June 19, 2013

Random Browns Thoughts: Rob Ryan, Wide Receiver, Alex Mack vs. Clay Matthews

January 10, 2011 by 28 Comments

The Browns are desperately searching for their next coach, but I won’t talk about candidates today, because there is nothing new to say.

Instead, I will point out an interesting question that a friend of mine raised yesterday.

When the Browns fired Eric Mangini, many thought that Mike Holmgren had his dream guy all lined up and ready to go.  At least at this early stage, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  The Browns are certainly offensive coordinator-heavy at this point.  One thing is for certain: the Browns will have a new looking offense (to us, anyway) next season.  Even if Brian Daboll hasn’t been given his walking papers yet, you can be sure he won’t be back.

But what about Rob Ryan?

I have an off-the-wall prediction based in nothing but my version of entertainment.  Rob Ryan will get hired by Al Davis and the Raiders. Why stop the cycle of insanity now?  I’ll admit that I have no basis for this what-so-ever, except that I think HBO should definitely load up the “Hard Knocks” cameras and do the only suitable sequel to last year’s train wreck with the New York Jets. [Read more...]

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Rumor: Mangini Done According to WKNR Sources

December 15, 2010 by 94 Comments

I have been saying for a while that any talk of Mangini and the proverbial “hot seat” is silly. I still feel that way, but it is complex.

Sabrina Parr from WKNR reported this morning that regardless of what Mangini does in his last three games, he is out as head coach. Co-host Chris Fedor then added that the Browns are having difficulty finding a new offensive coordinator because there is a lack of willingness in candidates to work with Mangini.

Now, we have no idea whether this is true or not; I have no idea what confidence level to place on this rumor. But let’s just pretend that it is true for the sake of discussion. It is important to finally get this out there because I haven’t talked a lot about the raging “Mangini debate.” The reason is that the debate has been mostly flawed up to this point. Nobody can seem to figure out what they are really talking about and stay focused. Here are the various camps in the debate. [Read more...]

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Browns Give Game to Bills

December 12, 2010 by 54 Comments

The Browns will regret this loss desperately.  They did everything the exact opposite of what Eric Mangini preaches.  The Browns lost the turnover battle.  They handily lost the time of possession battle.  They were badly out-rushed in bad weather.  The Browns’ defense played well enough to win only giving up 13 points, but even that won’t provide any comfort as the Browns lick their wounds heading into Cincy with a 500 record being the best possible scenario for the season.

Yes, this team has made improvements over last season.  Forget that for a second though.  The team defied its own improvement in out-stinking the Bills for 60 minutes this Sunday.  Reggie Hodges punted four times and Brian Moorman matched him with four punts of his own.  At the end of it all, though, the Browns lost because they didn’t control the ball, clock and field position.  In Eric Mangini’s world that is absolutely unforgivable.   [Read more...]

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Quarterback is Pretty Clear Now for Browns

November 29, 2010 by 36 Comments

Remember the mantra: there is no QB controversy.  We certainly did learn a lot about Jake Delhomme yesterday.  The bottom line is that the Browns should keep Jake around for the rest of this year as the third quarterback on the depth chart.  Delhomme has had two legitimate chances to compete this season due to injury, but the results are conclusive now.  The Browns can no longer assume Jake Delhomme is the guy who gives them the best chance to win.  He does some nice things and can play in spurts, but the interceptions just aren’t worth the risk anymore for this Browns team that thrives on controlling the clock and limiting mistakes.

A lot of Browns fans seem to think that Jake Delhomme’s rocky day is inextricably tied to Brian Daboll and Eric Mangini being bad coaches.  Or, maybe you think that Delhomme is bad and you don’t like the coach so you use it as a bullet in your gun aimed at Mangini and Daboll.  I think a lot of arguments can be made against Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll, but I just don’t follow that line of thinking.  We can talk about whether or not Mangini and Daboll should return next season after the year is over.   [Read more...]

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Panthers Out-Choke Browns

November 28, 2010 by 36 Comments

I really just want to start off on a positive note.  The Browns have Peyton Hillis.  Three touchdowns, 131 yards rushing and 63 yards receiving is an amazing day of football.  Now, on to the real story of the day.

I know a lot of you will think I am crazy for saying this, but this victory by the Browns almost feels worse than the loss to Jacksonville a week ago.  Obviously “almost” is the important word here.  I will always take a win over a loss even with draft picks at stake.  I can’t sit here and tell you guys honestly that this win over the Panthers gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.  After the game, if you were watching on TV, you saw Mangini shake his head after the John Kasay field goal clanked and missed.  You probably also saw him mouth two words, one of which I can’t type on this site and the other was “me.”  I can almost guarantee that Eric Mangini is mightily displeased with this game other than the final score.

First of all, John Kasay missed the game-winning field goal for Carolina, but the kick never should have even occurred.  The referees blew it big time.  Brandon LaFell caught the ball at the sideline, was tagged down by the Browns and then rolled out of bounds.  The refs stopped the clock when LaFell clearly should have been marked in-bounds.  The clock stopped with five seconds to go, but the Panthers never would have stopped it without any timeouts left.  So it is a good thing Kasay missed that kick for Jeff Triplette and the reffing crew. [Read more...]

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Browns Quarterback Situation Up in the Air

November 23, 2010 by 21 Comments

Your Browns quarterback update is that we will see on Wednesday.  Even with all the changes at the QB spot this year, isn’t it kind of refreshing that every move so far has been almost strictly due to health and injury?  And who would have thought coming into this year that we would know the least about Jake Delhomme by this point in the season?  As always, there is no need for controversy here.  This is how I see it shaking out.  If Colt McCoy is healthy, then he plays.  Otherwise between Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme it doesn’t really matter.

In the event that Colt McCoy isn’t healthy and isn’t ready to go, I would have to guess Jake Delhomme will get the nod this week against Carolina.  Delhomme had a nice pre-season.  He had a bad opener against Tampa Bay and clearly wasn’t healthy enough to play against the pass rush of Atlanta.  Still, he won the job out of training camp over Seneca Wallace.  There is no reason to think today that given the choice between Seneca and Jake Delhomme that Seneca isn’t still the backup.  Yesterday Eric Mangini told us that we would have to wait and see about Colt McCoy on Wednesday.  He also told us that Jake Delhomme is 100% or as close to 100% as anyone ever is. [Read more...]

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The Internet Predicts Shakeup in Berea

November 22, 2010 by 57 Comments

Update: Nothing to see here.  It appears that all the speculation that started with Colin Cowherd was for nothing.  The Browns didn’t do anything except move their press conference back.  I am relieved.  I am relieved that given the opportunity to act completely dysfunctionally, it didn’t happen in Berea this time.  There are ways to handle your business and I don’t think firing people in the middle of the season (except in extreme examples: Wade Phillips) makes any sense what-so-ever.  We will have more on this tomorrow, but as of now, nothing happened.  Waiting to find out how healthy Colt McCoy is and we now know that Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace are both completely healthy. (End update.)

The Internet is abuzz with rumor and speculation right now.  Eric Mangini’s press conference was allegedly rescheduled from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM.  Then it was changed again from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.  Colin Cowherd’s name has been bandied about as someone who fueled further speculation that there could be major shakeups in Berea today.  So now we are left to wait and wonder.  I have tried my best to get to the bottom of it, but there is no clarity anywhere right now if anything is or is not actually happening today. [Read more...]

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Charting Mangini Via ESPN Power Rankings

November 18, 2010 by 7 Comments

Disclaimer: If you are looking for a scientific post with bona fide conclusions, you won’t find it here.  This is for entertainment purposes only.

Power rankings aren’t really all that scientific.  I mean, they could be if someone wanted to standardize the way they are calculated based on a number of variables and factors.  But as it sits now, they are mostly based on opinion without much more research applied than the average fantasy football player does to work the weekly waiver wire and the starting lineup.  Regardless, I decided to throw some numbers together when I saw that the Browns jumped up a spot in this week’s ESPN NFL Power Rankings even though they lost a game.  Considering my opinion after the game ended, it seemed sensible to me that the Browns could stay flat this week or have a modest increase after going toe-to-toe with three of the best teams in three straight games.  First, I decided to compare Romeo Crennel’s first two seasons vs. Mangini’s first two seasons so far.

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Things the Browns Have Gotten Wrong

November 16, 2010 by 45 Comments

Let’s not call this article criticism as much as it is a “reporting of findings” combined with a dose of self-awareness. It would only be criticism if I called people names or questioned their overall intelligence.  I think I have praised the Browns overall enough this season that I can point a few things out that they have decidedly gotten wrong without coming off like a basher or the dreaded “hater.”

It is totally impossible for any NFL front office in the modern age to be right all the time. Even the mostly infallible organizations like Indianapolis with Bill Polian and the Patriots with Bill Belichick miss on occasion. Still, those guys are so good now that almost nobody will criticize a draft pick, regardless of Mel Kiper’s board. I think the Browns have gotten more right than wrong since Holmgren and Heckert have joined the organization, but they have missed some things too that are currently hurting the Browns on Sunday. [Read more...]

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Pre-Game Intel – Jets vs. Browns

November 13, 2010 by 10 Comments

When and Where: Sunday November 14th, 2010 – 1:00 PM – Cleveland Browns Stadium – Cleveland, OH

Overview: I have no interest in the themes of this game.  Yes, I will always root against Braylon Edwards for the rest of time, but it doesn’t matter that he is in Cleveland this week.  I root against Braylon every week.  There is really no extra emphasis this week.  The fact is that Braylon is a talent.  The fact is that Braylon could and should be a greater talent.  The fact is that the cost / benefit of having Braylon on this roster no longer made sense to Mangini or the rest of us.  So now that I have spent too many words telling you about something I really don’t care about… [Read more...]

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The Similarities Between Tom Brady and Colt McCoy

November 10, 2010 by 14 Comments

Obviously this is very very early and means very very little in the scheme of things.  Most of it is just pure coincidence and anecdotal.  Still, sometimes this stuff is more interesting than the things we can make up.  I know everyone wanted to talk about the Belichick vs. Mangini storyline last week and I refused to do it.  For one, the whole “spygate” affair isn’t our deal.  It happened with the Jets.  That wasn’t a crime committed against the Browns even if we have Mangini here now.  Still, let’s look at a couple things.

Bill Belichick was in his second season with the Pats when Drew Bledsoe got smashed running out of bounds.  Tom Brady replaced Bledsoe.  Eric Mangini is in his second season with the Browns.  Granted two quarterbacks had to go down in order for Colt McCoy to take over and Colt McCoy is a rookie whereas Tom Brady was in his second year.  Still, when Tom Brady started his first game for the Pats (not counting the game he took over where Bledsoe got hurt) he was 24 years and 58 days old.  When Colt McCoy started his first game for the Browns against Pittsburgh, he was 24 years and 42 days old.  I know it is completely stupid, but even the alliteration works. Brady and Belichick. McCoy and Mangini. [Read more...]

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Pre-Game Intel: Patriots vs. Browns

November 5, 2010 by 16 Comments

When and Where: Sunday November 7th, 2010 – 1:00 PM – Cleveland Browns Stadium – Cleveland, OH

Overview: Everyone in the national media wants to continue the Mangini vs. Belichick storyline for this game.  And now for something completely different.  I couldn’t possibly care less about that storyline.  Belichick’s run here in Cleveland is long since forgotten by pretty much everyone not named Tony Grossi and Bernie Kosar.  I mean, we still remember it, but as fans, I get this feeling that most of us have bigger fish to fry with our current team with our current staff.  The last thing I truly care about is what the handshake will be like between the two at the end of the game.

The Browns have a difficult task ahead of them.  The Patriots have the very best record in the NFL at 6-1.  They have had a medium schedule so far, I would say.  They have beaten Cincy, Buffalo, Miami, Baltimore, San Diego and Minnesota, while losing to the Jets in the second week.  Tom Brady (Yankees fan, see pic) is their quarterback (duh.)  It almost seemingly doesn’t matter who departs from this team on an annual basis.

They re-tool on the fly.  Not that it matters to this week’s game, but how amazing is it that the Pats have two first round draft picks, two second round draft picks and two third rounders this season.  All it cost them was Laurence Maroney, an aging Richard Seymour and a cranky Randy Moss.  That, my friends is why I respect the hell out of Bill Belichick regardless of what his history with the old Cleveland Browns was.  The organizational efficiency is a thing to behold.

Anyway, onto the matchup for this Sunday.

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Holmgren Seems In Control, Not Controlling

November 4, 2010 by 11 Comments

In order to be a good football man in today’s NFL, I think you have to have a certain level of arrogance.  

Whether fans look on that arrogance with a knowing positivity or true disdain depends on whether the arrogance is justified with success and trust.  Bill Belichick is the perfect example as he has ridden the fence.  He was an arrogant jerk when he was in Cleveland as head coach.  Everyone said that.  He was an arrogant jerk everywhere he went until he somehow became a genius.  

Today, I am still bitter about Belichick’s tenure in Cleveland, but I do respect him for what he has done in New England.  It seems like Browns fans are not yet totally sold on Mike Holmgren including Terry Pluto, who was critical of him following his press conference this week.

When Terry Pluto says something that I disagree with, I usually take a step back to think over my position again.  After thinking about it though, I am still quite satisfied with the things Mike Holmgren said during his press conference even if some of the rest of you aren’t. [Read more...]

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How Are the Browns Doing Compared to 2009?

October 28, 2010 by 20 Comments

It isn’t really any kind of a season milestone for the Browns other than the fact that they have hit their bye week and the news comes in a bit slower.  Still, seven games is a pretty good sample size to take a bit of stock to see just how the Browns are doing compared to what we saw a year ago.  Just from judging with your own eyes, you should know that what we are seeing is better.  Obviously it still isn’t good enough, but trust me when I tell you it is better.

First things first, the record this year is 2-5.  A year ago after seven games the Browns were 1-6 with their lone win coming in that horrendous 6-3 affair in Buffalo.  That game could also eventually be deemed the last meaningful game of Jamal Lewis’ career as he ran for over 100 yards.  Seeing as he didn’t catch on with anyone this season, I am guessing that will be the final 100+ yard game of Jamal Lewis’ career.  Speaking of rushing.

So far in 2010 the Browns have rushed for 708 yards compared with 680 the prior year.  The Browns had 173 yards rushing against the Ravens in 2010 and lost by a touchdown.  In 2009, the Browns rushed for 171 yards in that game against Buffalo that they won.  In 2010 the Browns have rushed for over 100 yards as a team 4 times, while in 2009 to this point it was only 2 times. [Read more...]

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The Curious Case of Jerome Harrison

October 14, 2010 by 41 Comments

I have been stewing on this Jerome Harrison trade for Mike Bell for a little bit now.  There are a few things that are really driving me a bit crazy regarding this trade.  I can justify the trade if I want to do it.  I can say that Jerome Harrison was creating his own problems because he didn’t get his contract in the off-season.  I can say that he was creating his own problems because he couldn’t deal with the pressure of the increasing size of the depth chart upon the arrivals of Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty.  I can even justify the organization trading him because he is an upcoming free agent and at the current rate of return, the Browns were better off getting something rather than nothing for a guy that they certainly wouldn’t place a franchise tag on during the off-season.  Still, none of that lets me wrap this up with a pretty little bow. [Read more...]

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Chiefs vs. Browns – More About Second Half Planning and Execution

September 20, 2010 by 18 Comments

I told you we would have more about the Browns whether you liked it or not.  Believe it or not, there is statistical proof available to show just how badly the Browns’ offense played in the second half.  Apparently no matter what we do, it will turn into a raging debate about how hot Mangini and Daboll’s seats are.  I will just remind everyone that this is a complex game.  There are no easy answers.  I will remind you that when Maurice Carthon was fired had his resignation accepted the Browns were scoring an average of 14.67 points per game while going 1-5.  After he was fired, the record was 3-7 the rest of the way as the Browns averaged 14.7 points per game.  Do I regret the firing of Maurice Carthon mid-season?  Not even a little.  He should have been fired prior to that season starting.  Anyway, on with the numbers.

The Browns ran the ball for 73 yards on 26 carries for a 2.8 yard average.  At halftime that number was 57 yards on 19 attempts for a 3 yard average.  In the first half, Peyton Hillis ran the ball 6 times for 34 yards.  That is a four yard average and includes an average killing 1 yard touchdown run meaning that Hillis was even more effective than his yard per carry average would indicate.  At the end of the game he had run the ball 8 times for 35 yards. [Read more...]

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Marcus Benard Off to a Good Start

September 20, 2010 by 21 Comments

Lost in the horrendous start to the season for the Browns is how well Marcus Benard is playing.  We were watching in horror and mockery a season ago when David Veikune was inactive for games after being drafted in the second round.  When Veikune was finally cut before he could be listed inactive for multiple games in his second season, the Browns’ depth at linebacker was listed as one of the reasons.  Veikune was marginalized by players like 4th rounder Kaluka Maiava and undrafted free agent Marcus Benard.

For however foolish you might think the Browns look for drafting and failing to convert Veikune from a defensive end into a linebacker, isn’t it funny they don’t get credit for Benard?  Benard played DE in college at Jackson State after taking a circuitous route because of bad grades in high school.  Now that he is with the Browns, all that matters is that he is producing well above any expectations that ever could have been imagined for him when he was sitting behind both Maiava and Veikune on the depth chart a year ago. [Read more...]

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Browns’ QB Situation Intentionally Cloudy Mid-Week

September 16, 2010 by 10 Comments

I always have to say this because this is Cleveland and we know Eric Zeier’s name amongst many many others.  The Browns still don’t have a quarterback controversy.  What we do have is some of that old gamesmanship that you can expect with the Belichick tree of coaches.  As of yesterday reports were that Jake Delhomme was walking around in a walking boot nursing an ankle injury.  Considering that and considering his head coach, he was in the mood for a bit of brown-nosing when he was talking to the media yesterday as he stated, “I’m a big believer of what’s said in the training room, stays in the training room.  That’s kind of where we are at there.”

The walking boot in and of itself doesn’t mean that we won’t see Jake Delhomme trot out of the tunnel ready to go on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.  The walking boot has seemingly become more and more common in the NFL as a method to accelerate healing as opposed to an indicator of injury severity. [Read more...]

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Browns vs. Buccaneers – First Half Report

September 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The good news is that the Browns took a lead into the locker room at halftime 14-10.  The bad news is that a horrible Jake Delhomme interception led to a last minute Tampa score.  The Browns were driving in the second quarter after a Mike Adams interception when Delhomme threw an ill-fated pass to Ronde Barber.  Barber seemed lame running it back, but he took it back inside the Browns’ ten yard line.  The next play from scrimmage was a horrible side-arm pass from Josh Freeman (despite what the announcing crew had to say) that hit Sheldon Brown’s hands and bounced straight up.  Wouldn’t you know that Mike Williams made a nice concentration play pulling it in after the ricochet for the Buccaneers score.

It wasn’t all bad though.  The Browns did have the lead thanks to Mohamed Massoquai and Peyton Hillis.  Massoquai caught a 41 yard touchdown pass from Jake Delhomme.  Oddly enough, Rich Gannon had more negative things to say about this pass and catch than he did about the awful one that Freeman threw that relied on a Browns deflection to find a Buccaneers receiver.  The Hillis scoring play was a 10 yard rumble over the left side with blockers out in front.  It was set up by an impressive 39 yard running play by Jerome Harrison. [Read more...]

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Browns Content to Be Competitive and Developing

September 7, 2010 by 9 Comments

As the Browns’ list of cuts was finally released and then as they failed to claim anyone, Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert’s view of the current Browns is becoming apparent.  The team is far from a finished product and instead of grasping at players who appeared to be minor upgrades the Browns seem content in seeing what they have with the unknown young talents.

Obviously I am talking most notably about the wide receiver position.  As outside observers, it seemed that this was one of the most dire needs the team has had all off-season.  As guys like Vincent Jackson were dangled and as guys like T.J. Houshmandzadeh were cut and became available, the Browns sat idle.  In fairness to the Browns, Housh was unlikely to sign with a team not looking seriously at the playoffs this season, and the asking price was so high on Jackson that he still hasn’t been traded to date.  Still, it speaks volume either about the potential of Massoquai, Robiskie and Cribbs, or the Browns’ desire to see that talent before extending offers to any other players. [Read more...]

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