Browns Defense Shows the Way

When the Browns traded Trent Richardson less than two weeks ago, many people thought the Browns were tanking the season in order to get a top flight quarterback prospect in the 2014 NFL Draft.

We said that Ray Horton’s defense was too good to allow the team to wind up 2-14 or 3-13.

That was never more evidenced than today’ 17-6 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the team’s second straight win. The Browns now sit at 2-2, tied with the Ravens and Bengals for first place in the AFC North.

The key match up was to be Cincinnati’s A. J. Green against Cleveland’s Joe Haden, and if so, then the decided edge went to Haden, who held Green to just 51 yards receiving for the game, with a long play of just 16 yards.

Cincy QB Andy Dalton hit on just 23 of 42 passes for the day for 206 yards and the Bengal offense was held out of the end zone by Horton’s crew, getting just two field goals.

The Cleveland defense boasted last week that no one runs on them, and it was true again today, with the Bengals getting just 63 yards rushing on 20 attempts, a 3.2 average.

It makes playing defense much easier when you can eliminate one facet of offense, and the Browns seem to do that week after week. Opponents simply haven’t been able to mount much of a rushing game.

And Horton’s group was able to get off the field most of the time, allowing just 4 of 14 third down conversions.

Rookie first round pick Barkevious Mingo got his first start and is now three-for-three. He has a sack in each game he has played thus far. The only other sack by Cleveland was a huge one, with CB Chris Owens jarring the ball loose from Dalton and then recovering it, the first Cincy turnover.

And besides Haden’s blanket job on Green, kudos must also be given to much maligned CB Buster Skrine, who continues to show improvement and intercepted Dalton in the fourth quarter to basically put a lid on this victory.

Keep in mind, the Browns were missing Jabaal Sheard, who is off to a great start in this contest.

Offensively, it wasn’t spectacular like last week, but QB Brian Hoyer was very effective, particularly on third down, converting 9 of 18 chances. Hoyer hit on 25 of 38 throws for 269 yards and touchdown tosses to TE Jordan Cameron, quietly developing into a very good player and RB Chris Ogbonnaya, who ran five times for 27 yards and caught five more passes.

Cameron was Hoyer’s primary target, grabbing 10 passes for 91 yards.

Josh Gordon had four catches for 71 yards, including a tremendous catch on a 33-yard play in which he reached over the defensive back.

There is no question that even if Brandon Weeden’s thumb is healthy, Hoyer should be behind center this week against the Bills.

RB Willis McGahee promised more production in his second game with the Browns, and he delivered, gaining 46 yards on 15 carries, but had 36 of those yards in the fourth quarter.

And you can’t forget the contribution of P Spencer Lanning, who averaged 42.8 yards on his kicks, and put three of them inside the Cincinnati 20 yard line.

Billy Cundiff, hurt last week against the Vikings, missed two field goals, but converted a 51-yard field goal, his second of over 50 yards on the season.

The Browns have a short week now, having to take on Buffalo this Thursday, and the Bills knocked off the Ravens today.

Suddenly, the improvement we thought this football team could accomplish may be attainable. The Browns may just be a contender.

Biggest Story for Tribe? No Doubt, It’s the Starters

The Cleveland Indians sit poised to make their first appearance in baseball’s post-season in six years. That is something some people predicted at the beginning of the season, but most experts didn’t see this coming.

We picked the Tribe to finish fourth in the American League Central Division, mostly because of doubts about the starting pitching staff. We are very happy to have been wrong on our guess.

Justin Masterson pitched more like the guy who took the mound in 2011 when he had a 3.21 ERA and developed into a horse, throwing almost 190 innings before a rib cage injury sidelined him in early September for a few weeks.

Corey Kluber, picked up for Jake Westbrook at the trade deadline in 2010, didn’t even make the Opening Day roster. But he became a mainstay before hurting his index finger, and has come back in September winning 11 games on the year with an ERA of under 4.00 (3.85).

Left-hander Scott Kazmir was on baseball’s scrap heap last season, pitching in an independent league trying to put his career back together. That he did, giving Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Calloway over 150 innings, going 9-9 with a 4.14 ERA and averaging a strikeout per inning.

And who could have foreseen rookie Danny Salazar, who opened the season at AA Akron, would become a key arm in the rotation by the season’s end. The youngster, equipped with an electric fastball, has fanned 65 hitters in 52 innings pitched and looks to be a guy who could become a front of the rotation starter by the beginning of next year.

However, perhaps the biggest surprise has been Ubaldo Jimenez.

Jimenez was acquired at the trading deadline in 2011 for two top pitching prospects, lefty Drew Pomerantz and righty Alex White, both former first round draft picks. For most of the next two seasons, the balance of ’11, all of 2012, and the first half of this season, most would have to agree Jimenez was a huge disappointment.

He led the AL in losses last season with 17. his ERA with the Indians both for the balance of his first season here and in 2012 were over 5.00, a mark that signifies you are not an effective pitcher.

In the second half, something clicked for the big right-hander, whether it came from Calloway or watching film, or from frequent mechanical adjustments, and Jimenez started to resemble the pitcher who posted 19 wins and a 2.88 ERA for Colorado in 2010.

And he started pounding the strike zone like never before.

In his first 205 big league starts, Jimenez never had a game where he struck out nine batters without walking anyone.

He’s done it three times in his last six starts.

Any of these stories would have been amazing on their own, but the fact that they all happened for the Tribe is a credit to the scouts who found Kluber and Kazmir, the coaching staff that turned around Masterson and Jimenez, and the player development people who nurtured Salazar back after his elbow surgery.

That doesn’t mean this was a lucky season for Cleveland because all of these guys are certainly capable of repeating these types of campaigns. In the cases of the veterans, they’ve done it before.

In the youngsters case, it was a mechanical adjustment that add a few MPHs to Kluber’s fastball and Salazar has an arm that is a gift.

The Cleveland Indians have been a terrific story most of the season, although many in Cleveland have missed it. The pitching staff was just the biggest reason for an unlikely 90 win season.

Should Perez Continue to Close?

The Cleveland Indians are very much in a pennant race and yet they have a huge question mark in the back of their bullpen.

Last night, Chris Perez came into a critical game with a 3-2 lead and allowed two solo home runs to turn it into a 4-3 deficit.

Jason Giambi titanic pinch-hit dinger saved Perez, but it is not a secret that the Tribe’s closer has struggled in the last two months.

After the game, Terry Francona expressed confidence in Perez, but that’s what the skipper does. He never questions his players in public. He is the ultimate players’ manager in that regard.

Secretly though, Francona and his coaches have got to be mulling over alternatives the next time there is a save situation for Cleveland, and that could come as early as tonight.

The problem is Perez’ sudden propensity to give up the long ball. He has now allowed 10 homers in just 53 innings. That’s a lot for a closer.

By comparison, the American League leader in saves; Baltimore’s Jim Johnson has allowed just five long balls in 67 innings pitched.

Kansas City’s Greg Holland, who has a 1.25 ERA for the year to go with 45 saves, has allowed three home runs in 65 innings of work.

Future Hall of Fame closer, New York’s Mariano Rivera has given up six homers in 62 innings pitched.

Perez has allowed four more blasts than any of these relievers haven’t outstanding seasons and has pitched less than all of them.

One other startling statistic: Justin Masterson has allowed just 13 circuit clouts despite throwing 140 more innings (189 thus far on the season).

Closers who give up a lot of home runs are liabilities in one run games because the lead can be lost with one swing of the bat.

As Perez has shown before, you can pitch around a walk or a base hit with the closest of margins. It may not be ideal for the health of his manager or the Tribe fan base, but it can be done. Allowing a single by itself doesn’t cost your team the lead.

It is also Perez’ second half performance in total that should give Francona pause to put him in with a one run lead. He has a 4.39 ERA since the All-Star break and has allowed six bombs in 26 IP. Opposing hitters are batting .276 against him.

This compares to a 3.04 ERA before the Midsummer Classic and he was holding opponents to a .225 average.

It gets worse. Since the first of August, Perez has a 5.95 ERA.

So this isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to him blowing a save in a game the Tribe needed with the playoff hopes on the line. He’s been bad for two months. His statistics as a closer are always repeated (he’s only blown five saves), but clearly he hasn’t been effective for almost two months.

We understand there is a tremendous difference in what Francona says and what he does. If the Tribe is leading 5-2 going into the ninth tonight, he may very well go with Perez.

However, if the Indians do play in the wild card game and go to the last inning with a one run advantage, will it be Chris Perez’ game?

Only Francona knows that for sure.

If They are Tanking, No One Told Browns’ Players, Staff

If the Cleveland Browns front office’s plan was to be bad enough to be able to get their franchise quarterback in next year’s draft, someone forgot to let the players and coaching staff in on the plan.

The Browns scored more points in the first half than they had in the first two games in total, and then overcame their usual second half blahs to win their first game of the season, 31-27 over the Minnesota Vikings.

The offense was much more efficient under Brian Hoyer, playing for an injured Brandon Weeden, converting 6 of 15 third downs and although the offensive line struggled all afternoon, they allowed just three sacks.

It has been reported that Weeden could be available to play next week, but after a win and Hoyer’s performance today, why change back unless the former St. Ignatius star gives the coaches a reason to do just that.

The other dimension that returned to the offense was WR Josh Gordon, the subject of trade rumors by the national pundits before the game. Gordon caught 10 throws for 146 yards and a 47 yard touchdown reception which started the scoring for Cleveland.

Now, many people may say the Browns didn’t miss recently traded Trent Richardson because they emerged with the win, but the offense had no running attack the entire game, although they ran for 103 yards in just 17 attempts.

That’s because Cleveland’s leading rusher was Josh Aubrey, who picked up 34 yards on a fake punt, and Gordon also gained 22 yards later on an end around. Those two plays accounted for more than half of the offense’s rushing yards.

Richardson’s primary replacement, newcomer Willis McGahee, picked up just 9 yards on 8 carries.

Coach Rob Chudzinski and coordinator Norv Turner showed more aggressiveness in the first half than we have seen all season, pulling out both the fake punt previously mentioned and they also scored a touchdown on a fake field goal with punter/holder Spencer Lanning hitting TE Jordan Cameron with an 11 yard touchdown pass.

Cameron had another outstanding afternoon with three touchdown receptions, including the game winning 7 yard catch.

Hoyer did something in his first Cleveland start that is missing from Weeden’s resume, that is producing a game winning drive, after getting possession at his own 45 with almost three and a half minutes left.

He hit a key third down play immediately, hitting Gordon for 11 yards to keep the drive going after two incompletions.

Still, the lack of a running game is going to come back and haunt this team if they don’t figure it out soon. Cleveland’s last running play came with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Defensively, Ray Horton’s crew held RB Adrian Peterson under 100 yards rushing (88 total), and added four sacks and two turnovers. The sacks came from DE Desmond Bryant (third straight game, 3.5 on the season), LB Barkevious Mingo (second straight game), Billy Winn, John Hughes, and Jabaal Sheard.

ILB D’Qwell Jackson had seven solo tackles and forced a Peterson fumble and T.J. Ward picked off a Christian Ponder throw.

You can make a very good argument that had the Browns taken care of the football better (three interceptions and a fumble), this game wouldn’t have needed a late game drive to get the victory.

So, the first game coming after a week of turmoil (quarterback change and Richardson trade) was a success, with Chudzinski getting his first win as a head coach.

Now, we can see how the team performs in a more normal week, with a home game against the division favorite in the Cincinnati Bengals.

It was thought the front office was giving up on the 2013 season, but in retrospect, the Dolphins are now 3-0 after beating Atlanta today, and the Ravens blasted Houston 30-9 and now sit at 2-1.

Maybe the Browns aren’t as bad as some people in the organization think.

Browns Want Franchise QB. Where is He?

The Cleveland Browns made every indication that they are looking to next year when they traded Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

Most speculate that president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi will be looking for their franchise quarterback next spring in the draft.

However, there are plenty of holes in that argument.

The first question would be are there any “franchise” quarterbacks available next May. Oh, there will be plenty of players who so-called experts will say are franchise players at that position, but are they really that good?

There is no Andrew Luck available next year.

People will say no, but maybe there’s another Robert Griffin III or Russell Wilson. Although he looked great last season, the former had a severe knee injury at the end of last season, and while Wilson played very well for Seattle last year, the major burden of the offense isn’t on him.

While the Browns would be better off with either player, there still isn’t any substantial evidence that either guy is an elite quarterback at this time.

Next, how do you get that QB, assuming that there is one near the top of the ’14 draft? Is Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Tahj Boyd of Clemson, or Brett Hundley of UCLA on the same level as Luck or Griffin? Or are they guys like Geno Smith, currently with the Jets.

Obviously, the Browns figured having two first round picks will enable them to get them to where they want to be. But you have to remember the reason the Redskins were able to deal up to get Griffin.

The Rams had that pick and already had their signal caller in Sam Bradford.

Will another team that has a quarterback land in the top two or three choices and be willing to trade up with Cleveland?

That is doubtful.

It’s difficult to tell after just two weeks of the season, although Banner and Lombardi obviously figured out in that time that their team wasn’t good, who are likely candidates to have high draft picks next spring.

Many experts feel Jacksonville will be one of those teams, and they would be looking for a quarterback, and Oakland is another team mentioned as one of the league’s worst, and even though they are still unpredictable even without Al Davis running things, you have to figure they will be looking for a QB as well.

If the Browns finish 4-12 again and even if Indianapolis goes 8-8, would the 5^th and 17^th picks be enough to entice a team needing a passer to trade down? That’s highly unlikely.

Why 4-12 instead of say 2-14? The front office may be looking toward 2014, but the players and coaches still have pride.

We say this knowing that the best player in the draft isn’t a quarterback, it is South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney.

That’s the real criticism of this trade. It was made because Banner and Lombardi want to find a franchise quarterback, and want to be bad enough to get a high draft choice. But it doesn’t look like there is a mortal lock to be that guy available.

If you are going to do something like this, then getting Andy Dalton, Mark Sanchez, or Alex Smith doesn’t make you considerably better. You need to surround them with a great deal of talent to succeed.

Blowing up a season to get a high pick is a cowardly way to run an organization. We’ve seen turnarounds in San Francisco and Seattle in recent years, and for that matter in Kansas City this season without dismantling the franchise.

And if this trade makes the Browns better in the present, then they will foil the front office’s strategy. That will be hilarious.

If a franchise player is available in a draft, like LeBron James, then it might make sense to sacrifice a season. That guy’s not there next spring.

Meanwhile, the front office sold out their fans. Hope they can live with that.

Browns Lack Accountability

There is no question that professional football is treated differently in Cleveland, Ohio.

About a year ago, Terry Francona was hired as the new manager of the Cleveland Indians. He didn’t get to claim that the players already on the roster were not his and therefore he could not be expected to win right away.

A few months ago, the Cavaliers hired Mike Brown as their new head coach, and Brown said he expected to get the wine and gold back to the playoffs.

In both cases, the respective front offices made moves to upgrade the rosters and at least in the Indians’ case, it has translated in to post-season contention.

The Browns hired a new head coach in Rob Chudzinski after the season, and brought in a new GM before the draft, and yet, their actions are telling the fans that this is yet another rebuilding season, their umpteenth in a row.

And then they dropped this bomb on its fan base, trading Trent Richardson, probably the team’s best skill position player to the Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

The “we have to get our own guys” argument is tiring. In no other sport does this occur. Both the Indians and Cavaliers made additions to their roster, as well they should considering they were terrible last season. They did not blow up the team though.

Hire a coach and have that guy get the best out of the current players. That’s what should be done. A lot of experts felt there was enough talent on this roster to finish 7-9 or 8-8, which would have been progress.

It is a sign of weak management to come in and condemn the entire organization, pretty much saying that they did nothing right.

There is just no accountability for the Browns’ coaches, management, or players.

Isn’t the object of the game to win?

Why isn’t anyone in the organization concerned that it appears only one player picked in last year’s draft, first round pick Barkevious Mingo, can get on the field consistently?

Mike Lombardi criticized several Browns’ choices over the years in his position at NFL Network, yet in his first shot choosing players, he comes up with one guy who can play on a team that won only five games a year ago!

And fans should be enthused that he now has two first round picks in next spring’s draft?

All that argument does is buy time for the new people coming in. Meanwhile, the fans are treated to more years of crappy football.

And this year, Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner, and Michael Lombardi are telling the rabid Browns fandom that they aren’t trying to win this year, just two games into the season.

It would serve them right if not one person goes to First Energy Stadium a week from Sunday. Why should we care if they don’t.

People who are outspoken about Mike Holmgren’s regime are entitled to their opinion, but “The Big Show” never did something like this.

It’s time to hold the Cleveland Browns management accountable for the junk we see every Sunday afternoon. We shouldn’t care that they all are relatively new.

As the late Al Davis said, “Just win, baby! That’s all that matters.

Browns Offense is Offensive So Far

When the Cleveland Browns and Phil Dawson parted way in the off-season, more than one pundit said it wasn’t a big deal because the new coaching staff was going to score touchdowns instead of kicking field goals.

How do those people feel now, as the team fell to 0-2 with a 14-6 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens.

The Browns’ new offense, coached by Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner, looks a lot like the one that performed last season. They’ve scored 16 points combined in the two contests, scoring just one touchdown, and getting three field goals from Billy Cundiff.

Much of the optimism came from the thought that Cleveland had a solid offensive line, but the injuries to guards Shawn Lauvao and Jason Pinkston have weakened that unit significantly, so much that Brandon Weeden has been sacked 11 times in the first two games.

The other thing killing the offense has been third down conversions. Through two games, the Browns are a pathetic 5 out of 29 in trying to stay on the field, a paltry 17.2%. That doesn’t get it done.

Cleveland came out with a big play, a 53-yard strike to TE Jordan Cameron on their first offensive play, getting them to the Ravens’ 7. But two Trent Richardson runs and a third down incompletion had the Browns settling for a field goal.

On their second possession, two consecutive penalties on third down, the first coming on a third and two situation, killed a drive. That cannot happen if you want to play winning football.

Two possessions later, two sacks stopped a drive that had accumulated three first downs.

Sacks, penalties, and the inability to run the football isn’t a formula for winning football. We’ve said for years that the common thread for the Browns in the last 14 years was they couldn’t run the ball, and they couldn’t stop the run.

Although once again, in a game they were trailing just 7-6 going into the fourth quarter, Trent Richardson didn’t carry the ball once in the final stanza. Not once. That’s a head scratcher for sure.

At least these Browns can stop the run. Ray Horton’s defense only allowed 99 yards on 36 attempts to Baltimore, an average of 2.8 yards per carry.

That just plays into our point, though. Just averaging less than three yards per attempt, Baltimore still attempted 36 runs. The Browns? They tried to run the ball just 20 times for the game, and two were runs by Weeden on aborted passing plays.

Until the Browns make a commitment to run the ball, they will continue to struggle moving the ball. They are putting too much of the offense on a quarterback who isn’t prepared to handle it.

Defensively, the Browns pitched a shoutout in the first half, but for the second straight week, the opponent made adjustments and moved the ball better after halftime.

Rookie first round pick Barkevious Mingo made his NFL debut and showed very well, getting a sack and pressuring Raven QB Joe Flacco a couple of other times. DE Desmond Bryant had a half sack (with Jabaal Sheard), giving him 2-1/2 on the season.

Buster Skrine was picked on once again, and was forced to make seven tackles, but opposing QBs are going to go after him because the alternative is Joe Haden.

You can’t argue about the defense though. They allowed just 14 points, and that should win games at the NFL level. In fact, that defensive performance would have won every single early game played on Sunday.

Chudzinski and Turner have to come out and run the football and stick with it even if Richardson isn’t getting five yards per carry. That should take some pressure off the line, making it easier to protect Weeden.

Until that happens, this football team is going to continue to struggle.

Fair or Not, Dolan’s Must Win Fans Back

The attendance on the Cleveland Indians’ last homestand brought up a discussion on why no one is going to the games for a team that is very much in the playoff hunt.

Some people thought it was the way the tickets are priced for different days and different series, and others thought the team wasn’t very exciting.

However, many of the fans we talk to bring up the ownership. They simply do not trust the Dolan family’s commitment to building a winning franchise.

While that may or may not be true, a wise man once said that “Perception is Reality”, and that is the uphill fight the Tribe ownership has to battle.

The Indians’ front office tries to fight that notion, and will site the free agent signings made over the last off-season, and amount of money spent on player development as examples that they are trying to win.

This winter, the ownership and the leadership of the franchise, led by team president Mark Shapiro should keep this in mind…actions speak louder than words.

Therefore, they shouldn’t complain in the media about the poor attendance during the 2013 season. They have every right to be disappointed. Fans have clamored for a winning team since 2007, and Terry Francona’s crew has delivered, only to be ignored by the populace.

Still, it will only inflame the ticket buying public already poor opinion of the ownership. So, the best course of action is not to say anything.

Instead, they should continue the same plan they did last winter, meaning continue to add to the roster and show the fans they are doing everything they possibly can to get into/back to the post-season in 2014.

Remember, the Indians have another off-season where a lot of cash comes off the books in the salary column.

Mark Reynolds and his $6 million deal will be gone, as well as the failed Brett Myers experiment and his $7 million contract.

It is doubtful that Chris Perez, who is making approximately the same amount as Myers will be offered arbitration either, meaning GM Chris Antonetti will likely part ways with the team’s closer.

And just in case you think it will be about Perez’s off field troubles or his controversial comments, it won’t. It will be a baseball decision. If Perez is still on the roster, he could earn up to $10 million next season.

He isn’t worth that based on his performance.

We understand that other players will get raises, in particular Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, whose free agent deals escalate from the first year of their contracts.

They also have to try to keep Justin Masterson, who will be a free agent after next season, and try to keep one of their free agent starting pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir.

They won’t have $20 million to spend.

However, that doesn’t mean they can’t continue to improve this baseball team.

That is what they have to do in order to win over their critics.

Yes, getting rid of the way tickets are priced currently will help. So will other things that can help the gameday experience.

But the biggest thing will be to gradually decrease the number of people who think everything about the Cleveland Indians is related to money, and make everyone understand that ownership is trying to bring a winner to Progressive Field.