Worse Than Expansion Browns

 

Yesterday, the Detroit Lions defeated the Washington Redskins, ending their 19 game losing streak.  Why is this significant to Browns’ fans? 

 

Because the Cleveland Browns are now the worst team in the NFL following yesterday’s 34-3 beatdown at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. 

 

The Browns have been outscored 95-29 in their three games, meaning the average result of their games is a 32-10 defeat.  They were out gained on the ground once again, allowing 142 rushing yards and gaining just 73 years.  This team is a flat out mess.

 

If I’m Randy Lerner today, Eric Mangini is in my office this morning and is being asked, “What the heck is this?”  (NOTE:  Really, if I’m Lerner I’d sell the team or I would have had a more open interview process)

 

The only thing that has improved on this football from last year’s debacle is the pressure being put on the quarterback by defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.  The Browns now have five sacks on the season, just eleven shy of their 2008 total, and they still have 13 games remaining.  However, four of those sacks came in the first game of the season.

 

How depressing is that…13 games remaining.

 

The only other positive thing you can say about the Browns is that the three teams they have played are a combined 9-0 (Minnesota, Denver, and Baltimore).

 

No one is saying the coach should be let go after just three games, but hopefully someday the Browns will hire a head coach who has a clue on the offensive side of the ball.  They need to get a guy who doesn’t treat the quarterback position like it’s the left guard. 

 

Three games into the season, and this team has a quarterback controversy.  That’s a huge problem. 

 

Of course, it started with the head coach’s idiotic decision to play games up until the first snap of the season.  The old saying that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none has never rung more true than in the Browns’ case.  A starter should have been named after the second pre-season game, and he should have had at least half the decision to play the position, whether the choice was Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson.

 

Quinn appears to be playing scared, and his fears appear to be founded as he was pulled at halftime after putting up zero points against one of the league’s best defense.  Yes, Quinn’s interception was a poor throw, but he has had just six starts in the NFL, and completed just four of them. 

 

Since Quinn has been drafted, rookies Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have led their teams to the playoffs.  Another rookie this year, the Jets’ Mark Sanchez has his team off to a 3-0 start and the Lions’ rookie Matthew Stafford has put a win up on the board. 

 

And if you are a supporter of Anderson, remember that his Pro Bowl season in 2007 came with a running back that gained 1300 yards in Jamal Lewis.  These Browns can’t run the ball, and they couldn’t last year.  Without a good running game, Anderson doesn’t seem to have a clue either.

 

The Browns have no clue offensively, and the coaching of the quarterback position, perhaps the most important position in team sports, has been awful.  That’s on the head coach and ultimately the man who hired Butch Davis, Romeo Crennel, and Mangini.

 

Former coach Chris Palmer put up 24 points in a game in 2000 where he was lining up WR Kevin Johnson at quarterback, and the starter at the position was Doug Pederson.  It just shows you can put points on the board if you use a little imagination.

 

No matter whom Mangini decides to start this Sunday against Cincinnati, he has to commit to that guy for at least the rest of the season, barring injury.  The coach then has to remember who his playmakers are.  Stop messing around featuring Mike Furrey and Robert Royal, and get the ball as many times as you can to Braylon Edwards, Jerome Harrison, and Josh Cribbs. 

 

As for Cribbs, it’s clear he is not a wide receiver, but where was the wildcat formation yesterday?  Line him up at QB, let him run and THROW the ball once in a while.  Use some imagination!

 

This is a team that needed a talent infusion, yet three of the four players selected in the first two rounds of the draft cannot get on the field.  Only first round pick, Alex Mack, is a starter.  The three second rounders are either on special teams or on the inactive list.  Meanwhile, other players picked after this trio are starting for other teams, including Ray Maualuga, who will be here Sunday with the Bengals. 

 

Mangini will take his usual close-lipped stance today at his press conference.  However, the fans want answers.  There is no improvement for this football team.  They have become a laughing stock and there need to be changes.  Whether or not they are made is up to the coach.  My guess is he is too stubborn to do anything.

 

JD