Weeden Didn’t Help, But Coaching Staff Deserves Some Blame

We live in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

As a result, there is no doubt many people will put all of the blame for today’s 31-17 Browns loss to the Detroit Lions on QB Brandon Weeden.

Certainly, Weeden’s ill-advised flip under pressure in the fourth quarter that turned into an interception by DeAndre Levy killed any chance Cleveland had of extending its winning streak to four games.

However, remember this. The Browns were leading 17-7 at halftime, and were outscored 24-0 in the second half.

Now recall that Rob Chudzinski’s squad were winning the opening game loss to Miami at halftime and were also winning at Baltimore in game #2. In both contests, the Browns were totally outclassed after halftime and it happened again today.

Whatever adjustments these opponents made during intermission were effective and the Browns’ coaching staff was unable to come up with an antidote for those changes.

You would think the coaching staff would have enough experience to be able to counter what the opposition throws at them, but in the three losses the Browns have suffered this season, that hasn’t been the case.

At halftime, the offense was running the football effectively, although they were aided by WR Travis Benjamin’s 45-yard run off a reverse. Still, Willis McGahee was averaging over four yards per carry and Chris Ogbannaya was also running effectively.

In the second half, Norv Turner’s squad ran the ball just five times.

One thing we can say for sure about Brandon Weeden. He cannot be effective running an attack in which the entire burden is on him, If he is to have success, it has to be as a result of a multidimensional offense.

He struggled in his first two starts when the Browns stopped running in the second half, and he had problems last year when Pat Shurmur ignored the running game.

Remember, the Browns were leading at halftime. They continued to lead the game until 10 minutes were remaining in the game.

After Detroit scored early in the second half to cut the Cleveland lead to 17-14, Turner called two pass plays and another end around.

The Browns intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass on the next possession, ran on first down and then called two more pass plays. That was the last running play of the game and it came late in the third quarter.

They didn’t run it at all in the fourth quarter despite being down by seven points or less for most of the quarter.

Defensively, Ray Horton’s crew couldn’t handle the shift in offensive strategy by Detroit to run most everything through Reggie Bush. Bush either carried our was the intended receiver 15 plays in the second half, and the Browns couldn’t contain him.

And when they did, Stafford found TE Joseph Fauria for three touchdown passes.

Another problem that reared its ugly head was the third down efficiency both on offense and defense. The defense couldn’t get off the field, allowing Detroit to convert on 8 of 14 opportunities, while on offense, Cleveland was stopped nine times in 14 chances.

Stafford’s array on throwing angles also did not allow the Cleveland defense to get its normal amount of sacks, as he went down just once, with Craig Robertson doing the honors.

And we have to point out (as usual), the horrible officiating in the game. LB Quentin Groves was flagged for a personal foul hitting Stafford in the fourth quarter in what appeared to be a legal hit.

And a sideline call on the reception by Greg Little was challenged by Chudzinski and no definitely replay was shown to home viewers even though it appeared Little dragged his second foot in.

The Lions probably helped with their looking for a flag on pretty much every non-successful offensive play.

Now it’s on to Green Bay for what figures to be a very tough game against the Packers, but the Browns are still just a game behind the Bengals and are still tied with the Ravens who lost today.

Here’s hoping for a better game from the coaching staff next week.

Why the Disdain for Weeden?

Even though the Cleveland Browns are sitting in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC North, and they are currently on a three game winning streak, you can sense thoughts of gloom and doom among the team’s fans.

Why? Because Brandon Weeden is back as the starting quarterback, replacing the people’s choice, hometown hero Brian Hoyer.

We know about Weeden’s weaknesses. He holds the ball too long, he locks in on his receivers, he’s a statue in the pocket. These things were particularly noticeable after watching Hoyer play in wins against the Vikings and Bengals.

Still, it really was the second year player from Oklahoma State that guided Rob Chudzinski’s team to a win over the Bills eight days ago. And although the special teams and defense put up 14 points in the contest, and Travis Benjamin’s first long punt return led to a field goal, Weeden still was a part of drives that put 20 points on the scoreboard.

And we understand he was terrible in the first two games of the season, losses to Miami and Baltimore. Both of those teams have the same record as the Browns, by the way.

However, sometimes young quarterbacks (in terms of experience) benefit from watching on the sidelines and viewing how another guy handles it, and when they get a second chance at the job, they are better prepared to handle it.

Remember, Weeden was thrown in there as a rookie, without a lot of preseason time, and was expected to perform well right out of the gate. Also, we was running an offense that he was both ill-suited for, and was told not to make any mistakes.

Heck, his own coach frightened him with his constant talk about Ed Reed before a game against the Ravens a year ago.

Part of Weeden’s problem was the success of other passers taken in the same draft class. No one confused the Browns’ choice with Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and even Ryan Tannehill before the draft, and Russell Wilson was picked in the third round.

They all have had some or a lot of success in the NFL. Weeden’s career so far pales in comparison.

Luck is likely this generation’s Peyton Manning. Barring an injury, he could be the next great signal caller in the league.

Wilson had the league’s third best running game on his side. He only threw 405 passes on the season.

Griffin’s Redskins had the best rushing attack in the league. He threw 393 passes in 2012.

Tannehill had a similar passer rating as Weeden (76.9 for the Dolphins’ QB compared to 72.6 for the Browns’ passer), with a 58.3 completion percentage, 12 TDs and 13 interceptions.

Weeden threw 14 touchdowns and 17 picks. He threw 517 passes and missed the last game of the season. That’s over 100 more throws than Wilson and Griffin. Clearly, there was a much greater burden on Weeden than those two.

This isn’t to say Weeden is going to be great or even an average NFL quarterback. It is the point out that the Redskins and Seahawks gave their rookie quarterbacks a much easier starting point than Pat Shurmur did.

Besides, Weeden isn’t horrific. He’s not Ken Dorsey, Charlie Frye, Trent Dilfer, or Doug Pederson.

Those are all guys Browns’ fans have been forced to watch in the last 15 years.

RIght now, the path Brandon Weeden’s career takes is in his hands. Can he take what he learned by watching Hoyer and make it apart of his own game?

If he doesn’t, he will likely carve out a tenure in the league as a back up.

It’s still unfair to portray him as a guy who can’t play in the NFL this soon.

Optimism for Cavs Should Be Guarded

Tonight, the 2013-14 edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers will debut tonight at Quicken Loans Arena when the wine and gold take on the Milwaukee Bucks.

There is a lot of optimism regarding the team this season, with many national experts picking the Cavs to make the playoffs for the first time since LeBron James went to Miami.

Is this optimism warranted?

You can make arguments both ways.

The first concern would be the injury factor. Three key members of the squad have had problems staying on the court over the last three years: Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, and newcomer Andrew Bynum.

If all three can play 60 or more games, Mike Brown’s team will be in great shape. But that’s a huge “if”.

Bynum and Varejao, along with Tristan Thompson, who we feel will be much improved, and Tyler Zeller will provide a formidable frontcourt combination.

However, the first two players mentioned can’t be counted on to stay healthy.

We said over the off-season that the Cavaliers needed to proceed as if Bynum would not play one minute this season. They needed to continue to build as if he wasn’t going to play.

Perhaps reducing Varejao’s minutes will help him stay on the court. Even if Bynum can’t play, Thompson and Zeller can handle the post, and first round draft pick Anthony Bennett and free agent signee Earl Clark can split time at the four spot as well.

However, if both big men are out, does the wine and gold have enough at the key rebounding positions?

In the backcourt, Irving has shown he can be one of the most dynamic players in the NBA, but he has missed significant time in each of his first two seasons with injuries. Perhaps this will be overcome as the former first overall pick gets stronger with age.

If he misses a lot of time this year, he could get the “injury prone” rap that no one wants.

Last year, when Shaun Livingston came in from Washington on Christmas Day, he brought veteran leadership for the guards. He has moved on, and in his place, GM Chris Grant signed Jarrett Jack as a free agent.

Jack will bring that same leadership and he has a proven history of putting the ball in the basket, scoring 13.0 points per game last season and 15.6 per contest the year before that.

The veteran is a true combo guard, playing the point when Irving is on the bench and playing off guard when Irving is on the floor.

Along with Dion Waiters, the Cavaliers will have a solid three guard rotation most nights. That is if Irving can stay healthy.

One thing can be said with certainty for this year’s squad. They will be better defensively; Brown will make sure of that.

Because of that, no longer will the Cavs lose huge leads down the stretch. The coaching staff will make sure that everybody makes an effort when the opponents have the basketball. That alone will lead to more victories.

If Irving, Varejao, and Bynum can stay on the court for most of the season, the Cavaliers will definitely be much improved.

However, none of those three can be counted on for durability until they prove otherwise.

Until this is proven, the Cavs will have to be viewed through jaundiced eyes.

What Should Tribe Do With Starters in ’14?

Baseball had a slight rebirth in Cleveland over the past two weeks.

Jason Giambi’s home run, which turned a defeat into a win on September 25th, awoke interest in a team fighting for a playoff spot, and for the next week, sports fans on the North Coast were wondering what was going on with the Indians.

The loss on Wednesday night that eliminated the Tribe has fans talking about next year, even in the midst of a Browns’ three game winning streak.

So, ownership, looking for a spark in fan interest the past few years, can’t blow it this off-season. They have to keep that interest alive over the winter and have people looking forward to spring training in late February/early March.

It should start with getting single game tickets on sale on Black Friday, the first huge shopping day of the Christmas season. We understand the push is to sell season tickets, not you have to give people the opportunity to get tickets while the 2013 season is fresh in their minds.

And, the front office needs to continue to improve the ballclub.

We understand (and we have said this before) that the Indians cannot have a $100 million payroll. They probably need to be around the mid $80 million range.

Still, that is possible. Heck, the Tribe did it this year, and teams like Tampa and Oakland do it on a more frequent basis that the Tribe has.

The biggest decision for GM Chris Antonetti is what to do about the pitching staff, with Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir eligible to free agency. Jimenez and the Tribe have a mutual option at $8 million for next season, which the right-hander will certainly turndown.

We’ve gone back and forth on what Antonetti should do, and is both parties would agree to pick up the option that would be fine. However, in reality, Jimenez could draw three and four-year offers at more than $10 million per season. If that’s the case, the Indians need to look elsewhere.

There is just too much of a risk. Cleveland is not the type of franchise that can handle a long-term deal where the player is not producing at a high level.

The fact is this: Jimenez spent 14 months in an Indian uniform and had an ERA under 4.00 in less than half of those months (6). With the complexity of his mechanics, what if Ubaldo goes back to the type of pitcher he was for most of his career with the Tribe?

That’s too big of a risk for this franchise.

Now, if he wants to discuss a two-year deal, that is something that could be done without hampering the long-term future of the organization.

Remember, Justin Masterson is a free agent at the end of the ’14 campaign and he should be a higher priority than Jimenez.

Kazmir will be looking for a big payday too, as well he should since he was on the baseball scrapheap last year. Still, he should come at a lower cost and fewer years than Jimenez.

And since the Indians rescued him from the independent league, perhaps he will have some loyalty toward Francona and Mickey Calloway. Maybe a three-year deal at $6-7 million could get it done.

Remember, Danny Salazar should be in the rotation from day one in 2014, and the Tribe still has Corey Kluber and Zach McAllister as starters. If Trevor Bauer can get straightened out, he could be in the mix as well.

And you could get another low risk, high reward type signing on a one year deal for a pitcher trying to re-establish his career. Although Brett Myers didn’t help like he was supposed to, the signing was a good one. It was for one year, and when he didn’t work out, the Tribe just said goodbye.

It wouldn’t hurt to do that again with a different pitcher.

There is an old saying in baseball that you can’t have too much pitching. The Indians can’t get caught short, but they can’t put the future in jeopardy either.

Browns Win and Lose On Same Night

The Cleveland Browns have seemed to be in a state of chaos for the last 15 years.

Just as they seemed to find a diamond in the rough at quarterback in local boy Brian Hoyer, who led them to two consecutive victories, something happens to end the era of good feeling for Browns’ supporters.

Hoyer went down with a knee injury late in the first quarter and is out for the season, and coach Rob Chudzinski is forced to go back to Brandon Weeden, who wasn’t very popular with the faithful when he went into the game.

However, the contrast was very telling. Seeing Hoyer play at the beginning of the game served a stark contrast to the former first round pick.

Quite simply, Hoyer makes quicker decisions and gets rid of the ball faster, which makes the offensive line look better.

Here’s hoping Weeden can learn from the Cleveland native and can translate those things into his game. He admitted he must do that after the 37-24 win, which raises the Browns’ record to 3-2 on the season.

Weeden made some good throws last night, particularly two long bombs to Greg Little and Josh Gordon, with the latter grabbing a 37-yard touchdown strike after the throw to Little just two plays earlier.

One thing that helped Weeden was that the Browns didn’t abandon the running game at any point in the contest. Willis McGahee carried the ball 26 times last night. In the second year man’s first two starts this season, Cleveland ran the ball less than 20 times in the entire game.

Weeden will need to improve if the Browns are going to continue to win football games. He has to develop an internal alarm clock in his head that tells him to get rid of the football after three seconds.

Everyone will talk about the quarterback situation, but the real story of last night was Travis Benjamin, who set a franchise record for most punt return yardage, including a 79-yard return to give the Browns a 17-10 advantage.

Benjamin also had a 57-yard return, which set up a Billy Cundiff field goal earlier.

Once again, the defense did the job. Yes, Buffalo had 155 yards rushing, becoming the first team to reach the century mark against them this season, but 54 of those came on a touchdown run by C. J. Spiller. The balance of the 101 yards came on 30 attempts.

Yes, we know that counts, but what it does mean is that for a majority of the game, Buffalo could not run the football.

The pressure was also there, with Ray Horton’s defense getting four more sacks, and from four different players, most notably rookie DE Armonty Bryant, who recorded his first NFL sack.

And the defense also put the game away on S T.J. Ward’s interception return for a touchdown.

Cleveland gave up 24 points, but the first seven were a result of a horrible pass interference call on Joe Haden on the Bills’ first play of the game.

We have said it before; the NFL simply has to change the penalty for this infraction to 15 yards. On the play in question, there was just as much contact initiated by the receiver. Why penalize only the defense?

The Browns, winners of three straight, have some extra time off before the Lions visit a week from Sunday.

The season is back in the hands of Brandon Weeden, and he must show a lot of improvement if Chudzinski’s boys are to continue their winning streak.

Tribe Bats Just Couldn’t Come Through.

The Cleveland Indians were a hot ball club coming into tonight’s wild card game against Tampa Bay, winning 10 in a row and going 21-6 in the month of September.

This is more evidence that baseball is a funny game.

The 4-0 loss that eliminated Cleveland came down to the Rays taking advantage of their chances and the Indians not being able to go so.

After a dominant first two innings, Danny Salazar gave up a leadoff home run to famed humanitarian Delmon Young, and after that, the young flamethrower lost his ability to get guys to swing and miss.

He escaped the third allowing just the one run, but Desmond Jennings’ double down the leftfield line with two outs in the 4th gave the Rays a 3-0 lead.

After that, the Indians had threats in pretty much every frame after that, but couldn’t push a run across.

In the fourth, with bases loaded and one out, Asdrubal Cabrera hit into a double play.

In the fifth, the Indians had runners on first and third with no one out, and Michael Bourn struck out, Nick Swisher hit into a fielders’ choice, and Jason Kipnis hit a comebacker to the mound to end that threat.

In the seventh, one out singles by Yan Gomes and Lonnie Chisenhall, who had three hits on the night, went for naught when Bourn flew out and Swisher fanned again.

All in all, Cleveland collected nine hits on the night, and couldn’t push a run across.

That’s the nature of baseball though. Sometimes, you get the big hits and sometimes you don’t. The Indians just picked a bad night to be on the wrong side of that statement.

To be sure, many of the national pundits will bring up Terry Francona’s team’s record against teams with an above .500 record as a reason for the loss and say the Tribe didn’t deserve to make the playoffs.

That’s a load of crap. Cleveland won 92 games this season. If any other team had won that many contests, the same people would have clamored to add another wild card so teams with that kind of record can advance to the playoffs.

For those who want to question the decision to start the rookie, Salazar, in this game, keep in mind the Indians still had a chance to win this game until a couple of defensive miscues gave the Rays a fourth run in the top of the ninth.

Salazar, and the guys who followed him, Mark Rzepczynski, the seemingly always reliable Bryan Shaw, Justin Masterson, Cody Allen, and Joe Smith pitched well enough to give the offense a shot. They simply couldn’t get the big base knock.

You can’t win any games when you don’t score a run, and although they hit the ball fairly hard tonight, no one crossed home plate.

Tampa manager Joe Maddon said before the game that his team catches a lot of line drives, and they certainly lived up to their skipper’s prediction.

We will discuss the Indians’ future at a later time, but there is no question the 2013 season was a huge step forward for the Indians. Here’s hoping they build on it over the long winter.

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.