Browns End Season On High Note
Written By: Craig Lyndall | Category: Cleveland Browns | Comments: 36
You never quite know where you are going to end up when a journey begins. Except I think all said and done, we ended up almost exactly where we thought we would at the beginning of the year. The Browns finished the season on a four game winning streak. I don’t think any of us thought in our worst nightmares that the Browns would start 1-11, but all said and done, I think five wins was firmly in the realm of most Browns fans’ expectations.
Not all is completely happy in Believeland, obviously. The Browns have busts at worst, and big time question marks at best from most of their draft picks from this year not named Alex or Mohamed. But you can’t get too upset about that one going forward because Mike Holmgren’s hiring will at least change the process, if not fix the drafting problem. So, about that game against the Jaguars.
Scott pointed out before the game on Twitter that the Jaguars only warmed up on the field for about 20 minutes. And that is really telling to the way the game went. The Browns showed up ready to battle and the Jaguars seemed to start the game in neutral. The Browns jumped out to a 13-3 lead at halftime. Two Phil Dawson field goals and an impressive 14 yard ramble by Josh Cribbs for a touchdown. On that touchdown, Alex Mack was way out in front clearing the way for Cribbs, who broke a few tackles of his own on the way to the end zone.
Jerome Harrison had another good game toting the rock for the Browns. Harrison helped the Browns win the time of possession battle 32:58 – 27:02. He carried the ball 33 times for 127 yards and a second half touchdown. Harrison also had two catches for 20 yards on the day. Jerome Harrison is second only to Josh Cribbs in earning a spot and a contract for next year’s Cleveland Browns.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Derek Anderson again proved why he will be a serviceable backup only for the rest of his career. DA was 7/11 for 86 yards including one potentially crippling interception giving Jacksonville the ball at their own 17. At the time, the Browns were in the middle of a pass-heavy drive that featured only short throws to Jerome Harrison and no running plays. As bad as the interception was, the idea was good. It really set up the next drive where the Browns were running every time. That drive was the Cribbs scoring run.
The Browns defense showed up again this week. They held Maurice Jones-Drew to 82 yards rushing, which is a good result with him. The Browns defense had three sacks and an Eric Wright interception. The defense gave up a meaningless touchdown to end the game because they were sitting on a 13 point lead.
And that is how the Browns’ season ended. After the super low lows of sitting at 1-11 and wondering what was going on with the staff in Berea and trying to figure out where the next year’s team was going to come from, the Browns and their fans have a bit of hope. Sure, there are still tons of questions. Who is going to play quarterback? Who is going to take over for Hank Poteat? Who will play on the right side of the offensive line? Where will the Browns find a legitimate playmaker on the defensive side of the ball? That isn’t even to mention who is going to coach the team or be the general manager?
When Mike Holmgren officially got the nod, I wrote that I thought Holmgren would dismiss Eric Mangini. At the time, I wasn’t saying that Mangini hadn’t earned an opportunity to come back, but I just didn’t see it working. Now, I am going to amend that a bit. I still don’t see Mangini working long term. Then again, I think it might be possible that Mangini could stay if the desired candidate(s) aren’t available. I still stand by all the potential incompatibilities that I talked about last week, but it occurs to me that I don’t know of any good potential coaching candidates off hand.
And again, that isn’t to say Mangini hasn’t earned the chance for one more year. Certainly not as head of the draft room or scouting the free agent acquisitions and trades, but probably as coach. We knew coming into this year that Mangini had to remake Club Romeo. We knew that he had to trade his two most talented players because they were toxic in the huddle and locker room. I even feel a little bit sorry for Mangini because he was stuck with the Jamal Lewis situation. It would have been decidedly difficult to just sit him down absent the injury. He was a team captain and all. That’s the great thing about hindsight though.
One thing that you can’t argue with are the last four games. Despite all the rumors, this team did not seem to hate Mangini. They didn’t quit on him this year. They showered him with the Gatorade jug at the end of the game yesterday. So let’s be honest. There were plenty of problems this year. Brian Daboll’s early playcalling come to mind. But despite the national hate from places that seem to have been EXTRA-tweeked by Mangini in NYC there is no denying progress. There is no denying the effort. There is no denying the win over the Steelers. If nothing else, Mangini has proven that his harshest critics are probably way too harsh. Whether he will prove acceptable for another year in Cleveland remains to be seen. Now that I know someone else will be running personnel, I am OK with it.
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(Photo Credit: AP / Tony Dejak)
Author: CraigLyndall
Craig Lyndall has been writing about all the Cleveland sports teams at WaitingForNextYear since September 2008. When he isn't, you can find him selling insurance or playing music. Follow WFNYCraig on Twitter.Craig Lyndall has written 433 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
It’s true that we finished up by beating bad teams. But at least bad teams weren’t beating us. So we’re not at the bottom of the barrel. However, next year’s schedule doesn’t look very promising, at least not now.
It’s hard to balance Mangini’s worth when you consider 1-11 vs 4-0. You would be a fool to discard either one of those. He has to be blamed for that pathetic 1-11 start, and he has to be credited for the 4-0 finish.
But as far as I’m concerned, the negatives with him have far outweighed the positives. I’m not so easily swayed by a 4-0 finish that included wins over KC and Oakland. I can’t forget the misery of that 1-11 start, and I put a lot of blame for that start on Mangini. I personally hope Holmgren just gets rid of him and brings on someone whom Holmgren can work with. I just don’t see the point of keeping Mangini around when you know there’s just no way he and Holmgren are going to have a long term working relationship.
I don’t know if the Gatorade shower was a sign of affection or not. They very well could have been trying to give him a fatal case of hypothermia. It doesn’t appear the team quit on him, even though they seemingly have nothing to play for these last 4 weeks. At the same time, these guys were also auditioning for Holmberg and every other team in the league. It was in their own best interest to play well so I don’t 100% agree they did everything in the name of Mangini although it probably played a part.
My thoughts are in line with Andrew’s. The 4-0 end to the season is certainly encouraging, and it shows that there was at least some direction coming from Mangini.
However, I’m not sold that the end of the season outweighs the complete butchery of the QB situation, not playing Harrison sooner, the bus trip, the water bottle, the non-nonsensical inatctive lists, random doghouse rumors, etc.
I understand you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, so to speak, but a lot of that jazz was wholly ridiculous.
If I could somehow get the end-of-the-season-Mangini without the abovelisted horse dung, I’d be down for a second season. But I personally believe the manacle-dictator stuff is just part of the Man-child’s personality.
Jamal, don’t go away mad….just go away.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/01/jamal_lewis_returns_to_root_on.html
@Andrew I’m right there with you. It’s hard to overlook a 4 game winning streak to end the season, but looking back at how bad we were through 13 weeks I think that’s justification enough to give Mangini the boot. I think when there’s comparisons of stats (during the 1-11 start) with the 1999 expansion Browns and the talks were that the ’99 Browns would win, that’s reason enough to consider firing the coach.
Add in the Kokonis situation, the way he handled the QB controversy, and the fact he didn’t play Harrison until late in the season, even though he should have seen the field from Day 1. Plus, the talk that many agents are steering their players away from Cleveland because of Mangini, makes me really want to get rid of him because we will have to significantly overpay the free agents who do end up in Cleveland. I may be alone on these views, but I just can’t be blinded by the 4 wins late in the season when looking back on how bad the season was for the first 13 weeks.
This seems like the least significant 4 game winning streak in NFL history. Not a single victory gives me any confidence in the Browns ability to beat a competent team.
If Holmgren had not been signed, how much would you be looking forward to next season? He is the only reason I even have cautious optimism, and that is irrelevant to whether or not Mangini returns.
Make that man hypothermic, via hypodermics! What?
As much as I have enjoyed these last two weeks, I think we should cut him loose now. What if we keep him around and the season is a debacle again? Now we wasted another year, and “rebuild” AGAIN. Since we are already down, we should hire the people that can start implementing Holmgren’s system. So that Holmgren can get the guys to run his systems. That’s my opinion.
I have enjoyed the past four weeks sorry
Say what you want about Mangini. He has the chemistry of player that want to win. No super stares like the Bengals,Denver or Dallas who divide the locker room. A perfect example is the Cavaliers on Team Chemistry
Another thing that the Browns, Cowboys and Bengals don’t have in common is a playoff birth.
Ill just say Holmgren has a tough choice. Its more then just does Mangini deserve another year (which is very debatable) but can Holmgren and Mangini mesh? The organization has to be on the same page, and if someone believes X is better then Y and someone else thinks Y is better then X then there will be problems. Ultimately I dont see Mangini lasting because I dont think he would be able to handle it. Even if he stays, Holmgren has implied that he will change the O to a west coast style and you have to wonder if Mangini can handle that.
I agree with andrew but at the same time im not totally opposed to giving him one more year to work with. We also have to consider the fact he wont be acting as gm only in a coaching capacity next year. Also, sure these guys played hard down the stretch but how much of that is from the Holmgren hiring vs. “we dont hate our coach”? If I magically got a new boss that had the chance to axe me if he so desires I would probably put out some extra effort as well.
@Andrew. While I see your point about the 4-0 finish that included wins against Oakland and KC, I believe that you also have to consider that the 1-11 start included losses to playoff-bound Minnesota, Baltimore (x2), Cincinnati (x2), Green Bay, and San Diego (plus SuperBowl champion Pittsburgh). That’s a tough schedule for any coach to start the year, let alone one that is transitioning to his own style of play and discipline in his first year. With all of his alleged follies as a first year coach, that is not something that I would expect to see again. Fortunately, that transition as first year coach only needed to happen once and that is now history. I say give him another year.
I too think Mangini should be left go.
The 11 draft picks assure us that next year will be another rebuilding year, with probably 7 or 8 of the picks making the team.
If the picks are basically Holmgren’s and the new GM’s picks, then it seems to me that a new coach who is in tune with Holmgren should be the one to develop them, not Mangini.
Bobby, I think a perfect example of your point is the Chargers. They went 14-2 with Marty at the helm, and then he and the GM clearly didn’t get along and Marty got the axe. It hasn’t really hurt the Chargers in the short term, as they’re still one of the most talented teams in football and a team of hamsters could probably coach that team to a division title in that division.
And to your point, BDJim, a coach that ACTUALLY PLAYS HIS HIGH DRAFT PICKS would be a good start.
DP-
I would rather the coach’s high picks be good enough to play right away and the developmental guys taken in later rounds.
This team was not at the point this year where coaching decisions made the difference between making the playoffs and being an also-ran. What is needed in this organization is people who can make sound personnel decisions. A couple of good drafts and a couple of smart free agent pickups and the Browns are a playoff team. They are in a position with this off season to upgrade to the point they are a legitmate wild card contender next year. Whether or not Mangini makes sense for the long term, I don’t think you replace him now for anything less than your ideal, proven, dream candidate. The focus now needs to be on player acquisition.
While I agree that Holmgren will have to look at Mangini’s whole body of work, the end of the season winning streak impressed me. Last year, the Bengals went out on a similar winning streak and carried that momentum over into this season, winning the division. If you had told any Bengals fan half-way through last year that their team would win the division this year, he would have laughed at you, but that’s exactly what happened. I think that little win streak showed the Bengals that they were capable of winning again, and that gave them an edge in the offseason and going into the regular season. Obviously, the winning streak wasn’t the only factor in the Bengals resurgence, but it certainly helped.
It’s darn difficult in this league to piece together multiple wins. I hope The Big Show takes that into account when he comes to town this week. Either way, Go Browns.
haha, agree with clown about developmental picks.
Talking about the draft, I dont buy the ‘drafting for a scheme’ arguments either way. If Mangini stays, you draft the best player available. If he’s fired you draft the best player available. If we get a new coach would we not draft Berry at #7 is given a chance? same goes to if we keep him. Really, I think you could go CB/S in the top 2 picks, and RT with the 3rd pick and that would help this team no matter who is coaching or what D they are running.
@ TBrown- Cincy also had a boat load of injuries including Carson Palmer, who is obviously a franchise QB. I am optimistic, but I dont think after a year like this you can say the browns are a legit wild card team next year. Also, I dont really see them picking up a lot of FAs. With 11 picks and not much expectations, I would hope they play and develop as many young players as possible next year so we may have a solid group young players. Why would you want 11 picks, then have old FAs over them so it basically does nothing?
I believe we draft at #8.
Berry will be long gone by then.
@ Bobby
I agree our situation is very different from that in Cinci (they certainly have more talent on both sides of the ball than we do), and I agree that we don’t look like a wild-card team in the making just yet, but I just don’t think we can discard the winning streak. We knew we had a bad team going into this year. Bad teams lose a lot of games, which we did. Improving teams show heart at the end of the year, which we also did for the first time in quite awhile.
If Holmgren decides to fire Mangini, I think it could hurt the team in the long run. Brownstown could use some continuity, and it seems a bit ironic to fire the guy now that he’s figured out how to win with our team.
While i do hope Mangini gets another year to prove himself/fail, i hope beyond all hope that Daboll is relived of his duties. I mean, i know Mangini belives in him, but c’mon man, their Offense is soooooo bad.
one thing i did like seeing yesterday was the sign of some play action passes…i think that was the first time i saw them use that consistantly.
@TBrown
I agree. Mangini inherited a 4-12 team that totally lacked focus and discipline. He had to get them into shape, revamp the roster (including bouncing Edwards and Winslow) and institute what amounted to a completely new defense. (I read in a Pluto article over the weekend that Mangini and Ryan apparently threw in too many new schemes too early because they assumed that the returning Browns would already understand the basics of the 3-4 after playing in it for so many years. That was not the case.)
It’s true he didn’t handle the QB situation well but from Mary Kay’s article from over the weekend it’s clear the team is finally understanding the system.
Are we going to keep bouncing around and continually rebuilding until we find the guy that can take us to the playoffs in the first year of a new system?
That said, I’ll abide by whatever Holmgren decides. If he thinks Mangini won’t be able to work within whatever system he is going to implement I’ll trust his judgment.
Not sure why the current mantra is “11 picks means the future is bright!” Look where the picks are: in the first four rounds of the draft you have a single extra 3rd round pick, that’s it. You have 3 picks in the fifth round, two in the 6th. Those are special teamer rounds unless you get lucky on one.
If we have someone competent selecting and we trade down for extra second rounders, that’s one thing, but right now we have about what most teams have if they didn’t fall in love with players the previous draft day.
Draft 11 quarterbacks.
One of them is bould to work out….
Draft 11 quarterbacks.
One of them is bound to work out.
The 1-11 reflects more about mess that was here when Mangini got here than any job he did.
Also, Craig, I still don’t see how you can call anything a “drafting problem” I don’t know when it came to be that one could conclusively evaluate an NFL draft after one season. You might look at the Jets roster and conclude that Mangini has no problems drafting at all.
I can’t conclusively say that Mangini has a drafting problem, but it sure seems like it is in the realm of possibility because of Robiskie and Veikune. But no, the story hasn’t been all told on these rookies just yet. I will definitely agree to that. The early returns suck though.
On top of that, the Jets situation is different because the structure of the organization is different. All that being said, the point is moot because Holmgren is president and he is going to hire a GM. Mangini (if he stays) will never have to bear the blame for any missteps in the draft or free agency again.
My point is that Mangini might have earned another shot, but depending on how the chips fall with the GM and available coaching candidates, I think it is still reasonable to assume that his job is in jeopardy.
And at this point, the real blame has to fall on Lerner for setting up this year’s organization with Mangini, Kokinis and no strong president or tie breaker which paved the way for Holmgren. Mangini certainly has his fingerprints over a ton of negative stuff from early on this year, but it might not be all his fault. As outsiders and Browns fans though, we can only blame Mangini, Kokinis, and Lerner.
I would prefer not to start over again next year, but if we are going to HAVE to start over at some point in Holmgren’s estimation, then I would rather do it now, I guess. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what I want.
We have the 7th pick in the draft. Strength of schedule is the top tie breaker, not head-to-head. And depending on where you look Berry could go anywhere from 2-around 8 or so. If Berry isnt there, my draft vote goes to Haden, then for a S like Nate Allen in round 2. That would drastically improve our secondary.
Yeah, Robiskie and Veikune look bad. But Mack finished the season pretty great and MoMass, when compared to some of the WRs taken in the first round, is producing fairly well – especially considering the QBs and offensive gameplans we have.
Maiava is a good special teamer and looks to provide pretty good depth at ILB once the starters are healthy again, and people can’t stop drooling over the potential of James Davis.
I’m not saying Mangini is some kind of draft guru, but you can’t just cherry pick the worst examples in your argument and ignore the rest of the picks.
I think it’s reasonable to assume his job is in jeopardy because it’s Holmgren’s call, and if the Penguin can’t convince the Walrus that he’ll work within the system Holmgren wants to institute, then he’s gone. I personally never thought he should have been gone, even in the early going, because it’s unrealistic to give someone one year to turn around the situation the Browns were in at the end of last season. I’m not the new Browns President, though.
I’m not saying the Browns are great but regardless of opponent, you cannot win four straight games in the NFL unless you’re at least decent. One or two, maybe; but not four. The Browns are better off than they were a year ago, and progress has undeniably been made.
The personnel moves from benching Quinn after 10 quarters to not playing Harrison and not even dressing Robiskie are just about asinine. And the guy can be a hardass at times.
But if a big time coach isn’t walking through that door and Holmgren thinks Mangini can handle being told what to do, then give him another year. I don’t see how that would hurt; it’s not like the guy had all the power in New York, anyway.
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