With the Cleveland Browns struggling along with a 3-5 record, and seemingly unable to score in the first and third quarters of games, fans are already calling for the firing of coach Pat Shurmur.
Some of these people have actually suggested Mike Holmgren made a mistake in firing Eric Mangini after last season, because, you know, the Browns were oh so successful in Mangini’s two years at the helm with a 10-22 record.
In fact, do you know what the Browns’ record was after eight games last season? That’s right, the same 3-5 record they have currently.
Part of Shurmur’s problem is how he arrived at the 3-5 record. The ’11 squad has lost two in a row to achieve the record, while the 2010 version of the team won two straight, beating New Orleans and New England to reach the mark.
Those two wins and the subsequent overtime loss to the Jets were the high point of Mangini’s tenure in Cleveland.
Sitting at 3-6 and facing a schedule with upcoming winnable games at Jacksonville, vs. Carolina and road tilts in Miami, Buffalo, and Cincinnati, it wasn’t a stretch to think Cleveland could have been 8-6 going into the last two games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
However, after being aggressive and bold in play calling and general style of play in wins and overtime loss, Mangini, for reasons only known to the coach, decided to go back to his conservative football nature and his team lost three of those five games against poor opponents.
And they were lucky to defeat Carolina at home, a team that won just once all season.
The Jacksonville game was particularly galling because the Jaguars turned the ball over six times in the contest, and Cleveland did not attack after each one. A 17-10 lead after three quarters turned into a 24-20 defeat.
Colt McCoy was injured in the game and could not play the next few games, so Mangini went with Jake Delhomme over Seneca Wallace, and Delhomme didn’t play well and some games that could have been won slipped by the wayside.
Also, remember the odd personnel decisions made by the previous regime. Jayme Mitchell has shown to be at least a decent player as a starter this year at defensive end.
Mitchell was acquired by GM Tom Heckert, probably not at the behest of the coach. Therefore, Mitchell was rendered inactive for the entire season. Why? Because the coach didn’t want him.
Rookie CB Joe Haden didn’t start until the middle of the season even though starter Eric Wright was struggling. Haden has shown Pro Bowl ability this year.
Also remember that the 2010 Browns were a veteran laden team, full of decent players who had been with the Jets when Mangini was the coach there. They knew how the coach did things, and it did pay off in terms of fewer penalties and mental errors. However, these players were not getting better, so the future wasn’t very bright.
Granted, Shurmur hasn’t knocked anyone’s socks off as a head coach, and perhaps he never will. But this year’s Browns are younger, and the roster is dotted with players on the upswing like Haden, and rookies Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard. Those players and others will get better with experience.
Certainly things could be better with the Browns, the last few games have been pure torture to watch, but let’s not remember the last two years as some sort of “golden era”. When his football team appeared to be in a position to make some noise in the standings, Eric Mangini chose not to sustain the bold style of play that earned victories against the Saints and Patriots.
That’s what we should remember about the 2010 season.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 