The Things We Know--Week 7

Rookies make mistakes. So do veterans. But the story of the Cleveland Browns’ latest loss isn’t just about rookie and veteran mistakes. One of the great things we know about that loss is that it’s as much, if not more, about the story of head coach Pat Shurmur’s increasingly shaky grip on his current job than anything else. Shurmur demonstrated once again that for all the mistakes of the players he leads, it’s his own mistakes that hurt this team even more. The simple truth is that the fans shouldn’t expect the players to get better until the coach gets better.

The Browns 17-13 loss to the Colts has many parents. It was mistake-filled, from the botched hold by Reggie Hodges (who had a miserable day overall) on an extra point that put the Browns in a position where a field goal wouldn’t be enough to the two holding calls on veteran Ray Ventrone on two kick returns to even the Billy Winn offsides penalty and the various false starts that serve as drive killers. The cumulative weight of all these little indignities usually spells defeat, as they did Sunday, and yet it wasn’t as if the Indianapolis Colts were playing mistake-free. They were practically begging the Browns to win the game. I turned on the radio broadcast from the Colts near the end of the game and their announcers were almost apoplectic about how the Colts were surely handing the game to the lowly Browns; bold talk from a team that rightly should have lost all its games last season.

Sure you can put the blame on wide receiver Josh Gordon who dropped what would have been a potentially game winning touchdown for the ultimate loss. But that too would miss the larger point. Shurmur’s lack of nerve, his “let’s not seize the day” approach to decision making continues to reinforce among his charges that he doesn’t have their backs. So why would they have his?

There’s been plenty of written already about Shurmur once again eschewing a 4^th and 1 late in the game in favor of Jim Tressel’s favorite play, the punt. But what the heck, let’s pile on as well. Shurmur’s lack of guts reveals a very bothersome and ultimately debilitating flaw in his makeup as a head coach. It deserves to be examined and re-examined.

We all know the scenario by now because, hell, it was the same scenario as a few weeks ago. It was late in the game, the Browns needing a score and Shurmur deciding that the best way to get a touchdown was to put the game in the hands of his shaky defense and, what, hope they recover a fumble?

Shurmur doesn’t get a chance to demonstrate his cowardly streak if Gordon catches that pass on what was a 3^rd and 1 play. And some credit to Shurmur for trying to catch the Colts flatfooted by throwing long when the run looked like the safer play. But the second it’s time to give him credit, Shurmur invalidates that faith.

I don’t know exactly why the Browns’ offense couldn’t get their asses moving quickly enough to run a play before the time clock expired, I just know that they didn’t and when quarterback Brandon Weeden saw that only 3 seconds remained he panicked (rookie) and burned a very critical time out.

Let’s talk a little about that time out and how it fit into Shurmur’s warped thinking. First, it caused Shurmur to ignore what looked to be a gut instinct to go for the first down and try to win the game right there. That gut instinct would have been solidly backed up statistically. It’s been well chronicled by this point how head coaches, particularly in the NFL, often ignore the higher percentage play of fourth down out of loss aversion. But here, Shumur shouldn’t have even been suffering from loss aversion. The Browns never had this game won in the first place. They weren’t on the verge of losing anything because what’s another loss for a team that has cornered the market on competitive losses? Instead of recognizing that bit of circumstance Shurmur decided to make it that much more difficult to win the game, which was the last thing this team needed. If anything Shurmur suffers from win aversion.

Second, because the time out was stupidly burned, it actually made the decision to go for it on 4^th down that much easier, or should have. The problem with the “pin ‘em back” strategy that Shurmur trusts more than his offense is that it also requires all of your time outs for it to work best. When you can’t stop the clock, opposing NFL teams are pretty good at bleeding it well. Why Shurmur saw this as a more compelling reason to punt and not less is perhaps the biggest mystery in trying to figure out how his brain works.

Now of course Shurmur defends the decision by noting the after-the-fact result. The defense did hold the Colts and the Browns did get the ball back. The key there though is that he’s relying on the after-the-fact outcome to justify a decision that had to be made when he didn’t have the benefit of hindsight, except of course the kind of hindsight that comes with having made the same decision previously with the same, predictable dispiriting result just two weeks ago.

What Shurmur can’t seem to grasp is what is becoming his fatal flaw. He simply can’t see how the lack of confidence he exhibits in his own decision making infuses the players with the same inevitable sense of doom and loss.

Let’s roll the tape further and see what really happened. Hodges punted 21 yards, which was nearly as big a disaster as when he botched the hold on the extra point early in the game. The inability of a punter at a crucial moment to put the ball inside the 10 yard line from the 50 yard line suggests that Shurmur and his staff should spend quality time this week auditioning new punters.

Then the defense did hold the Colts to a 3-and-out and forced the punt. But Holdges’ lousy punt ensured the Browns would start in worse position, which they did, about 30 yards worse, then they voluntarily gave up. If that weren’t enough, the Browns now had 2 ½ minutes less time and that much more yardage to get the touchdown it still needed. (And as an aside, why is it that Shurmur seems to have enough faith in his defense to force a 3-and-out with the Colts backed up further but not the same faith that this defense can perform that trick if the Colts are starting from their own 41-yard line, which is where they would have started from had the 4^th down play not been successful? If you can figure that one out then congratulations, you’ve just been elected president of the Pat Shurmur fan club.)

But football is as much emotion as talent and at that point all things were not created equal. The offense that felt a little surge of confidence with a deep throw on 3^rd and 1 that almost worked was now not even close to the offense now on the field. In the interim they had been publicly embarrassed by their own coach who concluded for the entire world to see (or at least those few small corners that cared) that he didn’t believe his offense was good enough just a few minutes earlier to get 1 yard. It begs the question, doesn’t it, as to how the hell it was now going to move most of the length of the field and grab a touchdown? Not surprisingly, they didn’t come close.

If the reaction of Jimmy Haslam III from the owners’ box is any indication, this telling sequence of the events was harder for him to digest then a 3-day old brat from a street cart vendor.

It makes me wonder too what Haslam would do if this week were a bye week. Would he live up to his promise not to make any changes midseason? I know the temptation would have to be to move beyond Shurmur now and at least send the message to the troops (fans included) that it’s no longer business as usual.

No one is suggesting that Shurmur needs to be an unnecessary risk taker just to prove his mettle. But in a business context he needs to understand what appropriate risks there are to take. The Browns are 1-6, the worst team in the NFL, and have offered precious little to their fans for years to suggest that now, finally, this team is on the right path. Shurmur doesn’t come across as a person who even understands context or risk, which makes him ill suited to coach a team run by a businessman who clearly understands both. Shurmur may not get fired midseason but there’s no doubt that after Sunday’s game, this will be his last season in Cleveland.

**

To go back to where we started, one of the things fans had to expect when they saw how general manager Tom Heckert put this roster together was that most games would be mistake-filled messes. The fact that it’s turned out that way shouldn’t surprise.

The Browns, by virtue of their mistake-plagued record, most certainly lead the league in competitive losses. Other than the manhandling at the hands of the New York Football Giants a week ago, the Browns have basically been competitive all season.

But let’s not use that as some sort of evidence that the ship is righted. The truth that was revealed again Sunday is that Browns 2.0, now in its 14^th season, probably leads the league in competitive losses for the entirety of its existence. Eric Mangini managed to keep games close. So did Butch Davis and Romeo Crennel. And just like the competitive losses under prior head coaches didn’t end up translating into actual wins, there’s no reason to believe that the competitive losses like Sunday will magically translate into wins anytime soon either.

It’s a little jarring that Heckert hasn’t adequately explained, or really explained inadequately for that matter, why he put so many kids on the roster. Indeed, one of the reasons Mike Holmgren is enjoying retirement with Randy Lerner’s money stems from the disconnect between him and his general manager over this issue. Holmgren admitted he hadn’t realized that Heckert had constructed the roster as he did, thus demonstrating that if he had his hand on the pulse, it wasn’t the pulse of this team. Ouch.

The lack of communication from Browns’ management is a given and Heckert and his silence about this mess of a roster is in keeping with that grand tradition. So we’re left to surmise. At the very least, whether or not you agree with how the roster was put together, you can surmise credibly that Heckert doesn’t suffer from the same lack of confidence that plagues Shurmur. If nothing else, putting together a roster that almost certainly would be prone more to mistakes than wins was essentially a statement that Heckert was willing to stand behind his skills as a talent evaluator. Heckert obviously felt that the short term pain of the coming year would be worth it in the long run or even later in the season.

Well, a loss like Sunday’s is another reminder of just how much that pain can actually hurt. At 1-6 this Browns team is running out of games in which to put together an even respectable record, forget a winning record. At some point soon and well before next season, this team is going to have to turn these competitive losses into wins to justify the faith Heckert has in himself and some of the suspects he’s allowed on this roster.

Let’s be clear about one thing. Finding new or even more competitive ways to lose as the season comes to a close isn’t going to save Heckert’s job. Nothing short of actual winning will accomplish that. Yet there’s only so much the players can overcome and the one thing they can’t for now is the tentative nature of their head coach. Having gone all in on this roster the one thing Heckert apparently missed and what could ultimately undo his entire strategy is the weak link that Shurmur has become.

**

For as much attention he garners, one could be excused for thinking that as Greg Little goes so goes the entire team. That will never be the case.

It was nice to see Little finally hold on to the football but one game does not make a trend. Weeden clearly was not throwing much in Little’s direction the last few weeks, sending a message in the process. Maybe Precious Little got the message, if 6 catches Sunday means anything. Maybe he didn’t, if all the missed blocks mean anything.

Nonetheless, while blocking is a core competency for a wide receiver, Little needs to catch the ball to stay on the field and took a step in the right direction Sunday, even as the rest of the team was taking a step back.

**

Speaking of run blocking, the Browns looked clueless in their quest to establish a consistently feared running game. The New York Jets absolutely shredded the Colts run defense the week before and yet the Browns of Sunday looked like any other version of the Browns 2.0, you know the ones that would send Travis Prentice or James Jackson into a mass of humanity and then wonder why the run game never worked.

Trent Richardson was a bit confusing on his own health, saying both that he was fine and more hurt then he was letting on. What was true was that he was ineffective so sitting him down for the second half and trying to catch lightening in a bottle again with Montario Hardesty wasn’t among Shurmur’s worst ideas. That said, Shurmur decided not to actually use Hardesty all that much. Shurmur called the game as if the Browns were down by 20 and essentially needed to pass every play. They didn't.

In any event, let's be honest about Hardesty. He's only demonstrated that he’s a very average running back and Richardson demonstrated that it’s hard to be physical when your ribs are broken. Maybe that's why Hardesty acted as mostly a decoy. That put the game on Weeden’s shoulders. He delivered a credible performance. The pass that Gordon dropped was damn near as perfect of a pass as you’re likely to see. And he didn’t add to his league-high number of interceptions, either.

But putting any game solely on Weeden at this point isn’t among Shurmur’s better ideas. Weeden may resemble Randy Lerner facially but he has much more guile. Yet Weeden still doesn’t know everything he doesn’t know at this stage of his career. It falls on Weeden for calling that ill-advised time out. It’s his job to get the players in a position for the next play. That failing, as I noted above, gave Shurmur enough time to revisit a decision in the most unfortunate way.

Weeden has made dramatic improvement since week one and is playing as well as any rookie quarterback not named Robert Griffin III. Given that it is reasonable to expect that Weeden will someday be able to maintain calm while all others around him, including an overmatched coaching staff, are losing their heads. But that time is not just yet and Sunday more than proved that as well.

**

Next up is the San Diego Chargers, a mercurial team that perfectly matches the mercurial nature of their head coach, Norv Turner. Nonetheless, it will be another game where the road team is favored in Cleveland. If that doesn’t inform Haslam’s thinking about the team he just overpaid for, nothing will.

A Little Draft History

If it’s April in Cleveland, there are only two questions on the minds of local sports fans: How will the Indians finish this season and who will the Browns take in the draft?

As to the former, we can only hope that the roster, dotted as it is with no name position players who can’t hit and suspect pitching prospects with arm troubles and velocity problems, will not replicate the miserable spring training record it compiled. Unfortunately, it looks like it just might.

As to who the Browns will take, we can only hope it doesn’t end up in another lost opportunity, or three. When former head coach Eric Mangini, acting essentially as his own general manager, maneuvered around the draft a few years ago like a copier salesman at a Ramada Inn bar sizing up the talent on a Tuesday night, it ended in near abject disaster for the franchise.

Alex Mack has been a serviceable center, but hardly a stalwart who couldn’t otherwise be easily replaced. And he was the highlight of that draft. Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi were drafted in the second round with the idea that they’d become the foundation of an improved receiving corps. Robiskie was cut last year and Massaquoi has shown himself to be like Mack, only more so. Massaquoi is the kind of 3^rd or 4^th receiver that most teams already have. The depth he adds is marginal since there isn’t much talent in the 1^st and second slots. (In truth, the real problem with Cleveland’s receivers is the same problem most Indians teams have historically had—plenty of players at exactly the same second or third tier talent level.) He’ll probably survive training camp this season if only because the Browns’ options are still so few.

But why single out Mangini? It’s not like any of the previous drafts were any better. Indeed, there’s only one player on the current roster from the three pre-Mangini drafts and none before that. You could go back further and chart the average length any of the Browns’ draft picks who actually stayed in the league spent in the NFL (about 2 years) to make the further point, but why bother?

The Browns are lousy at drafting and have been lousy at drafting for as long as they’ve been back in the league. It’s why they’re so bad now. But for the moment, let’s not lament the Browns and instead illustrate a much larger point as we look at some other teams’ inglorious draft history. For all the supposed science and money and time and kvetching that goes into the NFL draft by the experts employed by the teams, not to mention the curbside experts employed by networks or sitting on bar stools at BW-3, it still remains mostly a game of chance.

**

Long before now, Ryan Leaf became less a person and more a punch line. One of the best known and biggest draft busts in the history of the NFL, Leaf embodied everything that could possibly go wrong with the NFL draft. Now he’s back wearing a number, only this time it’s attached to prison garb and not a uniform.

The story of his arrest last week, and another this week, for allegedly burglarizing at least two homes to steal prescription drugs were just the latest in a long list of epilogues that have been written about Leaf. And as sad as it all is, the Leaf story is also a cautionary tale, really, on how utterly useless all the run up to the NFL draft can be.

Experts were about evenly split on whether Leaf was the better choice as the number one draft pick in the 1998 NFL draft or whether that honor should go to Peyton Manning. Manning played with the more established program at Tennessee while Leaf toiled in relative obscurity at Washington State.

But in ways in which only the draft can whip up frenzied thinking not just among fans but those paid big money to make these decisions, the argument over Leaf vs. Manning went almost down to the wire. Leaf had the better arm. Manning was more mature.

As the debate raged on, Manning vs. Leaf, Leaf vs. Manning, the San Diego Chargers, sitting at number three in the draft knew one thing: they wanted one of the two and really didn’t care which. So they swapped picks with Arizona, threw in another first rounder, a second rounder and Eric Metcalf-up-the-middle, for that right.

If you’re sensing a feeling a of déjà vu all over again, right down to the involvement of the Indianapolis Colts, there’s probably good reason. Twelve years later with the Colts having wrung out all they felt they could from Manning are now on the precipice of almost the same decision, only this time in the form of Andrew Luck vs. Robert Griffin III. The Washington Redskins, desperate for a franchise quarterback, made a blockbuster trade to ensure they’d get one of the two.

The more things change… And for what it’s worth, this is exactly the scenario the Browns, and not the Redskins, would have been walking into had they instead made the ill-advised trade for the second pick in the draft.

Would they have fared better than San Diego? Probably, but how come whenever someone says Griffin’s name I can’t help but hear them say “JaMarcus Russell?” Maybe they’re really saying “Akili Smith.” That may be unfair.

While the parallels are almost scary between then and now, there are some differences. In the first place, by all accounts Griffin is more physically gifted then Leaf was (not to mention Russell or Smith). Part of the reason Leaf looked so good resulted from the relatively inferior competition he faced each week playing for Washington State in the then PAC-10. (Heck, the now PAC-12 is an awful conference still). It’s that simple fact—it’s difficult comparing players across conferences—that contributes to the voodoo nature of the NFL draft in the first place.

But more importantly, Griffin, by all accounts is far more mature then Leaf then or even now. Griffin shows up for his interviews with teams and answers in a straightforward fashion. Leaf always had an entitlement chip on his shoulder and stiffed the Colts on a pre-draft interview, thus likely sealing his fate as a #2 choice.

Let’s not forget, though, that both Russell and Smith were also supposedly mature beyond their years, although in both cases that proved not to be true. Russell, in particular, was highly touted by Phil Savage who, before he imploded in Cleveland, was one of the more respected scouts in the NFL. Savage raved about Russell in ways usually reserved by a father for his son. It sounded like pre-draft hype and perhaps it was but I did sense that Savage really meant what he said. He had a relationship with Russell that dated back several years and seemed thoroughly convinced that he would be a franchise quarterback for some lucky team. He wasn’t.

Still, the object lesson of Manning vs. Leaf is that when there’s a near sure bet on the table in the NFL draft, you take it and don’t look back. Manning, given his upbringing and maturity (the son of a NFL quarterback, a 4-year college starter) was a near lock to be a good NFL quarterback. It was only a question of how good. Leaf, Russell and Smith can with the label of having greater potential upside. Initially the only question was how quickly it could be realized. Ultimately it was a question of why wasn’t it ever realized.

Given this history, the Colts then just as the Colts now will take the bird in the hand and draft the son of former NFL quarterback and a 4-year college starter instead of the player with the potentially greater upside. Though the Colts haven’t made their plans public just yet, it would be a shock of seismic proportions if they didn’t draft Luck. They will.

The Redskins will take Griffin and hope that the thrill ride of potential doesn’t break down quickly like it did for the Chargers (Leaf), the Raiders (Russell) and the Bengals (Smith).

The Browns on the other hand may end up not doing what they need to with the 4^th pick, filling in the massive gaps on this team on both sides of the ball, and instead fall prey to this week’s flavor of the day, Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill, because some unaccountable talking heads from ESPN were jazzed by Tannehill’s pro day work out. For what that’s worth, that means that Tannehill looked awfully good wearing shorts, throwing out patterns to friends while assistant coaches chased him with blocking dummies. Not exactly game conditions.

If the Browns make that move, they do so knowing it will be a reach and the fans should accept that fact. Tannehill is smart but he started for the Aggies for only a year and a half. It’s not exactly a tremendous body of work on which to judge, which means that you’re buying potential and not actual production. It’s something that so many teams do as they convince themselves they’re smarter then everyone else. Usually they end up looking dumber then everyone else a season or two later.

**

It would have been a nice story if Leaf or Russell or Smith had gone on to have decent NFL careers, but it was never meant to be. In each case, none were nearly as good as the pre-draft hype. The arms were big but there are plenty of guys tossing footballs through hoops at carnivals with big arms.

What they each lacked, ultimately, was the intelligence and maturity it takes to play one of the most difficult positions in professional sports. To succeed as a NFL quarterback you have to be able to make that throw across your body and across the field to an outlet receiver who’s broken loose in the secondary and you have to do it while 4 or 5 guys all weighing at least 300 pounds collapse the pocket or seal you off on the edges. You also have to know what every other receiver is doing at the exact same time and then you have to discern the true defensive formation being run and not the one that’s being shown. And for good measure, you have about 5 seconds to get all of this done and you have to be able to do this 20 some times game in and game out, year in and year out.

That neither Leaf, Russell or Smith made it hardly qualifies as tragedy. Indeed, that there’s anyone that can get all this done and done well is by far the exception and not the rule. It’s the reason teams like the Browns go through quarterbacks like toddlers go through Pampers.

This is all a way of saying that the next time you get it in your head that the Browns screwed up by not mortgaging the future for RGIII or buying into the hype surrounding Tannehill it’s worth remembering that when you take anything other than the sure path in the NFL, you end up hitting more pot holes then smooth surfaces.

For a team like the Browns that have broken down in every season for nearly a generation, it’s time to ignore the hype and find the sure paths. That means more Joe Thomases and less pretty much everything else they’ve tried.

The Almost Closer

It's far too early to call anyone on the Cleveland Browns “the Closer,” but if and when that time comes, running back Peyton Hillis will be the most likely candidate. Eschewing a trend where his team couldn't seem to close out games with 4th quarter leads, Hillis took matters into his own hands. With 4 minutes remaining and the Browns nursing a precarious 5 point lead, Hillis turned a simple off tackle run into a 24-yard scamper that helped push the Browns to a 27-19 win over the (wait for it) winless Indianapolis Colts.

A late Phil Dawson followed by the Colts' first touchdown in two games provided the final margin of victory.

For much of the game, it looked as if NFL films had used some technical wizardry to run a loop of last week's Browns-Bengals match up, colorizing the Bengals to look like the Colts. The Browns' defense looked flat-footed as the Bengals moved the ball twice early, giving the writers in the press box all sorts of really clever ideas about how they could say that the Browns looked to be as stuck in the mud as their charter plane was on the Hopkins airport runway.

But the Colts, like the Bengals the week before, had to settle for field goals when they really needed touchdowns allowing the Browns once again to stay close in a game that could have gotten out of hand early.

And while the Browns' offense wasn't exactly dynamic, it wasn't stuck in neutral either. Behind a far more efficient Colt McCoy, the Browns used the second quarter once again to great effect with two touchdowns to run out to a 14-9 half time lead which had to give some in the crowd a sort of “uh oh” moment.

This time the Browns' defense didn't get caught napping, Colts quarterback Kerry Collins couldn't channel Bruce Gradkowski, and the Browns were able to secure for Pat Shurmur his first win of his career with 13 fourth quarter points that sent Colts fans home miserable and scratching themselves.

But let's be honest with each other for a moment. It's not like this victory came easy, especially in contrast with the Houston Texans' beat down of this same, pitiful Colts team a week before. But the Browns needed a victory, especially one in which they demonstrated they can hold on to late leads, and it matters little whether it was frustrating or folly.

For any Browns fan watching the game (and gosh is it painful at times to listen to Marv Albert and Rich Gannon), the cameras panning a despondent Colts' crowd had to look familiar.

We know that look, don't we? It's the elbows on the knees, the chin resting on the hands feeling of resignation as your team runs one futile series after another. But no one in this neck of the woods is going to feel sorry for the Colts. Football tends to show no mercy and the Colts are being punished for building both an offense and a defense around Peyton Manning, who may not play again this season.

Collins, of course, is a big part of the problem. He's always just been good enough to stay in the league but never good enough to be a consistent threat. I'd say he looked like an aging Joe Bauserman (my second straight Browns' game story reference to Bauserman, by the way) but I actually think Bauserman might be older. In any case, Collins' inability to have anything resembling a grasp of the Colts' offense allowed the Browns' defense to mostly contain the Colts until the last gasp end of the game touchdown.

While the Colts these days aren't particularly stout opposition, let's at least acknowledge some progress for the Browns. As noted, McCoy was far more efficient. He was 22-32 for 211 yards and 1 touchdown, a nice 16-yard pass that McCoy squeezed into tight end Evan Moore in the back of the Colts' end zone. (Not to pick nits or anything, but in truth McCoy picked the tougher of the two throws on that play. Moore was open, but so too was Hillis near the goal line with no one near him. A simple pitch to Hillis would have resulted in a score as well.)

But perhaps the biggest improvement on offense anyway came in the simple fact that third down was not the enemy this week. The Browns were 8-16 on third down, a significant step forward from last week's rather Buckeyes' like 4-15. And it wasn't necessarily due to the Browns consistently being in short yardage situations on 3rd down although that helped. It was more due to good decision making by McCoy, some slippery running by receivers who caught the ball short and turned it into first downs and, occasionally some good inside running by Hillis.

The other thing that's trending for this Browns' offense is the emergence of both Cribbs and Greg Little as its two main receivers with Mohamed Massaquoi the third option. Brian Robiskie, though he did start the game, doesn't appear as though he'll ever figure out the pro game as he becomes increasingly irrelevant. Indeed if Robiskie sticks around and stays active for every game this season it will be solely because the receiving corps generally is among the thinnest groups on the roster.

It's sad, really, that Roskie isn't any sort of threat. He runs good routes and he has good hands. But there is no elusiveness in his game, he can't break out of a route to help his quarterback and he simply rarely is open. Oh well, that's fodder for another column. Let's stick to the main themes.

Heading into the game, the conventional wisdom was that the Browns would work the run and try to be opportunistic with the pass. And while they did work extremely hard to try and establish the run, the Colts were mostly ready for it. Look at it this way. Hillis had 26 carries for 70 yards and 1 carry for 24 yards.

Unquestionably Hillis is the Browns' best runner, but it will be interesting to understand the thinking of Shurmur, who, after all, serves as his own offensive coordinator, as to why Montario Hardesty only got three carries. Perhaps even more interesting will be why, when the Browns had the ball inside the Colts' 5-yard line early in the 4th quarter and the first real chance to put the game away, Shurmur had Hillis out of the game in favor of Hardesty. Two Hardesty runs that went for naught and then an incomplete pass on third down forced a Phil Dawson field goal that made it 17-12. A 21-12 lead at that moment would have been huge.

The Browns' defense, still themselves learning new schemes and likewise in need of more practice time, were in their usual bend but don't quite break mode. Of Adam Vinitieri's 4 field goals, three were from the 21-yard line or less and each followed drives of at least 9 plays. That's a testament both to the Colts, with Collins behind center, not being able to finish drives and the Browns' defense tightening at just the right time.

The Colts did have some success in the running game. Joseph Addai had 14 carries for 64 yards and Copley's Delone Carter had 11 carries for 46 yards,. But with Collins unable to connect with his receivers until garbage time late, the running game became mostly an interesting diversion.

The Browns' defensive line got decent pressure on Collins throughout the game. He was sacked twice, once each by Jabaal Sheard and Ahtyba Rubin, and pressured into fumbling deep in Colts' territory. That fumble, recovered by Sheard, led to a 23-yard field goal by Dawson with just over three minutes remaining. In fact, as much as young players like Joe Haden and T.J. Ward get most of the love from the press on defense, Sheard and Phil Taylor might be more talented. With Rubin in the middle, the Browns' defensive line is something other teams will have to scheme against. The Colts certainly did.

If there was one thing more than anything that was troubling was that the Browns fumbled four times, though they lost only one. That would be the fumble by Hillis at the Colts' 40-yard line on the Browns' first drive of the third quarter. It led to a Vinitiari field goal when, again, a Collins-led touchdown was needed.

Bad teams may not be able to overcome mistakes, but when one bad team plays another and they're both making those kinds of mistakes (Collins had a fumble and an interception) someone is going to overcome it. It's a measure really of the state of the Colts at the moment that it would be the Browns.

There is an adage in the NFL that the biggest leap teams make is from the first game to the second. For the Browns it wasn't so much a leap as it was a puddle jump. On the other hand, they didn't go backward and for the first time since 2007 they have won at least one game before losing at least three. That should keep the locals chomping for another week as an average Miami comes to town giving the Browns a real chance to have their first winning record after three games since 2002.

Lingering Items--Colts Edition

If Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage’s impromptu press conference on Wednesday proved anything, it’s that there’s at least as much chill inside the Berea complex as outside. While seemingly building up his hand-picked head coach, the same one he gave a two-year contract extension worth $4 million a year this past January, Savage also made sure everyone not only understood the line of demarcation between the two but also who’s doing their job and who isn’t.

Essentially disavowing any responsibility for the on-the-field results, Savage made it clear to the media, just as he had made it clear to the players a few weeks ago apparently, that Savage picks the roster, Crennel fills out the weekly dance card. Indeed, this was the second time Savage made that same point, telling the media a few weeks ago, “My responsibility is the 53-man roster, and then it’s Romeo and the rest of the coaching staff’s decision how to utilize the 45 players who are dressed on Sunday. If I’m going to get involved in those decisions, then I may as well put a headset on and double my salary.”

This latter comment caught the attention of the CBS NFL Live crew last Sunday. James Brown, the studio host, likened it to Savage essentially throwing Crennel under the bus. At the time, I thought that was a bit of an overstatement. But given Savage’s comments on Wednesday, now I’m not so sure.

Savage claims he’s just trying to build up Crennel’s credibility with his players by tamping down any thoughts that Savage or anyone else is making decisions on who plays each week. That would be more believable if Savage then hadn’t spent a good part of his press conference talking about how disappointing the season has been yet essentially patting himself on the back for the wonderful job he’s done, saying “The football operations part of this organization is stronger than it has ever been.”

But that was hardly the extent of it. It went on. “I think we have a lot of good players,” Savage said. “When you watch the tapes, the individual matchups, we have more than enough ability to compete in this league and play good football and we’ve shown that.” See the pattern? It’s not the pieces Savage put in place, it’s the execution. Still skeptical? Consider what Savage said next. “I think one of the most troubling things that’s happened is when we have a bad play, it’s followed by an even worse play. It’s been like a chain reaction for that two or three-play focus or concentration. It’s something we’ve got to get a handle on.”

So if Savage is doing his job but the players are losing focus or concentration, whose fault could that be? Hmmm, I wonder. Savage may not be hanging Crennel completely out to dry with his comments, but there’s no question he’s clearly distancing himself from the soon-to-be former head coach.

Savage may see himself as an honorable man, earnestly trying to do the best he can. But he’s also turned into a ruthless opportunist who rarely misses a chance to deflect criticism and diffuse responsibility. Savage is right in his assessment of the problems on the field and while he didn’t say directly it is Crennel’s fault, he didn’t have to. But Savage is just as much to blame, which he was not so quick to acknowledge.

In the first place, he’s the one that gave an unproven coach with just one winning season a two-year contract extension instead of waiting to see if last season was the aberration or the previous two seasons were. Second, Savage has created more than his share of messes this season and has left others, usually Crennel, to clean it up.

In the meantime, Crennel and Savage continue to drift further and further apart. In the structure that is the Browns’ organization, that isn’t good news for Crennel. It was reported last week that Crennel needs a miracle finish to retain his job. That isn’t true. He needs a miracle.

**
One of the more amusing comments Savage made in his press conference was when he said “I’m an open book. I can walk with my head held high.” Savage is hardly an open book by even the most generous of measurements. It was his first press conference in two months. His media appearances in between have been simply to address, in vague and defiant terms, his mishandling of the Kellen Winslow staph infection issue and the profane email he sent to a fan. Even these were after the fact and not when his alleged openness could have helped diffuse the situation. At best, Savage opens only occasional chapters and keeps most of the rest of the story to himself.

The second most amusing comments Savage made were with regard to his claim that he doesn’t dictate who gets to play each Sunday. While claiming the decisions reside solely with Crennel, he then noted that “Do we talk about it during the week? Absolutely. Have I said, ‘I’d like for us to play so and so,’ or ‘Maybe we could get this guy in the game more? Absolutely. But it’s the coach’s decision. That’s the way it works across the whole NFL.”

Savage may be correct that it works that way across the NFL, but he is being more than a bit disingenuous in under playing his influence on who plays each week. Anyone who has ever worked for anyone understands a pecking order. When the boss tells/suggests how you should do something, woe be to you if you do something different and it doesn’t work out. If Savage says to Crennel “I’d like you to play Alex Hall” and is ignored, what do you think the tenor of their next conversation might be?

The other thing is that Savage isn’t saying is that by choosing the roster in the first place, he often effectively limits Crennel’s choices each week anyway. If Savage doesn’t give Crennel any other viable receivers, does Crennel really have any other choice but to play Braylon Edwards?

**

The fact that Savage has the final say over who makes the final 53-man roster may come as a surprise to some but it’s actually more common than not in the NFL. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like a big deal because there probably isn’t much disagreement over the first 45-50 players on the team anyway. The battle, if any, between the coach and the general manager comes over the last few players on the roster.

A coach, particularly one that is fighting for his coaching life, might want to keep an extra veteran or two on the roster. A general manager, with an eye on the future and another on the budget might think a lower-priced late round draft choice or an undrafted free agent might be a better choice. In the end, how that all plays out probably doesn’t matter much, unless, again, you’re a coach fighting for your job, which is pretty much every coach in the NFL.

Consider just this Browns’ season. When Savage traded Leigh Bodden and Daven Holly went down with a season ending injury, the Browns’ secondary was suddenly extremely thin. It was Savage’s decision to not sign a veteran presence to make up for the shortfall. Instead, he basically dictated, by not signing anyone else, that Crennel would have to make do with Ben McDonald and Eric Wright.

Crennel, as a defensive specialist, knows better than anyone else that a starting defensive backfield of McDonald and Wright was going to struggle. And it has. It’s also helped to contribute to a few of the Browns’ losses. But because Crennel doesn’t get to make those decisions, he effectively has no choice but to trot out two players who aren’t ready for prime time and hope for the best.

Crennel, for all his faults, isn’t one to make excuses. He’s never complained, for example, about some of Savage’s more questionable decisions. But there’s no question that Crennel would have filled out those final roster spots much differently, particularly as this season has gone on, knowing that he’s going to be sacrificed for the failures at season’s end.

**

There’s been much talk by high-minded media types about the handful of fans that supposedly cheered when Derek Anderson was injured last Sunday. I say supposedly because it’s not all clear what this group was or was not cheering. These media types are shocked, just shocked, that anyone would cheer an injured player.

Maybe these folks need to venture outside of the press box once in awhile. It’s hardly a State secret that in a crowd of 70,000 plus each week, there will be a handful of jerks. Sometimes more than a handful. Assuming they were cheering the Anderson injury (an assumption I’m not ready to make), it may be uncalled for, but it probably wouldn’t even make the list of the dumbest things that happened in the stands that day, let alone all season. Just ask the guy whose still probably trying to get vomit stains off of his pant leg if he would have rather sat, instead, next to someone whose only dumb act was to cheer an injury.

But as I said, I’m not even convinced they were truly cheering Anderson’s injury in the first place. They may have been callously cheering an injury to one of their own, but it’s also possible that they were just expressing their frustration with the whole mess that lay in front of them.

If Savage thinks this has been a trying time for him and the organization, he can only imagine the abject frustration of the fans. What they are most tired of is false promises, prima donna players, and coaches and management that act as if they’ve never seen a NFL game in their lives.

Anderson, fairly or not, embodied many of those frustrations. It’s highly doubtful anyone was happy he was injured. It’s highly likely that whoever was cheering was sending a message to Savage and owner Randy Lerner that they’re fed up, with the high prices, the low performances, the cold weather and the economy, to name just a few.

**
Last season, the Browns missed the playoffs in part because the Tennessee Titans, this week’s foe, beat the Indianapolis Colts, who were resting their starters, on the last game of the season. Maybe the Colts are starting to regret tanking that game. That late season momentum and experience the Titans gained by getting in the playoffs last year has more than carried into this season, at the expense of the Colts.

With all that in mind, this week’s question to ponder: If Ken Dorsey instead of Kerry Collins was the quarterback of the Titans, would they still be 11-1?

Taking On More Water

On a day when the Indianapolis Colts were being generous with turnovers, it was one key turnover by the Cleveland Browns that made the difference in the game. With the Browns clinging to a 6-3 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game, quarterback Derek Anderson dropped back to pass and lost the grip on the ball. Colts' defensive end Robert Mathis picked up the bouncing ball and returned it 37 yards for the game's only touchdown, giving the Colts the 10-6 lead and, ultimately, the game.

It was the Colts' fifth straight victory. It was the Browns' second straight defeat and second straight game in which they failed to score a touchdown of any kind.

When the ship is sinking, the floor show hardly matters. The Browns' ship has been taking on water almost since the first game of the season and with five games left no one's thinking the ship can be saved anyway. Thus these final games remaining are less about wins and losses and more about, well, just getting the whole damn thing over with so that we can find out who will be coaching the team next season. In that context, that's exactly what the Browns did on a day when the Colts did almost everything they could to not only keep the Browns in the game but actually give it to them in the form of an early Christmas present wrapped in a pretty bow. The Browns would have none of that.

Sunday's loss will ultimately be nothing more than a footnote to a season where the far bigger stories have taken place during the week. But it did answer some of the more burning questions, such as whether Anderson will suddenly find magic and force head coach Romeo Crennel into rethinking his decision to keep the injured Brady Quinn entrenched as the starter heading into next season. Anderson didn't light it up and was injured in the process, having to be carried off the field during the Browns' final drive. The most pressing question is now whether Anderson can return next week or if the Browns really will have Richard Bartel as next week's back up quarterback.

If the Colts end up making the playoffs, which is looking more likely each week, they'll look back at this week's escape as the reason. Though moving the ball effecitvely, if slowly all day, all the Colts could muster was one Adam Vinateri field goal until the Mathis return gave them not only their first lead but ultimately the game.

In part, they can thank two fumbles and two Peyton Manning interceptions. But really those were only part of the story. Just one turnover led to Cleveland points, a 34-yard Phil Dawson field goal in the first quarter after running back Joseph Addai fumbled on the game's first play. Another turnover, a Manning fumble at the Browns 1-yard line on fourth down, may have stopped a Colts' touchdown but the Browns already looked to have Manning stopped short of the goal line when the ball popped free so that point is debatable.

It actuality it was a combination of a flat Colts offense that was missing some key players, including center Jeff Saturday, and a Browns' defense that was bending but not breaking that stopped the Colts. If only the Browns' offense could have done their part. But doing so would have taken an effort largely out of character for a team that can no longer be described as merely out of sync.

For a first half that had no punts and three Colts' turnovers, the Browns could only manage a 6-3 lead. The inability to get the ball in the end zone, particularly when in the red zone, is a familiar theme for the Browns, certainly, but somewhat unchartered territory for the Colts who never seem to have problems finding the end zone.

The Browns seemingly got the start and the break they wanted right away when Addai fumbled on the first play of scrimmage, giving the Browns the ball at the Colts' 47 yard line. The turnover ended predictably enough, with the Browns failing once again in close and settling for a field goal, the Dawson 34-yarder. How the Browns covered the 30 yards of the drive was, however, instructive.

If there was one thing you can bank on it's that the Browns would try to run the ball. The reasons were two-fold. The Colts have one of the worst run defenses in the league. Second, the Browns run their offense with a squeaky wheel philosophy and for the second time this season, the run-up to the game featured a healthy dose of complaints from running back Jamal Lewis about the game plan. Thus did the Browns run, somewhat effectively, on their first 9 plays from scrimmage. But on 3rd and 8 from the Colts' 20-yard line, the Browns were forced to pass. Anderson, scared silly by this point in his development, didn't even bother to look downfield, immediately finding Jason Wright out of the backfield for a short game, setting up the Dawson field goal.

The Colts, on the other hand, were hardly so constrained. Temporarily sidetracked on their opening possession, they came back and put together a long, efficient, diverse drive starting from their own 23-yard line. There were runs up the middle and to the edges. There were swing passes. There were passes down the field and a few underneath. But on a 3rd and 11 from the Cleveland 12-yard line, just when Manning seemingly found Reggie Wayne in the end zone, beleaguered cornerback Brandon McDonald broke up the completion, forcing the Colts to settle for a 30-yard Adam Vinatieri field-goal that tied the game a 3-3.

The Browns came right back with a long drive of their own, this time with a little less predictablility. Mixing in a variety of short passes and good runs, the Browns found themselves at the Colts' 8-yard line. In many ways, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski was using a game plan similar to the one he used effectively in Brady Quinn's first start. But seeing how well Quinn's mistakes went over last week, Anderson appeared wary of making his own and ate the ball on 3rd and 8 from the Colts' 8-yard line, forcing another chip shot Dawson field goal that gave the Browns the lead again at 6-3. On the drive, Anderson was 6-7, the longest pass of which was a 16-yarder to Braylon Edwards. The other five passes covered five or less yards each.

The Colts looked like they were taking control by putting together their second long drive of the half. Starting at their 33-yard line, the Colts once again moved down the field methodically, if not quickly. But after getting to the Cleveland 1-yard line, the Browns stopped Addai for no gain on 3rd down. Eschewing another field goal, Manning tried to sneak it in on fourth down with just over a minute left but fumbled short of the goal line. Though seemingly recovered in the end zone by the Colts' Dallas Clark, by rule in the last two minutes of each half the ball cannot be advanced on a fumble unless recovered by the fumbling player, in this case, Manning. As a result, the Browns took over at their own 1-yard line still clinging to the 6-3 lead. Backed up, the Browns could not get a first down and were forced to punt, giving the Colts and Manning one last play in the half. Manning's pass was picked off by Sean Jones as the half ended. It was the Colts' third turnover of the game.

The Browns were the first to punt, going three and out in their first drive of the second half. Anderson seemingly had Edwards open for the first down but threw low and behind him, forcing the punt. After muffing the punt, the Colts got the ball at their own 15-yard line. Manning immediately threw down field for Wayne but McDonald had perfect coverage and came up with the interception at the Colts' 49-yard line giving the Browns their fourth takeaway of the game.

Anderson moved the Browns quickly into the Colts' red zone on a perfectly thrown 20-yard pass to Edwards and an 8-yard run by Lewis. But this drive died, too, only without the benefit of another Dawson field goal as he was wide left from 35-yards. On the drive's crucial play, a 3rd and 2 from the Colts' 18-yard line, Anderson was forced to call time out. Proving that having any time is too much time, Chudzinski changed plays and inserted Cribbs as quarterback. The Colts were hardly fooled and stopped him for no gain. Another opportunity squandered.

It was about this time that it looked as if all the lost chances would eventually catch up with the Browns. As it turned out, of course, that's exactly what did happen, but barely. With a game plan fixated strangely on the run, the Colts seemed flat on offense. After moving ploddingly into Browns' territory, Manning couldn't find anyone open on 3rd and 8 from the Browns' 28-yard line. Vinatieri then hooked a 46-yard field goal left leaving the Browns still clinging to the 6-3 lead.

After the Browns couldn't move the ball, punter Dave Zastudil dropped the ball at the Colts' 4-yard line where it was downed by Josh Cribbs. It was the Colts' worst field position of the game. The Colts were able to get one first down but no more and were forced into their first punt of the game with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game.

That set up what turned out to be the game's most crucial play, the Anderson fumble. After that, the Browns had no answer. Taking over at their own 10-yard line following an illegal block penalty on the kick return, the Browns offense was able to get one first down but nothing more, giving the Colts the opportunity to run out the clock with 5:32 remaining. Milking every second from the play clock, the Colts got one first down but couldn't convert on a 3rd and 1 with two minutes remaining. What was most interesting, though, was Crennel's clock management. With the clock ticking to below three minutes and the Colts satisfied to keep the ball on the ground, Crennel opted to preserve the team's remaining two time outs instead of keeping more time on the clock. It was a questionable decision, but then again what Crennel decision this season hasn't been?

Of course, it didn't work. With the ball at the Cleveland 30-yard line, the Browns moved with all their usual dispatch and were forced to burn their time outs quickly. After getting one first down, Anderson was then sacked by Mathis all the way back at the Browns' 33-yard line and hurt his ankle in the process and had to be helped from the field. That brought on long-forgotten Ken Dorsey with 1:07 remaining and no time outs and the Browns in need of their first touchdown in two games. It would have hardly been a surprise if Dorsey had his street clothes on underneath his rain parka. He didn't, but the outcome was as expected nonetheless. He threw two incompletions and was picked off with 45 seconds remaining, preserving the Colts' victory.

It was the kind of game that in many ways has characterized the Browns this season. At times throughout, the defense has held good teams in check. Today was no different. Manning was only 15-21 for 125 yards and the two interceptions. He wasn't at his best, certainly, but the Browns' defense had their say in that as well. The Colts had only 90 yards rushing as well and only 215 net yards on offense. But the Browns offense was as bad as it's been nearly every week against a Colts' defense that was injured coming in and had bodies seemingly leaving the field nearly every series. Anderson was 16-26 for only 110 yards and rarely through downfield. Lewis had 77 yards on 24 carries, which should make him happy for another week. Meanwhile, Wright and Jerome Harrison each got two carries. The Browns in turn had only 193 yards of offense.

The outcome, which puts the Browns at 4-8, isn't going to make owner Randy Lerner any more sick. It won't make him feel any better, either. But if it's symbolic victories that are now what the team is playing for, they can at least know they've come as close as anyone to beating both Mannings this season.

Lingering Items...Season-ending Edition

Sunday’s game against the San Francisco was hardly high art or compelling drama. In the end it all it proved was that the Browns have a much stronger foothold in the future than do the 49ers. But that game really wasn’t what had the fans gnashing their teeth anyway. That was reserved for the Tennessee Titans/Indianapolis Colts game that took place later that night.

Though the game meant everything to the Titans and nothing to the Colts, the Titans still struggled against the Colts reserves, just as they had struggled against the Jets starters the week before, making everyone wonder exactly how the Titans actually won 10 games this season.

But win 10 games they did and they were a better set of wins, at least as far as NFL wild card tiebreakers are concerned. That left the Browns and their fans to ponder again what went wrong the week before against Cincinnati and what might have been had the Browns made the playoffs. The loss the Bengals a week ago was a key, certainly, but if you replay the season, you can likely find a point that could have turned each game differently. Although the Browns ultimately needed one more victory to get into the playoffs, there also were plenty of chances for them to have finished 9-7 or even 8-8. In the end, they probably are where they deserve to be, watching from the sidelines and, hopefully, learning a thing or two about what it takes to be a top-tier team in the NFL.

But because this is a season-ending installment of Lingering Items, here’s a whole array of “what ifs?” on a game by game basis, for the fans to consider as they settle in for what again will be a long winter’s nap.

What if…

…Romeo Crennel didn’t need to flip a coin to make a key coaching decision before the first pre-season game against Kansas City? Charlie Frye supposedly was the starter entering the pre-season but a lackluster camp, though Derek Anderson was no better, apparently gave Crennel second thoughts. When Crennel publicly admitted he would pick his opening game quarterback by flipping a coin, he demonstrated how ill-suited he is to this head-coaching gig by essentially telling both Anderson and Frye, not to mention the rest of the team and all of its fans, that neither was a true starter and that even if either was, Crennel was ill-suited to make that judgment. It wouldn’t be his only coaching mistake of the season.

…Crennel hadn’t made the wrong decision about a starter heading into the season and had gone with Anderson in the first game against Pittsburgh? Maybe it doesn’t make a difference, given that Anderson, too, lost to Pittsburgh later in the year, but on the other hand given how Anderson played throughout the season, it could have made a big difference. Remember the five sacks against Frye but only one against Anderson? In the end, this turned out to be an example of Crennel’s shortcomings actually aiding the team. Savage saw the wreckage, traded Frye practically before the Browns had even showered after the game and Anderson was firmly established as the starter, which proved to be the confidence booster he needed. It also allowed the Browns to bring back Ken Dorsey whose value as a mentor to both Anderson and Brady Quinn and his experience with Rob Chudzinski’s offense already has paid unexpected dividends.

…the Cincinnati Bengals had not played an emotional game against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night during the first week, a game the Bengals won in overtime? At the time, it seemed to be the reason for the Bengals massive letdown against the Browns the following week, a game that launched Anderson’s career and a game the Browns won in shootout fashion, 51-45. As it turned out, of course, neither Baltmore nor Cincinnati were very good and the tension of that first week was really just too bad teams evenly matched.

…the Browns defense doesn’t allow the Raiders to convert a 3rd and 23 with just over 10 minutes left in the game the Browns ultimately lost 26-24? As a result of what would be one of numerous defensive breakdowns throughout the season, the Raiders were able to kick a field goal that was the margin of difference in that difficult loss. But all that could have been rendered irrelevant if the Browns special teams had not allowed the woeful Oakland Raiders to block Phil Dawson’s 40-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left that would have won the game.

…Baltimore Ravens duel geniuses Brian Billick and Ozzie Newsome had found a way by this point to establish a NFL-caliber offense? If they had, then they might have found a way to score more than 13 points against the league’s worst defense. But since they didn't, the Browns won an important divisional game 27-13 that, as much as anything else, sent the Ravens on their season long tailspin. I know the Ravens have a Super Bowl victory in 2000 and won 13 games last season, but in nine years under Newsome and Billick, the only time the Ravens had an offense that ranked even in the top half of the league was 2001, when it ranked 14th. Most of the time, it ranked in the bottom third. That isn’t just bad luck, it’s an institutional failure. Now that the Ravens defense is mostly showing its age and can no longer hide the offensive problems, the result is what you’d expect: 5-11. Billick deserved to be fired, although having him in Baltimore was kind of like having Lloyd Carr in Michigan. Newsome shouldn’t be far behind in the unemployment line.


…Anderson doesn’t throw an interception on 3rd and 1 from the New England Patriots one-yard line in the first quarter of that 34-17 loss? Sure, it’s still unlikely that the Browns could have beaten the Patriots, no one else did, but it also set up a disturbing pattern of Anderson repeatedly throwing into double coverage for the bad interception. It also established another pattern that hurt the Browns later in the season, especially against the Bengals—being deep in the opponent’s “red zone” and not coming away with any points.

…Miami hadn’t foolishly drafted Ted Ginn, Jr. with its first pick and instead drafted Brady Quinn instead? The ill-advised pick of Ginn, when the Dolphins had so many other holes to fill, including quarterback, helped set the tone for two franchises in 2007: the Dolphins and the Browns. The Dolphins draft day blunder puzzled everyone, including their own players, and it showed on the field, particularly in the Browns 41-31 victory. Right now the Dolphis two quarterbacks are 37-year old Trent Green, 28 year-old Cleo Lemon and 26 year-old third-round draft pick John Beck, who couldn’t even beat out Lemon. Don’t think that Bill Parcells didn’t notice. His first official act was to fire general manager Randy Mueller and the rest of the Dolphins personnel department. The Browns coup in getting both Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn gave the fans a good start to a surprising season.

…Leigh Bodden doesn’t intercept Marc Bulger with 45 seconds left to seal a mistake-filled 27-20 victory over the winless St. Louis Rams? Bodden had a knack all season for getting burned early and yet finding a way late to make a big play. But this road victory was a mistake-filled mess with the Browns committing 14 penalties for 102 yards. Although the Browns overcame the mistakes this time, they weren’t a fluke. This lack of preparation, concentration and execution would haunt the Browns later in games they could have won and didn’t.

…the Browns offense hadn’t suddenly gone comatose in the second half of their 31-28 loss in Pittsburgh? The Browns led 21-9 at the half but didn’t get a first down in the second half until their last drive of the game. Of course, it didn’t help when the defense allowed Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to scramble 30 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The successful two-point conversion thereafter was more salt in the wound as well. Josh Cribbs helped nullify that touchdown by immediately returning the ensuing kick 100 yards, but then the Browns defense nullified that run by giving up another touchdown on Pittsburgh’s next possession. With 10 seconds remaining, Dawson had the chance to get the game into overtime but his 52-yard field goal fell just short. It was a bitter loss to a hated rival that kept the Browns from winning the division and, ultimately, out of the playoffs.

…both end zone officials had actually blown the call on Phil Dawson’s 51-yard field goal that tied the game against Baltimore as time expired? One official did blow it but fortunately was talked out of his mistake by the other. The Ravens, celebrating on their way to the locker room, were forced to come back out on the field for overtime and seemed offended by the notion. It showed as the Browns won the toss, drove down to the Baltimore 16 and the won it on Dawson’s 33-yard field goal. Beating the Ravens never gets old. Neither does listening to Billick complain about how his team got screwed by a correct call.

…safety Brandon McDonald doesn’t hold Texans WR Andre Johnson to just 37 yards on 3 catches in the Browns 27-17 victory over the Houston Texans? In another classic personnel misjudgment by this coaching staff, McDonald only found his way into the game because of an injury to Eric Wright, whose rookie season was as uneven as the performance of the defense as a whole. McDonald also made a key interception in the fourth quarter that set up a Jamal Lewis touchdown run that seemingly put the game out of reach. But in a theme that also would be revisited later on, the Browns defense allowed quarterback Matt Schaub to march his team down the field in the fourth quarter of a game that seemingly was out of reach. It took the recovery of an onside kick after Schaub’s six-yard touchdown pass before fans felt comfortable that the victory had been secured.

…backup defensive lineman Simon Fraser doesn’t head butt one of the Arizona Cardinals in the scrum following the Cardinals kickoff late in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 15-yard penalty that forced the Browns to start their final drive from their own 18-yard line? This 27-21 loss was so mistake-filled, it’s actually hard to pick a defining moment, but Fraser’s head butt at least was the coup de grâce. This game also was filled with controversy over Kellen Winslow’s catch in the end zone as time expired. Most Cleveland fans felt that it should have been ruled a touchdown because it appeared as though he was shoved out of bounds before he had a chance to get both feet in. Perhaps, but it was a game the Browns hardly deserved to win anyway. Anderson threw a key interception in the first quarter that resulted in a touchdown for the Cardinals and fumbled on the next possession that resulted in a Cardinals field goal. There also were a litany of false starts and personal fouls that again showed a lack of preparation, concentration and execution. This time, it cost the Browns the game.

…Jets head coach Eric Mangini had kicked the ball deep with 1:48 left and his team down by two instead of trying another onside kick in the Browns 24-18 win? The curious decision, with the Browns clinging to a 17-15 lead, gave the Browns good field position and set up the Jamal Lewis 31-yard touchdown run that ultimately was the difference. Of course, had Lewis been tackled after gaining the first down and prior to the end zone, the Browns could have run out the clock since the Jets were out of time outs. But the Lewis touchdown gave the Jets another chance. Things got that much tighter when Mike Nugent hit a 35-yard field goal with 37 seconds left. But Mangini saved his most curious decision for last by having Nugent kick it deep. The Browns Leon Williams saved Mangini from his own stupidity by going offsides on the kick. With a second chance, Mangini tried for another onside kick but it was fielded by receiver Joe Jurevicius and the Browns ran out the clock. What’s ultimately important to note is that the Browns had a bad team playing out the string beaten in the driving rain and still let them back in the game late. Call it foreshadowing.

…Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild had called for a pass in the end zone on 4th and five from the Browns 10-yard line with 15 seconds remaining instead of trying to get the first down with a screen play in a game the Browns won 8-0? The way the Browns defense suddenly collapsed against a Bills team that couldn’t move the ball at any other point in the snow, there was every reason to think that such a pass would have been successful. The Bills still would have needed a two-point conversion to tie the game, but the fact that they got this close at all gave fans more of a chill than the weather that day. The game featured a gutsy call by Crennel late in the first half to allow Dawson to attempt a 49-yard field goal that, if missed, would have given the Bills decent field position and a chance to take the lead. But Dawson rewarded Crennel’s faith by nailing the kick. The victory seemed like it would propel the Browns to the playoffs. It didn’t.

…cornerback Daven Holly recovers the fumble on the Bengals opening kickoff that would have given the Browns at the Cincinnati 27-yard line in that 19-14 loss? Given how the Browns squandered two other “red zone” opportunities, first with a fumbled snap on a field goal try and next on an Anderson interception in the Bengals end zone, it wasn’t a sure thing that the Browns would score. But it would have been a big lift early in a game that meant something only to the Browns. As it was, the Browns essentially had a collective team meltdown, with Anderson leading the way with four interceptions, even as a lousy Bengals team seemed destined to give the Browns the game. It was the most critical example of the malady that continues to define a Crennel-coached team: lack of preparation, concentration and execution. This loss caused the Browns, in Seinfeld terms, to lose hand and ultimately put them in a position of hoping that the Tennessee Titans would find a way to lose one of their final two games. They didn’t and the Browns, for only the second time in the franchise’s history, find themselves out of the playoffs despite a 10-win season.

…Brady Quinn had played the entire second half of the San Francisco game? The obvious answer is that both Crennel and Savage would have at least a decent opportunity to observe Quinn under game conditions even if it otherwise meant nothing in a game that itself meant nothing. But Crennel in an abundance of caution to the apparently fragile psyche of Anderson, caution which Crennel hardly showed in the preseason by the way, allowed Quinn to enter the game only while Anderson’s pinky finger was being x-rayed. What’s actually more troubling about Crennel’s thought process is that Anderson admitted later that his finger was still hurting when he went back in. Oh, well, it mattered not at all. The 49ers were barely competitive in a game that both teams clearly wanted to end quickly.

And, finally…

…the Indianapolis Colts hadn’t treated the last game of the season like the fourth game of the preseason? If that had been the case, Peyton Manning would have played the whole game and Jim Sorgi would have stayed cemented to the bench, which is what he deserves. Put it this way, the Colts are finished if Manning ever gets hurt. Still, it’s hard to fault Colts head coach Tony Dungy from resting his starters. It wasn’t his obligation to make sure that the Browns got into the playoffs. But if there is any justice, Peyton Manning will admit in the post-game press conference after his team’s loss in the playoffs that they were all just a bit out of sync after having two weeks off.

It’s been a great season. Thanks for reading and for all the great feedback.

Rivalry Weeks

One of the great allures of sports is rivalries. The chance to have your team assert its superiority, to impose its will against a team you detest for some reason, real or perceived, is what most separates sports from other leisurely pursuits, like stamp collecting.

Even though the Browns were going for their third straight victory this past weekend on their quest toward credibility, it’s worth noting for example that there were more than a few fans nonetheless interested in the game that was on opposite: New England vs. Indianapolis and not simply because both teams were undefeated. It was because over the years those teams have developed into a recognized rivalry with a subtext of good vs. evil.

But whatever passing interest that game held locally, it pales in comparison to what faces fans in the next two weeks.

First up are the Steelers. Undoubtedly Browns fans were watching this past Monday night’s Steelers-Ravens game with a vested interest, hoping at the very least that enough players from both teams would get hurt, not necessarily seriously but certainly to the extent that it would sideline them for a few more weeks.

In one sense, for Browns fans, a Steelers/Ravens game is like watching Iran play Syria. It’s never a question of who to root for only who to root hardest against. But at some point during that game it occurred to me that even as Browns fans have been taught from birth to hate the Steelers, there was something peculiarly satisfying about watching the Ravens and head coach Brian Billick have their lunch handed to them, even at the hands of the Steelers, which is as hard to write as imagine. Maybe it has something to do with recent history between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

For one, Joey Porter, the loudmouth face of the Steelers of the last few seasons, is gone, though it’s nice to recount that he got his comeuppance when the Steelers tired of his act and he ended up signing with Miami. That’s worked out pretty well for him. Still, Porter wasn’t completely wrong when he noted after last December’s beating that you can’t have a rivalry if one team has no chance of winning.

True enough, but that inconvenient fact has only dulled the rivalry, it hasn’t extinguished it. It can’t.

Enough hatred of the Steelers has built up over the years that it’s part of the local DNA, the product of an admixture of geography and jealousy that’s ebbed and flowed in different directions over the years. Up until around 1972, the Browns owned the Steelers. But the opposite has basically been true from the mid ‘70s on and the emergence of the Steelers as a dominant franchise.

Don’t forget, the Browns went nearly a generation (16 years) without winning in Three Rivers Stadium and when that boil was finally lanced in 1986, you would have thought that the Browns actually won the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, all the Steelers have done is actually won five Super Bowls.

Fortunately, though the rivalry has waned a bit, it eventually will return, likely with a vengeance. Still even a hard core Browns fan has to admit that when it comes to Pittsburgh, there really isn’t as much to hate, at least not in the same way that one can hate the Ravens, a team the Browns play in two weeks.

Remember, the city of Baltimore stole the Browns, plain and simple. They had a lousy owner in Robert Irsay who yanked the Colts from a town that had lived and died with them at least as much as Cleveland did with the Browns.

But because Baltimore city leaders were either too dumb or too lazy to handle Irsay, they instead decided to transfer their misery onto another town, a city that had done nothing to Baltimore except celebrate when the Browns trounced the Colts 27-0 in the 1964 championship game. Kind of long to hold a grudge, don’t you think?

Go figure that Baltimore’s governor and mayor found a willing patsy in Art Modell, a destitute owner who couldn’t be trusted running the finances of a medium-sized paper route, let alone a NFL franchise. He took the money, he had too. It’s just desserts that he permanently destroyed his reputation in that bargain and then had to sell the team anyway when he blew the money Baltimore gave him. Gone. Never forgotten.

That will always make the Ravens enemy number one. Always. It matters little if it was sanctioned by the NFL or facilitated by Al Lerner in order to get ownership of the Browns. It matters little who the current caretaker of the franchise is. It matters little who the coach is, though Billick makes a good foil, so impressed is he with the enormousness of his own brain. The fact will always remain that the city stole the team and it will always be wrong. Between the Ravens and the Steelers, if you can only win one of those two games, it’s no contest. Beat the Ravens every time.

A little further down the road waits the Cincinnati Bengals. As heated as this rivalry should be, it’s always lacked the pizzazz of Browns vs. Steelers, probably because it always seemed like more of a rivalry to Cincinnati than to Cleveland. Before Bill Belichick, there was Paul Brown. He wasn’t necessarily as disengaging as Belichick nor was he necessarily the evil genius that Belichick has become. In fact, for many, many years Brown was one of us.

But cast aside by Modell (notice a theme here?), Brown regrouped in Cincinnati. And don’t think that he wasn’t as much fueled by hate and vengeance, against the Browns at least, as Belichick seems to be against the rest of the league these days. But despite the fact that this annual two-game series is billed as “The Battle of Ohio,” the point is that if you have to give the official rivalry a name, it probably isn’t much of one. Frankly, Browns fans never cared much for Modell either, in fact they cared more for Brown, so it wasn’t always the worst thing to see Brown extract some revenge on Modell, even at the expense of the Browns.

It’s always nice to beat the Bengals, but more so as a divisional game than anything else. This year beating the Bengals may be crucial to the Browns playoff hopes. But this rivalry, once at best a distant second to the Browns/Steelers, is now an even more distant third, at least unless and until Steve Bisciotti, the Ravens current owner, ups and moves the franchise to Los Angeles. We can only hope.

In fact, it may be a distant fourth if it exists at all. Well ahead of the Browns/Bengals game in the minds of most Cleveland fans anyway is the granddaddy rivalry of all time, Ohio State/Michigan. People who don’t know the difference between football and foosball know that the Buckeyes and Wolverines are mortal enemies and will always be. It would be less shocking for Britney Spears to win the Nobel Prize for Physics than to see these two teams ever get along, which is what makes it the most fun rivalry at all. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that most Buckeye fans would root for Al Qaeda if they were playing Michigan. The reverse is likely true as well, but that would require Michigan fans to know who Al Qaeda is, which is doubtful.

The Browns/Steelers game this weekend is first up but is a mere prelude to the delicious pairing, on consecutive days, of Ohio State/Michigan and Browns/Ravens in two weeks. For a fan base like Cleveland’s that runs hard on negativity, keeping enough rage in the tank for the next two weeks shouldn’t be a problem. Containing it may be a completely different matter altogether. It could get ugly. Hide the kids.