With the Super Bowl being played this weekend, of course there has been talk about how close or how far the Cleveland Browns are from appearing in their first Super Bowl. 

This is the 45th championship game in the Super Bowl era and to fans of the brown and orange, it might as well be a rumor. 

No one remembers that the Browns were once one of the flagship franchises of the NFL.  In fact, during a feature on former Packer coach Vince Lombardi on ESPN, they listed teams with the most wins while Lombardi was in charge of the Pack.

Green Bay ranked first, followed by the Colts and Browns.  And that was a down period for Cleveland as it was in between the great Paul Brown led teams in the early 1950’s and the Blanton Collier teams of the mid to late 60’s, which were consistently in the playoffs.

Yes, people, at one point, many, many years ago, the Cleveland Browns were a powerhouse in the NFL.

But how close are they to getting in the post-season?

First, you have to understand that one season turnarounds happen all the time in the NFL.  This year, it was the Kansas City Chiefs that emerged as a playoff team, going from 4-12 to 10-6. 

The Browns even went from a 4-12 season in 2006 to a 10-6 record in 2007, and then back to 4-12 in ’08.

The first thing the organization has to do is get better within the division.  Cleveland won one game in the AFC North last season, beating Cincinnati in week 4.  They have to get to the point where they can at least split the six divisional games if they want to compete.

If you were a critic of Eric Mangini, you probably think the Browns are close to contention.  You can point to several games down the stretch that the team could have won, but didn’t.

Those games would be losses to Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Buffalo, and Cincinnati.  Winning just two of those games would have put the Browns at 7-9, and people around the league would have the team poised to make a playoff push in 2011.

Winning three of the five would have put the team at 8-8.

The anti-Mangini people would say poor coaching, mainly offensive play calling and strategy made the Browns 5-11, not a lack of talent. 

They would say the coaching problem has been solved, and look for a big improvement next season. 

This makes more sense than the pro-Mangini forces who would blame everything on not having the right players.

You have to go back to the eye test.  What did you see when you watched those games?

If you are honest with yourself, you would admit all of those games were very winnable, in fact, the Browns led most of them heading into the fourth quarter.

They weren’t overwhelmed in any game this season until the last one, when they were blown out by the Steelers, who by the way are playing in the Super Bowl this weekend.

It follows then, that with another good draft (GM Tom Heckert did well in his first), some tweaking of the offensive philosophy (moving to a west coast offense), and a better head coach, the Browns could get to eight or nine wins this season.

Especially with an easier schedule because they will play the NFC West (Seattle, Arizona, San Francisco, and St. Louis). 

They do need to upgrade the defense, which should still be the focus of this year’s draft along with getting a wide receiver and an offensive lineman, because that wins in this division.

The NFL has shown that it is possible to make a quick rise in the standings.  The Cleveland Browns may not be as far away as it may seem right now.

JD

With winter hammering the North Coast, and people chiseling ice of their windshields and driveways, what a better time to think about baseball.

Pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear two weeks from today, February 17th.  Warmer weather has got to be just around the corner.

It has been reported that the Tribe is interested in signing free agent pitcher Jeremy Bonderman to a minor league contract.  Actually, this would be a very good move.

First of all, Bonderman is just 28 years old even though it seems like he’s been around forever.  He came up at the tender age of 20 in 2003 after being acquired by the Tigers in a trade with Oakland.

Last season was his first complete season since 2007 and he threw 171 innings for Detroit, compiling an 8-10 record with a 5.53 ERA. 

He missed most of the 2008 and 2009 seasons with a blood clot in his shoulder, which no doubt is serious, but he didn’t have any muscle tears.

Opposing hitters batted .277 against right-hander (Justin Masterson’s average against was .278), which isn’t a ridiculously high figure, and his strikeout to walk ratio wasn’t bad either (112 K’s to 60 walks).

The negatives would be that his second half was much worse than his first half, but that could be due to fatigue after not pitching much during the previous two years.

Bonderman is not an aging veteran with a track record of failure.  This means he is not the usual guy the Tribe front office takes a flyer on.  He’s been an inning eater who has pitched over 170 frames five times in his career, and has won 14 games in a season twice (’05 and ’06).

Bonderman is still relatively young and has upside.  It’s not a stretch to think he could go back to being the guy who pitched 180 innings with an ERA of around 4.00.  That’s a middle of the rotation starter. 

Now the Tribe has to use the same type of thinking with their lineup.  Last week, it was reported that the team had some interest in 1B Casey Kotchman, who wound up signing with Tampa Bay.

Kotchman, 28, was being looked at as a possible platoon partner at first base with Matt LaPorta.  Why?  He hit .217 with the Mariners last season, and is a lifetime .259 hitter and has a slugging percentage under .400 (.392) for his career.

He’s a singles hitter who plays a power position.  Why would want to take time away from a young player (La Porta) who you need to see play everyday? 

LaPorta is now 26 years old and it’s time for the organization to find out if he can be a regular.  He is potentially (hate that word!) a power hitting right-handed bat on a team that desperately needs one.

If Kotchman were brought in, Manny Acta would give him at bats against some right-handers, and let’s say he gets a few hits.  So, he starts getting more time in the lineup. 

However, ultimately he will go back to being Casey Kotchman, which is to say, not good enough to be an everyday player. 

The result is lost at bats for LaPorta.  That’s something this organization can’t afford.

It’s what happened with Jayson Nix.  He came in after being picked up on waivers, he a few dingers, and soon some people in the Indians’ front office think he’s a player.

The problem is, he’s still Jayson Nix and the Tribe should be finding out if Cord Phelps, Jason Donald, or Jason Kipnis are better than him.

You can always find someone like Kotchman or Nix if you need to have one in an emergency. 

Pick your spots on bringing in guys to rehabilitate their careers.  Jeremy Bonderman is a good gamble because he’s young and a starting pitcher.  T

Take a pass on mediocre hitters.

KM