On the Cavs Offense Troubles

The NBA season is a week old and after the Cleveland Cavaliers won their opener, apparently there were a few fans that felt the days of 60 win seasons returned with Mike Brown.

That is based on the reaction of some people after the wine and gold lost consecutive road games to Charlotte and Indiana.

The truth is this team has to get used to playing together. There are several new, key pieces getting a lot of playing time.

Think about it. In Brown’s top nine players are only five players (Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Alonzo Gee, C. J. Miles, and Dion Waiters), who were with the Cavs last season.

And since those five aren’t usually on the court at the same time, there is an adjustment period needed.

The holdovers have to get used to playing with Earl Clark, Andrew Bynum, and Jarret Jack and have to be re-acquainted with Anderson Varejao.

They have to learn where these players want the ball to be effective, and in Bynum’s case working off a legitimate low post threat.

That could explain the offensive struggles that hurt the Cavs during the two road losses. Of course, it also could be the schemes that Brown has put together which at times seems like an early pick and roll, and if that doesn’t work, it’s up to Irving to come up with something.

That’s how Brown’s offense worked when LeBron James was here. Last night, Austin Carr mentioned the Cavaliers struggled late in the game because there were too many 1-4 sets with Irving trying to break down the defense.

Brown has stated he has stressed defense in training camp and has done very little with the offense, and we will give him the benefit of the doubt on this right now. Still, his history has shown his offense has struggled especially against good defenses and in crunch time.

The other problem for the Cavaliers right now is they aren’t shooting the basketball very well. Whether that is part of the offensive design or not remains to be seen, but several Cleveland players are having problems in this area.

Both starting guards are really having problems.

Irving is the league’s defending three point shooting champion and right now, he is shooting just 37% from the floor, compared to 46% in his first two years in the league. He has also hit just 2 or 11 attempts from behind the arc.

You have to expect that this is just temporary based on his track record.

His backcourt mate, Dion Waiters had some issues with shot selection as a rookie, but he still made 41% of his shots. Through four games this season, he is making just one out of every three shots.

Newcomer Earl Clark is another player way off his career norm. Clark hit 44% of his field goal attempts a year ago, and is making only 32% from the floor after four games.

Thank goodness for C. J. Miles, who is off to a sizzling start, hitting 52% of his shots and making 8 of 21 from three-point range.

Irving, Waiters, and Clark will start to make more shots, but Brown’s history shows people have reason for concern about the ability to score points late in games.

There has to be a better plan than get the ball to Kyrie and hope for the best.

Don’t Look Now, Browns Are In Playoff Picture

After losing 11 straight games to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns talked all week about how this team didn’t lose all those games. That it would be different this time.

They backed up the talk with a 24-18 win over the defending Super Bowl champions, raising their record to 4-5 on the season.

The Browns, who people figured had given up on the 2013 season, are now in a playoff race heading into the bye week. just a game behind the Jets for the sixth and final spot in the post-season.

Same day, the Browns lack of a running game is going to hurt them, but that day wasn’t today, as Cleveland gained just 73 yards on the ground with an average of 2.6 yards per carry.

Willis McGahee carried 21 times for an unbelievably low total of 31 yards, and the Browns inability to punch a touchdown in the closing minutes allowed one more chance for Baltimore.

Of course, the Ravens, who actually rank lower in the league’s statistics in running, managed just 55 yards on the ground, also averaging 2.6 yards per attempt.

The offensive stars for Cleveland were QB Jason Campbell, who provided his second straight effective start, hitting on 23 of 35 passes for 262 yards and three touchdown passes, two to Davone Bess, who rebounded after last week’s horrendous performance.

Campbell made some huge plays to keep possession on the Browns’ last drive, in which they took over the ball with a three-point lead and 6:44 remaining.

First, he scrambled for 12 yards on a 3rd and 3. Then, he converted a 4th and 1 with a cross the body toss to Bess, who made a diving catch, after being chased out of the pocket.

He even showed his backup, Brandon Weeden, how to correctly execute the flip pass, hitting Chris Ogbonnaya for 14 yards after being flushed out of the pocket.

He was efficient and trusted his receivers on a few plays, throwing into tight coverage and expecting his wide outs to make the play.

The first scoring drive featured a throw to Greg Little, who turned it into a 46 yard pick up after the catch. Also, the first TD throw to Bess was made with a Raven defender right on him.

Little had perhaps his best day as a pro, hauling in seven passes for 122 yards. He did leave the game with a shoulder injury.

Campbell also received good protection from the offensive line, who allowed just two sacks on the day after giving up five the first time the two teams met in Baltimore.

This time, it was the Browns who sacked Joe Flacco five times, and once again five different players did the honors (Chris Owens, T.J. Ward, Jabaal Sheard, Armonty Bryant, and Quentin Groves).

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton said the Browns needed to improve on third down situations and they did just that, holding Baltimore to just 7 of 16 conversions. And Joe Haden picked up his first interception of the year.

A fumbled punt set up Cleveland’s third and final touchdown.

With the bye week here, let’s hope the front office can address the team’s inability to do anything on the ground. McGahee is a pro, but outside of the Buffalo game (and he averaged only three yards a carry in that game), he has not been effective.

Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner made it work without a ground game today, but if more meaningful games are played later in the season, it will be necessary to run the ball to protect leads.

Right now, they simply can’t run the ball, which of course makes Campbell’s day even more impressive.

We will say it again, it is amazing what a professional quarterback can do with this offense.

After the week off, the Browns visit Cincinnati, who no doubt will have revenge on their minds after a beating they took in Cleveland in week four.

That game will be bigger than anyone would have thought after the Browns were 0-2 and traded their starting running back.

Tribe Starts Hot Stove Season Positively

The Cleveland Indians made their first moves of baseball’s off-season and they should have surprised absolutely no one.

First, the Tribe inked DH Jason Giambi to a minor league contract and there is no doubt that if he is healthy next spring, he will be on the Opening Day roster on March 31^st in his old stomping ground in Oakland.

The grizzled veteran hit just .183, but did hit 9 HR and knocked in 31 runs, many of them key.

He had perhaps the biggest hit down the stretch with his dramatic pinch hit two run homer off of Chicago’s Addison Reed to turn a 4-3 potential loss into a 5-4 victory.

Anyone who has read the book that Terry Francona did with Dan Shaughnessy about his years in Boston understands how much the skipper values veterans who provide leadership like Giambi.

The guess here is that as long as “Big G” can get around on a fastball, he will have a spot on a Francona led team.

GM Chris Antonetti also announced the Indians were cutting ties with closer Chris Perez. While the speculation will be it is because of his poor finish to the season and his off field problems, it really comes down to just dollars and cents.

If the Tribe was to keep Perez for 2014, they likely would have had to pay him in excess of $8 million, an amount way too exorbitant based on his productivity.

The shame of it is the Indians should have dealt Perez each of the last two seasons, because the signs he was losing effectiveness were there.

His strikeout to innings pitched ratio had declined, and at that time, Cleveland had a viable alternative in Vinnie Pestano, who was making a lot less than Perez, thus freeing up cash for other needs.

As it is, Antonetti and Francona have several in-house options to close out games, including Pestano if his arm bounces back, along with Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw.

Former Indians’ GM John Hart used to say that closers fall out of trees, and when you think about it, there aren’t a lot of teams who pay closers huge sums of money. This is mostly because they aren’t effective for long periods with Mariano Rivera being the exception.

The Indians completed the trio of moves by getting LHP Colt Hynes from San Diego. Hynes spent the second half of last year with the Padres, compiling a 9.00 ERA, which hardly sounds impressive.

However, he did hold left-handed hitters to 5 for 32 with six walks, making him a classic LOOGY (left-handed one out guy). He may be designated for assignment as the Indians make room on the 40 man roster before the winter meetings, but if he goes to spring training he has a chance to supplant Rich Hill in the bullpen.

The news today that Ubaldo Jimenez turned out his option for next year is no surprise either, and Cleveland will make him a qualifying offer by Monday to ensure draft pick compensation.

Jimenez will likely get a four or five-year contract offer from somewhere, and the Tribe is right in staying away from that length of deal based on the pitcher’s volatile career while here.

The hot stove season started as soon as the World Series ended for the Cleveland Indians. After a couple of days, things are going according to plan.

Browns Version of “What If?”

Monday, September 9th–

After years of losing the season opener, the Cleveland Browns finally got it right, defeating the Miami Dolphins in the opener 24-17.

Since the other three teams in the AFC North all lost, new coach Rob Chudzinski’s team has an early advantage in the division and have an opportunity to put a severe dent in the Ravens hopes with a win next week against Baltimore.

Hometown starter Brian Hoyer led an efficient attack, hitting on 26 of 42 passes for 289 yards and two touchdown throws, one each to Jordan Cameron and the other to Trent RIchardson.

Monday, September 16th–

The Browns’ new regime is off to a flying start and the members of the Dawg Pound have to have thoughts of playoffs dancing in their heads as Cleveland won its second straight game, ruining the Ravens’ opener with a 16-14 win to raise their record to 2-0.

Brian Hoyer had another strong outing, throwing for 286 yards on 24 completions in 33 attempts, including a strike to TE Jordan Cameron for a touchdown. Cameron caught 8 passes for 131 yards as Hoyer repeatedly found him to keep the chains moving.

The Cleveland offensive line provided good protection for the second straight week as Hoyer was sacked just twice by the Baltimore defense.

Of course, this is fiction, but you have to wonder what the Browns record would be if the coaching staff had opted for either of the other quarterbacks on the roster instead of starting the season with Brandon Weeden.

Through the performances of both Hoyer and Jason Campbell in their appearances this year, it is obvious that Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner gave four starts to the team’s third best signal caller.

Let’s face it, the offensive looks much better with either Hoyer or Campbell at the controls, and it is in all phases of the game.

Last Sunday, the fear was the Cleveland passer being sacked repeatedly by a Chiefs’ rush that led the NFL in sacks, averaging five per contest.

Campbell went down for a loss just once.

Why? Because he reads the defense quickly and gets rid of the football. Hoyer’s style was similar when he started against the Vikings and Bengals. The offensive line looked much better than when Weeden was in the game, mostly because of the latter’s habit of waiting and waiting before throwing the football.

All of the quarterbacks have played under the handicap of virtually no running game, as only in the Buffalo game has a Cleveland running back gained over 75 yards.

Browns’ passers have thrown nine interceptions for the season, with Weeden throwing six of those. To be fair, Hoyer threw three in his first start, which he won, and Weeden has played the majority of the games, starting four and playing most of the Thursday night win against Buffalo.

Hoyer and Campbell have more accurate too, hitting for a combined 58.8% of their passes, compared to Weeden’s 52.8%.

Not to degrade the new coach, but you have to wonder why they started the season with Weeden? Is it because he was a first round draft pick? Was it his big arm?

You would have to think the offense runs much smoother with Hoyer or Campbell in practice as well.

Maybe it was the desire to see what Weeden could do under a new coaching staff, just as Chudzinski alluded to earlier this season. If that’s the case, how many wins did the staff cost this team.

What if the Browns had started Hoyer or Campbell right from the start? Would they be 5-3? Or 6-2?

The difference is so dramatic, it makes you pause and wonder.

Browns Overcame Horrid First Half to Come Close

It is too bad the Cleveland Browns thought today’s game with Kansas City started at 1 PM Central Time.

We mean, that had to be the reason for the horrific performance until halfway through the second quarter at Arrowhead Stadium in a game the Browns ultimately lost 23-17 to fall to 3-5 on the season.

That first quarter and a half was perhaps the worst football a Cleveland team has played since they returned to the NFL in 1999.

They couldn’t stop Kansas City on the ground and through the air. The offense couldn’t even get a first down, let alone a touchdown.

And then it all changed.

Jason Campbell hit a pass to TE Jordan Cameron for a first down, and then hit WR Josh Gordon on a flea flicker for a TD. And just like that, the Browns were back in the game.

The Chiefs answered with a scoring pass to Dexter McCluster, but that was about it for the Kansas City offense for the day, as they managed just three points for the balance of the game, and that was because the Browns turned the ball over on downs with a little over two minutes left.

We have written about halftime adjustments before, but today coordinator Ray Horton put pressure on Alex Smith and played man-to-man on the outside with his cornerbacks and shutdown the KC attack.

Smith was sacked five times in the second half, all by different players as Horton brought pressure from different spots. The Chiefs, who converted eight of their first 10 third down opportunities, converted just two of their last nine in that situation.

Campbell was very good in his first start, hitting 22 of 36 throws for 293 yards and two touchdown passes, and overcame four dropped balls by WR Davone Bess, including one on a fourth down that would have given Cleveland a chance to tie or perhaps win the game.

The veteran reminded fans once again of Brandon Weeden’s weakness of holding on to the football way to long. Campbell was decisive with his throws, and because of that, he was sacked just once by the team that leads the AFC in that category.

As for Bess, not only did he dropped four passes, he also fumbled a punt which would have given the offense the ball at around midfield after the defense backed up Kansas City.

That was a momentum changing play to say the least.

We will have to again ask why the front office cannot go out and get another running back to help out, as it was evident once again that the Browns can’t run the ball.

Willis McGahee had nine carries for 28 yards, but had half those yards on one carry. Chris Ogbonnaya had 12 yards on three carries, all of them on one run.

The Browns simply have too many running plays which result in no yards or in negative yards. There has to be someone available who can do better than that.

If this was Gordon’s last game as a Brown, he went out with a bang, grabbing five passes for 132 yards. In the three games he played with someone other than Weeden at the helm, he has caught 19 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns. He caught 13 passes in games Weeden played.

Cameron also played another strong game with four receptions for 81 yards.

There should be no question that Campbell is the starter going forward, and you have to think it may be time to cut ties with Weeden, as it is pretty obvious at this point that the offense problems begin and end with him.

WIth a home game against the Ravens next week, the Browns have reason to hope they can go into the bye week at 4-5 and a chance.

They just need to start playing when the opening kickoff occurs.

Lincecum’s Deal Means Bye Bye to Ubaldo

It was reported that the Indians are pondering whether or not to make a qualifying offer of approximately $14.1 million to potential free agent right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez.

Here’s hoping that GM Chris Antonetti decides to make the offer.

We don’t have any illusions of keeping Jimenez for the 2014 season. The Giants monstrous deal for Tim Lincecum made it likely that some team will give the American League’s pitcher of the month for September a very rich man.

Still, the Tribe should make the qualifying offer because if Jimenez refuses, which is a most likely scenario, then Cleveland will get an additional first round pick in next year’s amateur draft.

And even if Ubaldo accepts, it’s a one-year contract and there is no such thing as a bad one-year deal. Why? Because the franchise isn’t hamstrung by an agreement that keeps going on and on (see Hafner, Travis).

The Indians and Jimenez have a mutual option for 2014, which the Tribe will most definitely pick up and Jimenez most certainly will turn down seeing the cash that Lincecum received considering he hasn’t been a dominant hurler since 2011.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner went 10-14 with a 4.37 ERA with San Francisco in 2013, and that was the better of last two years. He had an ERA over 5.00 in 2012 (5.18).

Yet he received $35 million for the next two years.

You have to believe that Jimenez’ agent will use that contract as a starting point in any negotiation, and the Indians won’t pay that, nor should they give that much cash to a pitcher who pitched well a half season for a team he played two and a half years for.

Still, it’s a win-win situation to offer the righty the qualifying offer. If he accepts, the Tribe gets a guy who looks like he may have figured out his problems in the last two months of ’13.

And if he reverts back to the guy who pitched for Cleveland in 2012, the Indians can let him walk away afterwards.

If he declines the offer, then Antonetti gets another first round pick in the draft to help stock up the farm system.

The worse that may happen is you either blow the pick or Jimenez stays in a Tribe uniform for 2014 and pitches like he has most of his time here.

And really, with Lincecum’s outrageous deal, why would Ubaldo’s agent take the qualifying offer?

In the Indians’ shoes, they can’t sign players over 30 years old or pitchers to long-term pricey contracts. While Lincecum’s deal is only for two years, the guess here is Jimenez will be seeking and will probably get a four or five year agreement.

What this means is Antonetti will have to get creative to find the starting pitcher he would like to get to complete the rotation.

They will make a legitimate offer to Scott Kazmir, but we wouldn’t go over two years because of the southpaw’s history.

So, it may lead to a trade for an established pitcher already under contract. There have been rumors the Tribe is interested in Tampa’s David Price, which would be an ideal pick up.

Remember, Justin Masterson is a free agent after the 2014 season, while Price cannot be one until after the following season.

Could Antonetti be thinking of a one season pairing of Masterson and Price with Danny Salazar as the ace in waiting?

That’s how mid market teams have to operate, but they need a strong farm system to do it.

Getting a draft pick out of the Ubaldo Jimenez situation helps in that regard too.

Browns’ Front Office Keeps Looking Toward “Next Year”

If you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns, you must also be a fan of the movie Groundhog Day, because you should be used to seeing the same thing day after day after day.

Yes, you did have a brief ray of sunshine watching local product Brian Hoyer win his first two starts, and the Thursday night win against Buffalo actually gave the Browns a winning record after five contests.

But Hoyer got hurt, and it is back to the weekly crapfest on Sunday afternoons.

Seemingly, no one in the front office cares because they are focused on the 2014 season and the almighty NFL draft. Their confidence in that process is probably higher than it has any right to be.

No team, let us repeat, no team, hits on every one of their draft choices.

The Browns have turned into the sign seen in various bars: “Free Drinks Tomorrow!” That’s the mantra in Berea every year: We’ll Be Good Next Year.

Except that so far, next year never comes.

They traded Trent Richardson after the second game of the year for a first round pick in next May’s selection process.

While Richardson has shown to be an average running back at best, and getting a first round pick has to be considered a win, it still left a gaping hole in the running game.

Defenses don’t have to respect the running game when playing Cleveland. That makes it tough on the quarterback. There has to be better players out there than 32-year-old Willis McGahee.

Chris Ogbonnaya is never going to be compared to Jim Brown or Barry Sanders, but he did have some decent games in 2011, gaining 334 yards in 11 games with 4.6 yards per carry average. Why not give him the ball 15-20 times per game?

Because he’s miscast on this roster as a fullback.

Why not bring in a legitimate fullback and let Ogbonnaya get more carries? Because the Browns are going to be good…next year.

After Hoyer was injured against the Bills, management didn’t go out and get another quarterback. If they had, the newcomer would have already spent two weeks learning the offense and would be an option to play perhaps as soon as after the bye week.

What if Jason Campbell plays poorly after replacing Brandon Weeden? What alternatives do Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner have? They can’t possibly go back to Weeden for a third time.

However, there is no alternative on the current roster.

Once again, that’s because the management is focused on 2014, not this season.

Browns’ fans have suffered through fifteen seasons of failure and shouldn’t have to endure any more. Granted, it’s not the current regime’s fault for the past, but they should be cognizant that the fans base is getting disenchanted.

They shouldn’t make moves that could handicap real progress being made down the road. But there are players who could be brought in to play and contribute without salary caps implications.

This front office is clearly putting all of its eggs into picking several impact players in next year’s draft.

However, what is their plan if that fails? Another three year rebuilding plan? The coaches are trying to win every game. It would be nice if management helped them do anything within reason to facilitate putting games in the win column.

Browns Lost This One in First Quarter

If you want to defeat a quality football team on the road, you have to get off to a good start.

With that in mind, the Cleveland Browns lost today’s game to the Green Bay Packers in the first eight minutes of the first quarter.

The Browns have lost two straight and fall to 3-4 on the season with a 31-13 loss at Lambeau Field.

On Cleveland’s first drive, QB Brandon Weeden threw two incomplete passes, the second one on third and nine, sailing at least five yards over Greg Little’s head. It wasn’t even close.

Green Bay fumbled the resulting punt, but Cleveland couldn’t come up with it.

The Packers drove the 40 yards in just four plays, the last one a pass to Jermichael Finley for 10 yards and a touchdown when three Brown defenders had a chance to tackle the Green Bay TE, but failed to do so.

On the next drive, Weeden airmailed another throw to Davone Bess on third down, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave Cleveland a second chance.

After a nice throw and catch for 19 yards to Greg Little, the Browns had a fourth and one at the Packer 37, and Weeden threw an interception on a sideline pass to Bess that was short of the target.

Eleven plays and almost six minutes later, Eddie Lacy scored on a one-yard run giving the Pack a 14-0 advantage.

The Browns could have left Wisconsin right then and there, because this game was basically over.

From that point on, the Cleveland offense resembled the Pat Shurmur version, with runs that went nowhere mixed in with a dink and dunk passing attack.

The Browns gained just 216 yards for the entire contest, with a woeful average gain per pass play of three yards. Weeden hit on just 17 of 42 throws for a paltry 147 yards. He was also sacked three times.

The Cleveland offense gained just 83 yards on the ground, with Willis McGahee leading the way with 39 yards on 11 carries.

Either Green Bay did an exceptional job of shutting down WR Josh Gordon, or Weeden didn’t look his way because he caught only two passes for 21 yards.

A better guess is that it was pounded into Weeden’s head all week to get rid of the ball quicker, so he went with a ton of checkdown throws.

We understand that coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner think Weeden can play at this level, but that may be their coaching egos talking. They have to look at the results and consider some sort of change.

Also, we understand the front office wants to find their “franchise” quarterback in the next spring’s draft, but they should also realize the Cleveland fan base is tired of watching a non-productive offense once again.

Weeden did remember that Jordan Cameron was on the roster, hitting him seven times, but for just 55 yards.

You hate to keep going back to talking about Brian Hoyer, but he showed this offense does have some weapons, particularly Gordon and Cameron, with a splash of Travis Benjamin.

Those weapons are not being utilized by the current starting quarterback.

By the way, Thaddeus Lewis, disposed of by the current front office, hit 21 of 32 throws for 202 yards in leading the Buffalo Bills to a win in Miami. After last year’s game against the Steelers, why would you just release him?

We bring this up because apparently the staff isn’t going to use Jason Campbell no matter what.

Once again, we use the theory of not being able to do any worse. Could Campbell play worse than Weeden did today? Perhaps, but it couldn’t be that much worse.

Next week, the Browns have another tough test, traveling to Kansas City to take on the undefeated Chiefs.

If the offense has indeed reverted to checkdown city, it will be difficult to win another game this season.

Maybe Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi secretly don’t care that much about that.

Analyzing the SEC

Growing up, you always recognize the toughest kid in the class. Nobody challenges him.

But you always hear stories about the guy either in the neighborhood next to yours or two schools away. If you think you’re tough guy is strong, wait until you get a load of the guy at your school’s rival. That dude is really tough.

The kid you haven’t met yet is the SEC in college football.

No matter what conference you are playing in, any SEC team could come in and run roughshod over your conference.

However, is it really true?

The crown jewel of the SEC is defending national champion Alabama, currently sitting at #1 in the country. Their signature non-conference win was against Virginia Tech, who currently sits at 6-1 and is in first place in the ACC Coastal DIvision. Of course, the ACC is more known as a basketball school.

The Hokies haven’t really defeated anyone of note, so no one knows exactly how good they are.

So, ‘Bama isn’t playing a very strong schedule to this date.

If the Crimson Tide is the lead dog in the SEC, LSU has to be #1A. The Tigers are 6-1, with a loss against Georgia. Their big non-conference win was against the Horned Frogs of TCU. who are sitting at 3-3 and in sixth place in the poorly named Big 12.

Auburn is 6-1 as well with their loss coming to Louisiana State. They have beaten Arkansas State, Western Carolina, and Washington State, a 4-3 team in the PAC 12.

Texas A & M, led by Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, lost to Alabama, and sports non-conference wins against Rice, Sam Houston State, and SMU. Rice is 4-2 on the season, but they aren’t going to a BCS Bowl game.

South Carolina was a top ten team coming into 2013, but a loss to Georgia ruined their dreams of an undefeated season. They’ve won the only game they have played outside of the SEC, defeated Central Florida by three points (28-25).

We don’t want to short change Missouri, the only other SEC team that is undefeated (along with Alabama). Their non-conference wins are against noted college football powers Murray State, Toledo, Indiana, and apparently associate SEC member Arkansas State.

Two other top flight SEC members, Georgia and Florida have played strong out of conference foes, Georgia playing Clemson and the Gators playing Miami of Florida. In both cases, the Southeastern Conference school lost.

This is not to take away from the seven straight National Championships won by SEC schools, but how do we know they are good this year? Because of reputation? We are saying that the only highly ranking out of conference game the SEC has won this year is against VIrginia Tech.

We are also not saying that other highly ranked universities have played difficult schedules, We can certainly point to Ohio State’s slate and see a lot of cupcakes.

People point to Alabama’s thrilling win over Texas A & M for example, but how good are the Aggies? As we’ve pointed out, they haven’t defeated anyone strong outside of the SEC.

And certainly the losses to Clemson and Miami don’t support the dominance of the SEC.

Come December and January, the SEC will have success in bowl games and once again proclaim their dominance even though a large percentage of those games are played in their backyards, and other schools who have to build their teams to play in bad weather will come south to play them.

The SEC might be college football’s best conference, but we say beating up on each other doesn’t support what the SEC hype machine spits out.

The Browns’ QB Dilemma

After Brandon Weeden’s infamous flip that resulted in the interception that clinched the Lions’ win over the Browns on Sunday, it seems the only people who still have confidence in the quarterback is the Browns’ coaching staff.

Most media members, including ex-coaches and ex-players are advocating replacing Weeden with Jason Campbell, a serviceable veteran at best.

Even if Campbell eliminated the “dumb” plays that occurred last Sunday, it would be worth seeing him under center rather that Weeden, who doesn’t seemed to have progressed from his rookie season.

However, Rob Chudzinski announced that Weeden would start this Sunday against Green Bay.

What that means is the coach and his staff feel the former Oklahoma State star is better than Campbell and any other passer currently not on an NFL roster.

When you think about that for a minute, you realize it’s probably true.

Or does the front office not really care about this season, and that’s why they aren’t doing anything. If that’s true, that’s a disservice to every Browns fan in the country.

Especially since the team is 3-3 and is only one game out of first place in a division that is proving to be mediocre at best.

There were a lot of people (us included) who felt the Browns were giving up on the season when they traded Trent Richardson to Indianapolis. Three straight wins changed the opinions of the fans, but was the management impressed.

Of course, some of that optimism came with the play of Brian Hoyer, who orchestrated a comeback win against the Vikings and led the team to a victory over the Bengals.

Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi have stated they want to get a “franchise” quarterback in the draft, and the first round pick acquired in the Richardson deal gives them the assets to do just that.

But do they?

It will be difficult if the Browns win six or seven games, which is very possible, and Indianapolis win their division, which is also very possible now that the Houston Texans seem to have gone into the toilet.

Outside of the Giants, who have Eli Manning, or the Steelers, with Ben Roethlisberger, what other team that would currently pick in the top five wouldn’t want to take one of the top quarterbacks available in next spring’s draft?

Jacksonville, regarded as the NFL’s worst team will almost certainly take Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater with the top pick. Tampa Bay, another winless squad, will also be looking for a QB after letting Josh Freeman go.

Among the one win teams thus far, besides Pittsburgh, Washington and Atlanta wouldn’t be looking for new signal callers, but they also aren’t likely to stay at the bottom of the standings for the balance of the season.

Add to this Phil Simms’ opinion that there is no top-tier quarterbacks available next spring. ESPN’s Mike Golic said he thinks Bridgewater will be a good NFL player, but he’s not on the level of Andrew Luck.

If those guys are right, it means the quarterback derby in the ’14 Draft will be a crapshoot. You may get Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers or you may get Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith.

So, the Browns should do what they can to win and make the playoffs while they have a chance. And they have a chance this year.

If they believe Weeden is their best chance to win, he should play. If not, then give Campbell, a guy with a proven track record, a shot.

The 2013 season should be most important, not 2014.