Lingering Items--Randon Cruelty Edition

To really appreciate the vagaries and cruelties of professional football, consider the 24-hour period that started midday on Thursday and carried over to midday on Friday. In that short span, the Cleveland Browns waived goodbye to Brodney Pool, told Jerome Harrison that records notwithstanding he’s worth only a 2nd round pick and re-worked the contract and significantly increased the pay of special teams ace Josh Cribbs.

In one sense or another, all of these moves and all of the others the Browns made, including the trading of Corey Williams to Detroit, are related and have one common denominator, money.

Cribbs and the Browns on Friday announced a new $20 million/3-year agreement that includes $7.5 million guaranteed. If he hits all of the incentives in it, he’ll be the highest paid special teams player in the game.

It brings an end to a soap opera that was starting to rival Mary Worth for its near daily dose of drama. Since early last season and continuing, basically, through this week the Browns and Cribbs have either been really close on a new deal or miles apart, depending on who’s talking.

Cribbs’ agent, J.R. Rickert, proved to be mostly a hack in handling these negotiations, combining illogical threats with bad timing while his client, as earnest as a player can get, wore his heart on his sleeve. In the end, the Browns lived up to the promises of both former general manager Phil Savage and owner Randy Lerner by acknowledging that in context Cribbs’ contract was a tad undervalued. Good for Cribbs.

Of course the fact that it was undervalued was the function of shrewd negotiations by Savage but this was an issue that needed to be addressed. Cribbs, along with Joe Thomas, represent the only two credible players on this team. Fans, abused by misanthropes like Braylon Edwards, at least could feel real pride toward these two.

The problem, though, with Cribbs is that determining his value has always been a problem. He’s easily one of the best special teams players in the league. A gifted kick returner, he’s also a key cog on covering kicks as well.

If that was the extent of his resume, then figuring his contract isn’t all that difficult and it’s probably close to what he already was being paid. But Cribbs’ instincts as a runner make him an intriguing play on offense. The problem, though, is that while he’s done well at times in spot duty, he’s not a particularly gifted receiver at this point and his presence all but signals the next play. It’s this aspect of his game though that makes figuring out his overall value so difficult.

Now Cribbs has his money and he’s happy. Brodney Pool, not so much.

You can’t really fault the Browns for not tendering a contract to Pool. He’s had four concussions already, which makes it all the more likely that if he does get back on the field again he’ll suffer another. The chance that he’ll ever be a major contributor to any team is extremely unlikely.

But Pool is absolutely one of the good guys of pro football. All he’s done is play as hard as he could for as long as he could. He’s a talented defensive back who toiled for a team and during a period in which his skills probably were never fully appreciated.

Any team that signs him, including the Browns, knows that doing so will likely result in “dead’ money when Pool inevitably ends up on injured reserve once again. It’s an outcome that Pool hardly deserves but is one that is replayed on virtually every team in the league and every year about this same time.

It would be nice to see Pool catch on somewhere, but I’m also conflicted. My greater hope is that someone, and that won’t be his agent, talks some sense into him and tells him it’s time to pursue another line of work. Four concussions is serious business. Whatever short term riches football brings at this point more than likely will come at the expense of his long-term health. It just isn’t worth it.


Meanwhile, Harrison once again finds himself in the position of having to prove himself all over again. Harrison reminds me of Doug Jones, the former relief pitcher for the Indians. Jones toiled in the Indians’ minor league system for years, compiling impressive stats, but had trouble getting a sniff at the major league level because his out pitch was a change-up and the speed of his fastball rivaled the speed at which the IRS processes refund checks.

Jones just never did fit the major league model except all he ever did was get people out. When he was finally brought up to the major leagues, almost by default, all he ever did here was get people out, too. Yet each and every year the Indians looked for reasons not to use him and all he ever did when he had a chance was perform.

Harrison is in that same category. The Browns, even under new management, continue to look for reasons not to make him their feature back. His lack of size (he’s only 5’ 9” and 195 pounds) makes coaches and general managers question his durability. Yet whenever he’s been called on to perform, he’s done well.

This past season, head coach Eric Mangini went to great lengths to move beyond Harrison. He barely made the team. Even when he performed well in limited opportunities, Mangini would put Harrison back in cold storage. When Mangini was forced to use him out of necessity, Harrison set two club records, including a gaudy 286 yards rushing against Kansas City. More importantly to the argument about durability, he was almost the only offensive option those last 4 games as Mangini and company essentially abandoned any attempt to pass with Derek Anderson at the controls.

The fact that Harrison was tendered is at least a recognition that the Browns want him back. That gives Harrison financial security for at least a year as he’s guaranteed almost $1.8 million in salary. But it’s not as if the Browns offered him a high tender, either. In other words, the like him, kind of.

I don’t know whether Harrison ultimately will be back but the chances are pretty good. There are bigger names available for teams looking. But a second round pick isn’t that big of a price to pay, either. The Browns have been throwing away second around picks for years and it hasn’t hurt them. Ok, bad example. But Harrison is only entering his 5th season and there isn’t all that much wear on his tires.

Group think tends to permeate the NFL and I suspect that other GMs will likely look at him like the Browns do, good for spot duty but not an every down back. That’s too bad for Harrison and the teams that take a pass. As far as gambles go, he’s pretty low risk.

**



On Thursday, Sports Illustrated online posted its rankings of baseball’s general managers. As the author, Tom Marchman, points out the rankings are hardly scientific and are highly subjective. Moreover, and this is the statistic that really surprised me, most of the general managers in the league are short timers, making it harder to truly judge their value. Indeed, Shapiro is, by this point, one of the old guard.

Nonetheless Marchman ranked Shapiro 22nd out of 30. I think that’s too high. Marchman points out that for all the platitudes the Indians’ organization gets for supposedly being so well run, Shapiro doesn’t have a whole lot to show for it. No kidding.

But Marchman didn’t go nearly deep enough. The problem isn’t so much the fact that the Indians always seem less than the sum of their parts, as Marchman notes, it’s that Shapiro has a complete inability to take a good team to the next level. Twice under his watch the Indians had playoff-caliber teams and the following off-season he did virtually nothing to get it to the next step. As a result, the team regressed as other teams maneuvered into position instead.

Since the last time the Indians were on the precipice, instead of building they destroyed. Over the last two seasons they’ve dumped two Cy Young winners and a homegrown All Star catcher. All this does is highlight how shaky the Indians’ finances really are and how much their business model depends on threading the eye of a really tiny needle in order to be successful.

Without the money to keep CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez for one final run the Indians were left with the only other alternative—a reset. In some ways this seems to be what Shapiro favors anyway, the high tech analytics that go into finding the real roughs in the baseball diamond.

But this leads to Shapiro’s other great failing, the draft. The only thing that has kept attention from gravitating to Shapiro and his front office’s abysmal drafting record during his tenure is the even worse drafting by the Cleveland Browns. But that’s like trying to decide which disease is worse, leukemia or lung cancer. Both will kill you, of course, just as consistently poor drafting is a recipe for organizational failure.

In truth, Shapiro’s only real virtue as a general manager has been his ability to understand baseball economics. But his worse sin as a general manager has been his inability to turn that foresight into any sort of competitive advantage.

**


Speaking of lunkheads, it was both amusing and sad to pour through the contents of golfer John Daly’s disciplinary record with the PGA Tour.

It probably doesn’t bear much of a mention on these pages except that with a record like Daly’s there’s bound to be a local connection. And so there is.

Interspersed among Daly’s multiple suspensions, fines, and rehabs was the details of his parking lot encounter 15 years ago at Firestone Country Club with the father of a club pro.

The year was 1994 and because of damage to the Firestone South greens, the World Series of Golf was being played on the club’s North Course. Daly, ever the impatient player particularly when he’s playing poorly, kept hitting into the group in front of him all day. On the short, driveable par 4 15th-hole, Daly did not let the group in front of him clear the green before pulling out his driver. The ball landed dangerously close to club pro Jeff Roth. It wasn’t the first time.

According to the report in the Florida Times-Union, Daly began lobbying profanities at Roth, Roth’s caddie and Roth’s mother, who was in the gallery following her son. After the round, Roth confronted Daly in the locker room and the argument continued. Finally, as the players spilled into the parking lot, Daly lobbed a few more profanities at Roth’s mother. This led to Roth’s father jumping Daly and the two scuffled briefly.

The incident cost Daly $20,000 and a suspension for the rest of the season.

What’s most interesting about the Daly file is the consistency of his misconduct. Not much has changed in his years on the PGA Tour except that the Tour has shown a remarkable amount of restraint in simply not permanently banishing him. His demons are, of course, alcohol and despite all the attempts at rehab, nothing’s taken hold. Remarkably, Daly, despite everything, hasn’t hit rock bottom, at least in his own mind.

Daly gets too much of a pass because he’s mostly viewed as a good ol’ country boy. He may be country, but he’s not good ol’. The trail of self-inflicted damage is too vast to ignore. He may complain these days about how not enough people are giving him a second chance, but at this point what he’s really asking for is his 6,346th second chance.

And lest you think Daly has much changed, just consider how he handled the fact that a reporter had the temerity to detail Daly’s record. Instead of owning it and being humbled by it, he took to Twitter and twice published the reporter’s cell phone number, urging his dwindling group of followers to flood the reporter’s cell phone with complaints. No one outside of the Golf Writers Association of America, took the time to even complain about this. For comparison’s sake consider what the reaction would have been if Tiger Woods, whose sins are far small from a golf perspective, hadn’t apologized but instead lashed out at the National Enquirer and gave the public directions to the publisher’s house and told his fans to set up a blockade.

I’d say that Daly’s latest misconduct would probably get him suspended by the Tour again but he has no playing status anyway and from the looks of things probably won’t ever have playing status again. We’re all better off for it.

**

One long column and nary a mention of the Cavs. Thus comes this week’s question to ponder: If you were Zydrunas Ilgauskas, would you re-sign with the Cavs?

Lingering Items--Injury Edition

Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis has played his last football game in the NFL and all I can think about at the moment is his comments from a few weeks ago about how his head coach, Eric Mangini, conducts practice sessions. According to Lewis, Mangini works his players too hard during the week, leading to a team that’s dead tired by the time it takes the field on Sundays. The natural consequence of course is that tired players become injured players.

Mangini defended his practice by suggesting, through creative calculation, that after you discount the ½ hour walk-through at the beginning of practice and ignore the post-practice opportunity sessions, practice is only 2 ½ hours long, the same as every other team. It reminds me of Barney on The Simpsons panicking at the weekly card game because after this case of beer, that case of beer and that other case of beer, there’s only one case of beer left.

It’s hard to know, really, if the Browns’ spate of injuries is the result of a tough preseason training camp and a tough in-season practice session. It is instructive that the injuries are now stacking up like planes over LaGuardia and it’s near the end of the season, but there may be another explanation all together.

The only players that don’t get injured during a typical NFL season are those that spend the season in street clothes. Brian Robiskie and David Veikune, you’re probably safe, although I’d have said the same thing about James Davis and he resides on the injured reserve list at the moment. But players on teams that are fighting for playoff teams tend to find ways to get themselves back on the field. Players on teams fighting for the number one pick in the draft tend to call it a season as early as possible.

Don’t misinterpret. There is no question in my mind that the injuries suffered by every Browns player are legitimate. Football played at any level but particularly at the pro level is incredibly violent. The fastest and strongest crashing into each other 90 some times a game can’t be good for anyone’s body. There will be blood. It’s just that when there is nothing left to fight for, it is far better to take your time with an injury get completely healthy and don’t risk losing another season in what is typically a very short career. That’s not criticism, that’s just reality.

The Browns of last season had a similar rash of late season injuries and it’s pretty clear those couldn’t have been the result of practices being either too long or too difficult under Camp Country Club being led by Chief Counselor Crennel. Every one of those injuries was likewise legitimate, yet there they were several.

Maybe it’s all just bad luck or the curse of the franchise that calls itself the Browns. More likely, though, it’s just a function of a team going nowhere under a coach the players can’t stand.

**

It’s good to see the NFL finally taking concussions more seriously. This week it announced new guidelines for when a player can return in a game after suffering from a concussion or concussion-like symptoms. In the past a team was prevented from putting a player back in only if he lost consciousness during that game.

The timing of these new guidelines reminded me why Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers may be my least favorite player of all time. Perennially called out by his fellow players as the league’s dirtiest player, Ward is a cheap shot artist whose blindside chop blocks on unsuspecting defensive backs are a weekly occurrence. Browns’ quarterback Brady Quinn was called on the carpet by Ray Lewis for a dirty hit on Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, but Hines has made a career of doing the same thing.

But perhaps Ward’s most detestable act to date was calling out his very own quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, for not playing against the Baltimore Ravens last week because he was still suffering from the effects of his latest concussion.

Ward essentially questioned both Roethlisberger’s manhood and loyalty by telling Bob Costas that Roethlisberger could have gotten around the doctor’s orders if he really wanted to by essentially lying about his condition. Future, what future? There was a game to be won right now, dammit, and you don’t get that back.

Ward has since backed off his comments, but as is typical with a guy like Ward he did so not because he didn’t believe them but because he verbalized them publicly. The truth is that Ward doesn’t care any more about Roethlisberger’s long-term health than he does about the economy in Detroit. Ward is first and foremost concerned about Ward and what the plans he has for the playoff money he’ll earn if he can just get Roethlisberger’s butt back on the field.

This is exactly why the NFL needs stronger rules regarding concussions. Teams are for more interested in short-term goals than the long-term concerns of the players that help them reach those short-term goals.

The Browns put two players on the injured reserve list this week with concussions, Lewis and defensive back Brodney Pool. In Pool’s case this was either his fourth or fifth concussion. In actuality he’s probably suffered far more than that. Mangini did the right thing by immediately relegating both to injured reserve, but neither probably would have been healthy enough to play anyway. Pool, like Lewis, may be done as a professional anyway. The chances of suffering the next concussion are exponentially higher for each one you’ve previously suffered. Pool has a real chance of doing permanent damage that he’ll never overcome if he gets back on that field again.

I don’t wish ill of any player. But maybe just once Ward needs to walk in the shoes of players like Roethlisberger, Lewis or Pool to understand that often times there’s something far more important at stake than another game against the Ravens.

**

With all the Browns injuries, the chances are increasing that they’ll be used as a reason by owner Randy Lerner to give Mangini another year he hardly deserves. After all, it’s hardly Mangini’s fault that the team wasn’t competitive, look at all the injuries, of so the theory goes.

As theories, it’s as faulty as “the process.” The Browns already were the worst team in the league before the injuries really started to strike and it’s not as if the loss of more players will make this team any worse. It’s not as if the Browns will now be 33rd in the league.

If Lerner goes down that road, a road he didn’t go down with Crennel at the end of last season, it would just be another grave mistake on an ever expanding list. This team hasn’t been competitive all season. It won one game against a bad Buffalo team because of a crucial special teams mistake at the end of the game that allowed them to kick a winning field goal. It played one other team well, the Cincinnati Bengals, in an overtime loss. But every other game, from week one to last week’s rematch against the Bengals, has been an exercise in futility.

The Browns under Mangini have basically not stood a legitimate chance all season. That’s his legacy and that’s where the judgment comes. But given Lerner’s penchant for trying to find the easy and convenient way out of making the hard decision, the injury plague in Cleveland stands as ready-made.

**

Whether Browns’ defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is head coach material or not isn’t exactly clear, but the same can’t be said for his candor. Ryan in front of a microphone is everything that Mangini is not. He’s passionate, honest and outspoken. Frankly, he reflects far better on the psyche of the typical Browns fan than a guy like Mangini ever could. He’s a guy that Browns fans can and will rally around given the right circumstances.

In Friday’s press conference Ryan stood up for Mangini in a very direct fashion, which was admirable, but what was even more refreshing was the unabashed way he stood up for himself. He told the media that a better defensive coordinator did not exist, allowing for perhaps only his father, Buddy Ryan. Even then, the younger Ryan said that was just a “maybe.”

Ryan can be brutally honest while being brutally humorous, as in his statement about getting reinforcements for his injured troops from one of the high schools in the state championships or in how he described his defense as a “house of cards.”

Ryan has clearly been dealt only half a hand this year by the leader he praised. But rather than offer excuses, he just keeps plugging away, pumping up his dispirited troops as best he can. Given the lack of talent on this team, there was never much chance of it being anything but the worst defense in the league. Neither Ryan nor Jesus could raise it from the dead. But Ryan is a bright spot nonetheless and if he at all has the qualities for being a head coach, letting him get away even if Mangini is purged would be a mistake, kind of like Art Modell letting Bill Cowher get to Pittsburgh because he thought Cowher was too young to be a head coach.

**

The blackout’s been lifted and it leads to this week’s question to ponder: How many disenfranchised Browns fans do you think will actually change their plans this Sunday now that the game is being televised locally?

Bowing Down to their Masters

The Cleveland Browns were looking for credibility Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But with their 10th straight loss to their former rivals, this time by a score of 10-6, about the only thing the Browns may have gotten was a quarterback controversy.

With Browns quarterback Derek Anderson struggling since late last season, he needed to play well. He didn’t. Though Anderson didn’t play poorly enough to get himself traded to Seattle, he again looked shaky when he needed to be steady. Meanwhile, his counterpart, Ben Roethlisberger just did what he always does, nurse an injury and control the game. He didn’t play spectacularly either, but he made just enough plays to keep his team 2-0 and two games ahead of the Browns just two games into the season.

The first sign that this may not be the same team that was embarrassed by Dallas came on the Steelers’ first series. After the Browns went a quick three and out, a safety blitz by Nick Sorenson on 3rd and 2 put the kind of pressure on Roethlisberger that Tony Romo never saw last week and Roethlisberger went down for the defense’s first sack of the season. And while that play wasn’t necessarily a tease, it didn’t exactly provide the kind of spark the Browns ultimately would need.

With a hard rain and gale-force winds wrecking mostly havoc on both teams, much of the game was reduced to a series of punts, particularly in the first half. Thanks mostly to the foot of punter Dave Zastudil, the Browns were able to escape repeatedly poor field position. It kept them in the game as neither team was able to sustain much of anything, meaning that mistakes were likely to dictate the course.

And mistakes are what ultimately did. The Steelers only touchdown, a 12-play, 70-yard drive started because of a mistake—a critical Anderson interception—was sustained by mistakes—particularly a critical third-down facemask on Roethlisberger by defensive end Shaun Smith—and was finished off by a mistake when receiver Hines Ward found himself wide open in the end zone. The drive was helped, too, by the Browns’ usual problem of not being able to hold a team on third down. It was the only points the Steelers ultimately would need.

On the Browns’ next possession they were able to put together a drive that somehow found them at the Steelers’ 9-yard line with just eight seconds left in the half. It wasn’t exactly a model of efficiency that led them there but there they were anyway, almost in spite of themselves. After Anderson sneaked forward to put the ball at the nine, he called the team’s final time out. Deciding there was enough time to try a pass in the end zone before attempting a field goal, Anderson did the one thing he could ill-afford, put the ball in the hands of the wrong team. Finding no one open, Anderson oddly threw short of the end zone and into the hands of a waiting safety Troy Polamalu who stepped in front of Anderson’s pass at the two yard line for the interception. The only thing that saved all of the life being sucked out of Cleveland Browns stadium was that halfime followed right after.

From there, the Steelers didn’t exactly dominate, but they didn’t have to. After another Zastudil punt seemingly pinned the Steelers back to their own 15-yard line, Roethlisberger connected on a 48-yard pass to Santonio Holmes that put the ball at the Browns’ 36-yard line. It was the best play by anyone associated with Ohio State in the last two weeks. Two runs and an incomplete pass later, Steelers kicker Jake Reed kicked a 48-yard field goal that put the score at 10-0. It might as well have been 100-0.

In spite of the hole, the Browns did respond with another good drive, aided by some hard running by Jamal Lewis and a couple of key Steelers’ penalties—a roughing call on linebacker LaMarr Woodley and a taunting call on linebacker James Farrior. But that drive fizzled too and for the same reason, mistakes. A false start on Kellen Winslow and a bad pass by Anderson forced the Browns to settle for a 31-yard Phil Dawson field goal.

On the ensuing kickoff, it looked like the Browns might finally get the break they’ve been waiting nearly two games for when the wind caused Steelers’ returner Rashard Mendenhall to misplay the kick. Jerome Harrison had the first crack at the free ball but wasn’t able to secure it. From there a scrum forced the ball out on the Steelers’ two-yard line where the Steelers then took over.

Pinned deep, Roethlisberger found Ward on a 31-yard pass on second down, taking the Steelers out of trouble again. The defense did their best to help the Steelers keep the drive going with both Shaun Rogers and linebacker Alex Hall committing neutral zone infractions, but the Steelers weren’t exactly mistake free either. After a holding call put the Steelers at a 3rd and 11, Roethlisberger just missed Ward, who had a step on Terry Cousin, forcing the Steelers to punt.

With the Browns getting the ball at their 12-yard line and with just under 11 minutes left, it may not have been the Browns’ last chance, but it sure felt like it. As it played out, it was. Playing with a sense of urgency, Anderson and the Browns put together another good drive thanks in large part to running back Jerome Harrison, who turned a short swing pass into a 23-yard gain and Winslow, who made a circus catch off of his own deflection to keep the drive alive. But once again, Anderson and the Browns couldn’t finish what they started after Edwards dropped his third pass of the game on a crucial 3rd and 7 play at the Steelers’ 20-yard line. With 3:24 left, head coach Romeo Crennel opted again for a Dawson field goal, this one a 38-yarder. It put the Browns down by four. As they should have a chorus of boos reigned down on Crennel immediately thereafter.

At this point, even the most casual of fans could have scripted the finale. On second down, Roethlisberger hit tight end Heath Miller at the 50-yard line, Willie Parker ground out another first down. Crennel mismanaged his time outs (which became irrelevant when Parker ran out of bounds) and the Steelers essentially held on to the ball for the rest of the game.

Crennel’s odd call for another field goal will be a focal point again, but the real story of the game, besides the somewhat bizarre weather, was the ever present series of mistakes and stumbles by the Browns that deprived them of another chance to win. One drive was snuffed out by an Anderson interception. The other two fizzled because of penalties and bad or dropped passes. A once potent offense is being done in not just by injuries but by an inside job. Anderson can’t sustain any rhythm and Edwards can’t catch a crucial pass. On a team with injuries throughout, those pieces and parts that are playing, like Anderson and Edwards, have to do a better job and they aren’t. For the game, Anderson was 18-32 for just 166 yards and those two critical interceptions. Edwards had another quiet game, catching three passes for 32 yards.

For the Steelers, Roethlisberger put together what is his standard line: 12-19 for 186 yards and one touchdown. Holmes had five catches for 94 yards while Ward had five catches for 59 yards and one touchdown. Parker rushed for 105 yards.

For once, the defense didn’t embarrass themselves, indeed the team didn’t embarrass themselves, but the result is the same nonetheless. The return of safety Brodney Pool made a bigger impact on the psyche and ultimately the performance of the defense than anyone could have fairly anticipated. On the day, the defense sacked Roethlisberger three times. Still, it wasn’t enough.

At 0-2, it isn’t necessarily time for the Browns to do some soul searching even with a schedule that takes them on the road for four of the next five games. But it is time for them to recalibrate their expectations. They aren’t going anywhere until they play better fundamentally. There is a long way to go. Edwards may turn his season around just as the rest of the team might. But it isn’t going to happen just by showing up. The closeness of the game belies what was clear on the field: at this juncture the Steelers are simply more talented than the Browns. It may be hard to know by how much, but one thing that is certain is that the difference isn’t just talent but the confidence born of owning an opponent year after year after year after year.

Lingering Items--Final Preseason Edition

When the Cleveland Browns entered training camp, it seemed like the stars were aligning more or less perfectly. An armful of expectations borne of a 10 win season in which they didn’t make the playoffs greeted them. No first, second or third round picks assured them that they’d have no holdouts. The starting quarterback already was firmly entrenched. In short, quiet six or so weeks beckoned, allowing sufficient time for preparation for what is clearly a rough first few weeks of the season.

It’s interesting how a winless preseason can change all that. Browns fans now approach this team with nearly as much caution and anxiety as they have each of the last nine seasons.

Perhaps that is why general manager Phil Savage took to the podium on Saturday to address the media about the 53-man roster. More than anything else, Savage wanted to inject a little perspective over the Labor Day holiday weekend. Whether it worked or not probably depends on how you feel about Savage. Whether he’s right or not will be easy to tell soon enough.

The thrust of his message was that this is a veteran team that was using the preseason far more for evaluation than for establishing a mythical winning culture. Though Savage said he could have done a better job of communicating that to the media at the outset of training camp, he did allow that the focus really become that until the first half implosion against the New York Giants in week two of the preseason. “From that point on, I think the focus of our preseason changed in terms of, ‘Ok, we’re really going to just try and get through this and try to get our young players a good experience here, but let’s shoot for Labor day and get as many players as we can up and running.’”

It’s a reasonable point of view. The question then is whether that’s where the Browns now find themselves.

Let’s start with the easy stuff first. Though the team got banged around pretty hard in the last four weeks, no one suffered a catastrophic injury. Key members of the offense in the persons of Derek Anderson, Jamal Lewis and Braylon Edwards, all are set to return on Sunday against Dallas. In fact, it appeared as though all three could have played Thursday night against the Chicago Bears had that been a regular season game. That removes some significant pressure right there. Of course, timing could be an issue but that’s a far easier problem to fix than not having those players available at all.

Then there are the combined absences of free safety Brodney Pool and kick returner Josh Cribbs. Officially each is listed as questionable for Sunday. What that means is always hard to say. Players listed as questionable tend to play. It seems like New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has listed quarterback Tom Brady as questionable every week for the last six years and he never misses a game.

If neither can play ironically, of the two, Cribbs will be the most missed even though he has the more capable backup in Syndric Steptoe. So much of the NFL game revolves around field position. Cribbs’ unique talent, indeed the reason he’s so highly paid, is his uncanny ability to put his team in good field position, whether on a punt or a kickoff. Cribbs also is a valuable gunner when the Browns kick off, often responsible for denying the other team good field position. These are talents that NFL coaches and general managers don’t take lightly and neither should the fans. If Cribbs is absent for any length of time, both the offense and defense will suffer accordingly.

As for Pool, he may be the Browns best defensive back, but that’s only be default. The preseason revealed just how thin this part of the team really is, even if Pool is healthy. If he’s not available, it will be hard to tell given the lack of quality elsewhere anyway. Whether or not Pool plays, the key to stopping other teams will be the play of the defensive line and the linebackers. They have to not only stop the run but get to the quarterback quickly. And defensive coordinator Mel Tucker has to thrown in plenty of blitzes to hopefully paper over the gaping holes.

While that’s been the plan all along unfortunately it didn’t seem to work all that well in the preseason. The defensive line did play well, Kamerion Wimbley seemed rejuvenated yet the defensive backfield still was exposed. A healthy Pool isn’t going to change that and an injured Pool doesn’t make it much worse. Simply put, the corners have to play better, much better. Second year players Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright have their moments but they still are way too far between.

Savage addressed this to a certain extent on Saturday but in the sort of confusing way only a general manager could muster. Addressing questions about whether or not there is other help available, such as free agent Ty Law, Savage said “everybody wants to take the magic pill and go get the big name. It’s not always the big name that’s the answer. This is what we have and this s what we’re going with. As Romeo said, maybe if we lose five guys, we’ll make some calls.”

Translated, Law isn’t a magic pill even if he’s an upgrade. The problem is that he’s a 13-year veteran who at this point is at most a stop gap upgrade, which he already has in the form of Terry Cousin. What Savage really is saying is that he believes both McDonald and Wright will continue to mature and are better for the team in the long run, even if Law can help today. Savage clearly doesn’t want to take any playing and hence development time away from his young corners.

Savage may be technically correct, but so much of what he’s done in this past offseason has been in an effort to win now that it seems odd that he’s now sacrificing that just a bit for the sake of the future. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that either McDonald or Wright will develop anyway. Look no further than receiver Travis Wilson, a third round pick in 2006 for proof.

It’s why, ultimately, despite the earnest effort to add perspective Savage just ended up underscoring all the reasons it’s easy to be uneasy.

***

In addition to the defensive backfield, the Browns enter the regular season a bit thin in two other key areas, offensive line and receiver. The injury to Rex Hadnot on Thursday followed by the placing of Lennie Friedman on injured reserve and the fact that Ryan Tucker is still a few weeks away means that at least in the short term one of the team’s great strengths has turned into another of the team’s great question marks. Right now, it’s the area the can least sustain another injury.

As for the receivers, Savage spent far more time in his press conference addressing the progress Syndric Steptoe made during camp than addressing the flameout of another early round draft pick in Wilson. Savage also spent a considerable amount of time talking down the value of third receivers in general, noting that last year’s third receiver had only eight catches.

That may be true, but don’t be fooled. The fact that Savage cajoled Joe Jurevicius into remaining with the team as the third receiver tells you everything you need to know about how Savage really values a third receiver. Jurevicius as a second receiver was extremely valuable commodity last season. Not only is he sure handed, but he also seemed to make every third down catch that was needed last season. As a third receiver, he becomes even that much more valuable.

That’s where the cutting of Wilson comes in. The bottom line is twofold. First, Savage didn’t think Wilson had the talent to ever be the team’s number one or number two receiver. Second, Wilson doesn’t hold on to the ball nearly enough to be a reliable outlet in the absence of Jurevicius. He may have had six catches against the Bears, but it was the drop of a Ken Dorsey pass down the sidelines for what looked to be a touchdown that was far more noticeable.

Steptoe, on the other hand, seemed to make the difficult catch far more often. Also, given his ability on returns, he’s a far more valuable addition. This probably means that Cribbs will be in the mix far more often as a receiver as well, and not just as a fourth receiver, which is something that fans have been clamoring for. If/when Jurevicius is able to return, the Browns may not have the best receiving corps in the league, but they have more than enough to compete.

***

As the Browns get ready for next week’s opener against Dallas, the only question on anyone’s mind, really, and thus this week’s to ponder: Will Jessica Simpson make the trip? And for a follow up: What will she wear? Let’s hope it’s warm.

Mistakes Were Made

Literally from Sunday’s first play, the question facing the Cleveland Browns in their game against Arizona was not just whether they could overcome the Cardinals, but whether they could also overcome themselves. In the end, they couldn’t do both and lost a game that did not feel nearly as close as the 27-21 final score might otherwise appear, even after considering tight end Kellen Winslow II’s near miraculous touchdown grab on the game’s final play.

Looking every bit like a developing team suddenly thrust into the middle of a playoff race, the Browns stumbled and bumbled out of the gate and found themselves spending much of the rest of the game trying to first overcome and then get out of the way of themselves. And each time it seemed like they were about to do just that, they made still another mistake and now instead of putting some distance between themselves and the rest of the AFC wild card wannabes, they are barely clinging to a playoff spot at 7-5.

If it were simply a case of listing all of the various missteps that led to the loss, it wouldn’t do justice to the context. Just noting, for example, the several personal fouls the Browns committed might cause one to gloss over Simon Fraser’s head butt that cost the Browns 15 important yards at the end of the game. That penalty, a final fitting gesture on a day littered with them, put the Browns in a bigger hole than they already were in after following Neil Rackers 19-yard field goal that stretched the Cardinals lead to 27-21 with 1:52 left in the game.

In the end, the Browns got the result they deserved.

If you spend your life reading tea leaves or deciphering signs, how this game would ultimately unfold was evident early. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Derek Anderson was flagged for intentionally grounding, though not because he was under pressure so much but because he inexplicably threw into the left flat with no Browns receiver anywhere close. You may go the rest of your life and never see intentional grounding on the first play of a game again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Anderson’s only mistake.

On a third and eight from the Cardinals 41 yard-line, Anderson threw low and inside to receiver Tim Carter on a play that required Anderson to pretty much do the opposite. Roderick Hood was there to accept Anderson’s gift, returning the tailor-made interception 71 yards for a touchdown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Anderson’s only mistake.

On the very next series, he fumbled the snap from center Hank Fraley, which defensive lineman Antonio Smith recovered at the Cleveland 44. For the moment, Anderson was through and now it was the defense’s turn.

After Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner missed receiver Bryant Johnson on third and four, the ball fell harmlessly to the ground. Inexplicably, cornerback Leigh Bodden immediately kicked the football downfield, leading to a delay of game flag, a five yard penalty, and a Cardinals first down. Four plays later, with a Robaire Smith offsides penalty thrown in for good measure, Warner hit tight end Leonard Pope for a five-yard touchdown pass and with less than half the first quarter gone, the Browns were already down 14-0.

It should be noted that on that play, linebacker Leon Williams had Pope covered initially. But Williams couldn’t hold coverage for even one Mississippi and a second later found himself two steps behind Pope, a pass Warner couldn’t miss no matter how injured he might have been. It was the first of two consecutive mistakes by Williams, which, unfortunately for this game wasn’t any kind of record. On the ensuing kickoff, the first that the Cardinals had actually kicked to returner Josh Cribbs, Williams was caught holding, nullifying an otherwise nice return to the Cardinals 35-yard line.

A few additional mistakes for good measure, including another Anderson interception, and thus did the Browns find themselves as their own worst enemy and the game was still in its formative stage.

But as they’ve done for most of the season, the Browns offense, fueled by Anderson and running back Jamal Lewis, heated up. Late in the first quarter, Anderson led the Browns on a drive that should have yielded more than the Phil Dawson 37-yard field goal. Still, it was a start. Then, in the middle of the second quarter following a Mitch Berger punt, Anderson and the Browns consumed the next six minutes, moving 80 yards in 10 plays to put the game back within reach at 14-10 as the half ended.

On the one hand, the fact that the Browns were only down four at the half was an indication of the state of the Cardinals offense. On the other hand, so dominant were the Browns statistically in that half that it’s hard to believe they weren’t up by 20. Cleveland had 14 first downs, Arizona had six. Cleveland was 3-5 on third down while Arizona was 0-3. Cleveland had 205 total yards, Arizona had 90. You get the picture.

But if the Browns thought that this domination would serve them well going into the second half, it wasn’t the only mistake they’d make from that point on. After a mostly lethargic third quarter by both teams, things turned suddenly for the worse when Cribbs, bumping into Devon Holly, muffed a Berger punt late in the quarter and deep in the Browns’ territory. It wasn’t their only mistake.

On first and goal, following another obligatory Browns penalty (roughing on Sean Jones for a horsecollar tackle), Warner hit a wide open Pope in the end zone. This was an even easier touchdown opportunity than Pope’s first grab, apparently too easy, and he dropped it. But in the process Pope practically handed the ball to Chaun Thompson, who, not surprisingly, proceeded to drop it as well. Warner then hit a wide-open Johnson two plays later for the touchdown that put the Cardinals up 21-10.

Apparently, though, the Browns need to work from behind and just as apparently aren’t above putting themselves in a position to ensure that’s the case. After Cribbs nearly fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Anderson hit receiver Braylon Edwards on the second play from scrimmage for what appeared to be a 67-yard touchdown pass. The Browns though had to sweat out a replay challenge by the Cardinals after it appeared as though Edwards may have been down by contact. Fortunately, the Browns were on the right side of the ol’ “inconclusive evidence” dodge by the officials and the Browns were now within five. That’s when the fun began.

Wanting to get the game to within a field goal, the Browns decided to go for the two-point conversion. With Anderson behind center and Cribbs in the backfield, Anderson backed away and starting walking toward Edwards as if to call an audible. The ball was then snapped directly to Cribbs who appeared to want to run, only to then find a wide open Winslow in the end zone.

But the Cardinals came right back, pushing the lead to six on a Neil Rackers 33-yard field goal with 12:10 left in the fourth quarter. Consecutive three and outs by both teams led to a Berger punt to Cribbs who did what he does, taking the ball from the Cleveland 16 down to the 47. But a promising drive came up short just when the Browns had the ball inside the 10. Dawson’s second field goal closed the gap again to three, 24-21, but this time with only six minutes remaining.

This was the point where it would be nice to write that the much maligned defense again found a way to make the key plays late. Instead, the mistakes continued. With the Cardinals needing to run the clock, virtually everyone in University of Phoenix Stadium knew that the ball would be going to Edgerrin James. But knowing what’s coming next and being able to stop in are sometimes mutually exclusive and the Cardinals moved the ball all the way down to the Cleveland one on the heels of eight runs by James.

But as hard as James ran during that final series, the Cardinals were aided by, what else, a couple more key mistakes, the biggest of which was defensive back Brodney Pool’s personal foul. After the Browns put the Cardinals in a passing situation, one of the few the Cardinals would need, Warner connected on a 15-yard pass to Steve Breaston, which was immediately and effectively turned into a 30-yard play when Pool pushed Breaston to the ground after he was already out of bounds. Even when the Browns defense finally tightened at the goal line and the Cardinals were forced to kick a field goal, too much time had slipped through the Browns fingers, undone were they ultimately by the mound of mistakes they had piled up the previous 58 minutes.

The final drive was courageous and semi-effective, even after Fraser’s aforementioned penalty turned what would have been a 67-yard field into an 82-yard field. But with no timeouts remaining and Anderson and his receivers unable to complete a sideline pass to stop the clock, Anderson was forced to throw deep on the remaining two plays. The final throw, to Winslow, was a remarkable grab, unfortunately out of bounds. It was the last mistake of the game.

Statistically, the Browns mostly handled the Cardinals all day. Anderson was 21-41 for 304 yards, his two early interceptions offset by two more touchdown passes. Edwards, after being mostly silent for the last few games, had 7 catches for 149 yards, aided by the 67-yard touchdown grab. But statistics don’t always translate to results, particularly when a crush of mistakes is interspersed.

Though the loss was hardly critical to the Browns playoff chances, it gave the Steelers unneeded breathing room in the AFC North. It also gave the Browns all the reminder that they need that the playoffs aren’t given, they’re earned. And the best way for the Browns to earn their keep at this point is to not to just acknowledge that mistakes were made but to actually do the hard work of first correcting and then learning from them. Next week’s game against the New York Jets would be a good place to start.

Lingering Items--Baltimore Edition

A few lingering items from last Sunday’s Browns game…

Whatever shortcomings Romeo Crennel may have as a head coach, and they are plentiful, at least he’s realistic. Grateful to have won the game on Sunday, he nevertheless properly tempered the win by pointing out the Browns can’t continue to make a boatload of mistakes and expect to win many more games. Indeed. We know what happens when that occurs. Crennel’s previous two years attest to that.

But more to the point, in the last two weeks, the Browns in general and the defense in particular have let leads of 15 and 14 points slip away. Perhaps that’s understandable considering they do have the absolute worst defense in the league, ranked 32^nd overall. And it’s a ranking they well deserve. Pick a statistic and you can pretty much rest assured that the Browns defense ranks last: points per game, plays from scrimmage, yards per game, third downs converted (ok, in fairness they are 31^st in this category), and fourth downs converted.

Thus it’s with very little concern when one or more of the defensive players go down with injuries. How bad can the replacement be? You can’t rank any worse than 32^nd.

But on the other hand, it’s not like this is a recent development. The defense started bad against Pittsburgh and has stayed consistently bad through 10 games. It matters little whom they’re playing, either. While they’ve played New England and Pittsburgh, two of the top offensive teams, they’ve also had games against St. Louis, Oakland and Baltimore twice, teams that rank in the bottom third offensively in the league, while Miami, another opponent, is close.

In other words, if you’re waiting for the defense to arrive because of an apparently softer schedule remaining in the last six games, forget about it. This defense isn’t going to get better until it gets overhauled.

The more disturbing development of the last few weeks, and perhaps what Crennel was really referencing, is the offense. Against both Pittsburgh and Baltimore, they hit a wall in the second half and had trouble moving the ball. While halftime adjustments by the opposing teams are playing some role, a bigger issue, particularly in the Baltimore game, was a lack of discipline. Of the Browns 12 penalties on Sunday, half were for false starts. Two others were for holding. It’s pretty difficult to sustain a drive when it’s constantly one step up, five yards back.

Consider this lovely sequence from Sunday: With 8:47 left in the second quarter, the Browns took over at the 36 yard line following a 24-yard runback by Josh Cribbs. This runback became immediately and forever memorable because Cribbs seemed to have fumbled but it was overturned as a result of a Crennel challenge. He’s now 3-23.

On second down and six, tackle Joe Thomas had a false start. The Browns eventually converted the first down, only to have guard Kevin Shaffer false start. Running back Jamal Lewis bailed them out of this penalty with a 21-yard run. Two first downs later and heading deep into Baltimore territory, Lewis was then called for holding, making it first and 20 from the Baltimore 24 yard line. It then became first and 30 from the Baltimore 34 yard line when Shaffer held on the next play. A short pass made it second and 15, which then was nullified by two Thomas false starts. On third and 30 from the Baltimore 34, Anderson hit tight end Kellen Winslow II on a 12-yard pass, taking the ball to the Baltimore 22 yard line, from which kicker Phil Dawson hit a field goal with 1:41 left, making it a 13-7 game. In all, 13 plays, over seven minutes off the clock and only a field goal to show for it.

It may be too much to hold Crennel completely responsible for this kind of mess, but it does speak to a certain lack of discipline and preparation by the team. Ultimately, just like his inability to put together a mechanism that will increase the odds of successful replay challenges, these are the kind of fine details that Crennel has yet to infuse into this team. Not surprisingly, it’s also the kind of fine details that separate the good teams from the also rans. Well, that and a good defense, but that’s a project for the offseason.

***

As much as Crennel seems overmatched as a head coach, at least he’s neither smug nor a sore loser. In other words, he’s no Brian Billick. Rather than give the Browns even the slightest amount of credit for moving the ball into field goal position against his vastly overrated defense with 31 seconds remaining in regulation, Billick instead complained after the game and again on Monday about how his team was robbed of a victory by the officials, refusing to even acknowledge that the officials in fact got the ruling correct.

The Baltimore media, egged on by Billick, has treated this incident as if it was some sort of conspiracy to stick it to the Ravens. If only that were really true. Anyone and everyone who has seen the replay knows that Dawson’s kick went through the uprights. Whether it then hit the support for the cross bar and bounced back, which is on the other side of the uprights, or some other obstruction, like a camera, matters little. A ball that passes through the uprights is good. That’s the rule.

It would have been a bigger injustice for the referees to have blown the call. In fact, one official apparently did, which is what started the controversy in the first place. But when you watch the replay, it is clear that one official signaled that the ball went through and then bounced back, which is why he called it no good. The other official was unsure and gave no signal. The lack of consensus, required under NFL rules, dictated what followed next.

Of course, it’s not hard to figure why Billick wants to keep the heat on the officials. It deflects the heat he should rightly get for kicking to Cribbs twice at the end of the game, particularly when you factor in that Ravens kicker Matt Stover had successfully squibbed and early kick that resulted in a touch back. It also deflects the heat he should rightly get for again having another lousy offense caused in no small part to his inability to again develop a quarterback. It also deflects the heat he should rightly get for having a porous offensive line that gave up six sacks to the Browns. It also deflects the heat he should rightly get for a defense that is getting long in the tooth and is more effective these days talking a good game than in actually playing one. And finally it also deflects the heat he should rightly get for being 4-6 and winless in the division with only one game left—against Pittsburgh. Good luck with that.

New England head coach Bill Belichick seems to be the favorite coach to hate these days, but for my money that title rightly belongs to Billick and has for a long time. In fact, when he’s shown the door by owner Steve Bisciotti, probably at season’s end, they can retire that trophy permanently. Worse than being a sore loser, Billick is a poor sport.

***

One nice thing about the NFL is how quickly perspective can change. Two weeks ago, the Steelers overcame a 15-point lead to beat Cleveland and all the talk in Pittsburgh was how, basically, pedigree matters, the superior team finding a way to win. Fast forward a week and the Steelers lose to the woeful Jets. Now the talk is how the Steelers have struggled for the last two weeks, lucky were they to get past Cleveland and not as lucky against the Jets.

Likewise, the Browns. The talk last week was how the Browns blew a 15-point lead to lose a game they should have won. With the victory against Baltimore, the talk now is how the Browns blew a 15-point lead to lose a game they should have won. Otherwise they’d be 7-3. Okay, sometimes perspective doesn’t change.

***

In my game story this week, I originally stated that it was Leigh Bodden that returned the Kyle Boller floater 100 yards for a touchdown. A reader quickly corrected me that it was Brodney Pool and I apologize for and corrected the mistake. In my defense, though, it was easy mistake to made, so accustomed had I become on Sunday to seeing the back of Bodden’s jersey as he continued to chase Ravens receivers who were running past him.