passes, threw eight interceptions against seven touchdowns, and posted a quarterback rating of 66.6 as the Browns missed out on a playoff spot.

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Can the Browns rewrite the script against Buffalo?

The Cleveland Browns shuffle off to Buffalo on Sunday to take on the Bills in the latest in a series of games that are vitally important to Cleveland’s playoff hopes.

It’s great that the Browns are beating on the NFC South like, well like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Baltimore regularly beat on the Browns, but Cleveland needs to start working on its conference record, which currently is a pedestrian 4-4. (Only Baltimore’s is worse among teams that are holding playoff aspirations.)

The Browns can do themselves a lot of good this weekend on several levels if they can take care of the Bills. A win gets the Browns to 8-4 heading into what should be a tough December schedule, and pushes the Bills a bit higher up next spring’s draft order, a key incentive as the Browns hold Buffalo’s No. 1 pick come the spring.

On the surface, it seems as if this game shouldn’t be a tough one for the Browns; after all, how hard can it be to beat a team quarterbacked by Kyle Orton and his 39-38 career record?

But we have been down this road before with Jacksonville and Houston, teams that beat up on the Browns in no small part because of their defensive line play.

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