Browns Win Over Steelers Seems Hollow.

Only this year’s Cleveland Browns can make a win over the hated rival Pittsburgh Steelers seem unfulfilling.

Perhaps it’s because the Steelers were without QB Ben Roethlisberger and had to play third stringer Charlie Batch.

Maybe it’s because the visitors from western Pennsylvania turned the ball over eight times, and still Pat Shurmur’s crew managed only 20 points.

Or it could be because after Ohio State’s win yesterday, it seemed anti-climatic.

Whatever the reason, it seems like a hollow victory this evening, even though wins over Pittsburgh have been few and far between since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999.

With Batch in for the Steelers, Dick Jauron’s defense could afford to put more emphasis on the run defense, and the visitors could manage just 49 yards on the ground for the game. Of course it helped the running backs wearing the black and gold kept fumbling the ball. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin couldn’t be blamed for going away from the run.

Still it was the Browns and their lack of aggressiveness that kept the Steelers in the game.

Let’s look at the plays following the Pittsburgh turnovers in the first half–

After recovering a fumble on the PIT 44 yard line, the Browns ran the ball four straight plays, then after two passes, one incomplete deep throw, Phil Dawson kicked a field goal to make the score 7-3, Steelers.

The second Pittsburgh fumble occurred on their own 10. Two more running plays happened before Brandon Weeden threw a 5-yard TD pass to TE Jordan Cameron.

The third turnover was another fumble recovered on PIT 34 yard line. Weeden was sacked on the first play after getting the ball (they did try to throw), but a running play and a short pass left the Browns outside Dawson’s range. Cleveland got no points.

In contrast to Shurmur’s conservatism, when the Steelers had a free play at the end of the first half because of a pass interference penalty on CB Sheldon Brown, Tomlin eschewed the sure field goal, and ran the ball in to take the lead at 14-13.

In the second half, still trailing, the Browns didn’t play close to the vest after Brown picked off Batch on the PIT 31. Two passes, one for 17 yards to Mohammed Massaquoi, set up Trent Richardson’s 15 yard burst to give Cleveland the lead.

After getting the lead, it was back to safe mode.

Batch’s next pick (by Billy Winn) was followed by a series of runs with penalties and a sack mixed in.

Another interception, this one by Joe Haden, was followed up by three running plays.

The last Steelers mistake, another fumble, was with less than three minutes remaining, so the coaching staff ran Richardson three times to try to run out the clock.

It reminded us of the Jacksonville game in 2010, when the Jaguars kept turning the ball over and then coach Eric Mangini refused to put the game out of reach. The Browns eventually lost that game. Pat Shurmur was more fortunate today.

Of course, Shurmur was probably spooked by Weeden first quarter interception that Lawrence Timmons returned 53 yards for the first Pittsburgh touchdown.

The Browns’ coach likes to throw, but will change his mind quickly at the sight of one interception. You have to have more confidence in your quarterback than that. He did the same thing last year with Colt McCoy.

By the way, Cleveland’s longest play from scrimmage was their first play, a 26 yard pass to Josh Gordon. After that, it was back to the dink and dunk attack we’ve seen for 27 games now. Why have a passer who can throw the deep ball if you don’t ever throw deep.

Anyway, the Browns have a chance to win back to back games once again when they take on the struggling Raiders next week in Oakland. Any win is good when you have a record like Cleveland, but it would be better if fans don’t feel disappointed by a win.

Irving’s Injury Might Help in a Weird Way

The Cleveland Cavaliers received word that they lost their best player, 2011-12 Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving on Monday evening. Then they went out and broke a losing streak by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers.

The leading scorer in that game was Irving’s replacement, little known back up point guard Jeremy Pargo, who scored 28 points and dished out four assists.

While it is never good to lose a player of Irving caliber for a month, there could be some positives to come as a result of the point guard’s broken index finger.

Over the past few games he played, all but one being on the road, the former Duke Blue Devil was getting away from his playmaking duties.

In his first six games of the season, Irving averaged 6.5 assists per night. In the next four contests, he dished out just 4.3 dimes and in the lone home game during that stretch, vs. Dallas, he had none.

This is not to criticize the second year player, as he was doing what he could to try to win basketball games, but it does suggest perhaps his teammates had started to defer too much to Irving and also Anderson Varejao.

Now with Irving out, likely until around Christmas time, it is time for some other people to step it up.

For one, it should make Dion Waiters a better player. He’s one guy who will need to pick up the scoring load without Irving’s almost 23 points per night, and he will have the ball in his hands quite a bit.

He scored 16 points in the win on Wednesday (he did take 22 shots) and had six assists. With Irving out, it would be nice to see Waiters start attacking the basket more. He hasn’t been to the free throw line in the last two contests and only has one game thus far with more than four free throws.

If he starts going to the hole on a regular basis, he should be getting six to eight charity tosses per night. The Cavs’ offense will need that, and it will make Waiters a better player when Kyrie comes back.

Another player who needs to step up is C. J. Miles, who responded with his best game of the season Wednesday, scoring 13 points on five of nine shooting.

Up to that contest, Miles was dreadful to start the season. The game against Philly raised his shooting percentage to 26.7% on the year. Remember, this is a guy who averaged almost 13 points per night just two years ago. He’s a better player than he’s showed the fans of the wine and gold thus far, and with Irving out, he’s another player who will need to pick his game up.

Irving’s absence should also help decide who the back up point guard will be when he returns. And Pargo gave himself a leg up with his performance in his first start. Coach Byron Scott gave the job initially to Donald Sloan, but when he wasn’t passing or scoring well, the coach started easing in Pargo.

No one expects the latter to keep scoring 28 points a game, but if he can show he progress, it gives Scott a chance to give his best player rest in order to keep him fresh for the end of games.

Sometimes basketball teams need to learn they don’t have to be totally reliant on an all-star player, and it would be better for the team if everyone pulled their weight instead of waiting for the star to do it.

If the Cavaliers learn that collectively over the next few weeks, then Irving’s finger will help in the long run.

AL MVP Voters Got it Right

The two most discussed issues so far in baseball’s off-season have been the dismantling of the Miami Marlins roster after just one year in their new ballpark, and who should be the American League MVP.

The old school thought was triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, while the Sabermetric viewpoint was that the Angels’ Mike Trout should receive the award.

As a matter of full disclosure, we read all of Bill James’ Baseball Abstracts when they came out, and learned a different way of thinking about the game from James.

In the mid 80’s, when his book first game out, he was the first guy talking about the importance of slugging percentage and on-base percentage, and having a player who gets on base in the leadoff spot is much better than having someone with speed that can’t get on base.

We use OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) a lot in talking about baseball.

James changed the way fans thought about the game.

But Miguel Cabrera still deserved the AL MVP.

He led the league in batting average, a statistic devalued by the stat people, but it wasn’t like the Tiger third baseman didn’t have a good on base percentage or slugging percentage. He most certainly did.

The stat based people say Cabrera didn’t have a good enough WAR.

WAR is wins over replacement player, and is an interesting number to look at. However, it is a calculated number.

Yes, yes, batting average is too, but it is determined by dividing hits by times at bat. Those numbers come right out of your nightly boxscore.

WAR and its cousin VORP (value over replacement player) are not. Here is the definition of WAR from Fangraphs.com:

Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is an attempt by the sabermetric baseball community to summarize a player’s total contributions to their team in one statistic.

The key word there is “attempt”.

Who knows? You could look at a few different numbers and determine that Jack Hannahan should be the MVP.

Not really, but you get my point. WAR and VORP are nice numbers to look at, but they don’t have the same validity as someone’s slugging percentage.

That isn’t to say they aren’t useful at times, in fact, we used VORP to show how terrible Casey Kotchman was for the Indians this year. He had a negative value, which meant you could call up someone from the minors and they would be better.

But the factors used to calculate the numbers are arbitrary. They were arrived at with a great deal of research and matched up with historically great players so they make sense, but they are still arbitrary.

Mike Trout had a tremendous season, and barring injury will have a tremendous career. That said, Miguel Cabrera was the rightful winner of the MVP.

The other problem is the attitude of the some of the statistic supporters. They act like people in a political debate. They are right, “traditional” baseball people are wrong.

That’s it. There is no room for discussion, and why can’t people see that batting average is overrated.

The stat people rave about guys like Adam Dunn because they hit home runs and walk a lot. However, he also strikes out a unbelieveable amount of times and batted .208.

Think about how White Sox fans feel when Dunn whiffs with a man on third and less than two outs.

Dunn has value, no question about that, but he’s not a great hitter. Even if batting average doesn’t mean much, .208 still isn’t very good.

Some of the information generated by the stat people today are useful. However, the game is still won by whoever scores more runs.

Not by which lineup has a better WAR.

Browns Dominated 1st Half Except for Scoreboard.

Another game, another loss today for the Cleveland Browns who fell to 2-8 with a 23-20 loss in overtime to the Dallas Cowboys in Jerry Jones’ football palace.

Yes, the Browns played well once again. Heck, they dominated the first half leading 13-0 going into the intermission.

Actually, that’s where the game was lost, because Cleveland should have led 21-0 at that point in the game, but they missed opportunities once again.

Defensively, the Cowboys offensive line couldn’t handle the Browns front seven, and they forced Tony Romo into bad throw after bad throw.

In the second half, the Dallas QB got into a rhythm, and the Cleveland secondary, minus starting cornerback Joe Haden couldn’t stop the Cowboy passing attack.

Still, after a Josh Cribbs punt return and a resulting horse collar tackle penalty, the Browns took the lead 20-17 with a little over a minute to play on Benjamin Watson’s second TD of the day, a 17 yard strike from Brandon Weeden.

But Romo drove the Cowboys right down the field, aided by two big penalties, an unsportsmanlike conduct call on S T.J. Ward and a pass interference call on CB Sheldon Brown for 35 yards.

One change the NFL needs to make is making pass interference a 15 yard maximum call. There shouldn’t be any penalty, especially a judgment call that results in that much yardage.

Dallas had the ball inside the Browns’ 10, but had to settle for a game tying field goal by Dan Bailey.

In overtime, Dallas ran 14 plays with just three runs, as they obviously decided they couldn’t run the ball against Dick Jauron’s defense. The Browns ran three play too…total.

That was kind of the story of the game, especially in the second half.

After the Browns first drive after halftime in which they ran 11 plays, moving 41 yards, their next two drives were three and outs, the one following that lasted just four snaps after a Weeden fumble. Dallas had the football pretty much all the time from 10 minutes left in the third quarter until five minutes remaining in the game.

The offense didn’t do its part to give the defense some valuable rest.

In the first half, Weeden, who would up 20 for 35 and 210 yards was erratic with his accuracy. He missed a wide open Josh Cooper on the drive that led to Phil Dawson’s first field goal, and was high and wide

A Watson dropped pass led to another field goal instead of a touchdown in the first half.

Trent Richardson didn’t break any long gains, but he and Montario Hardesty did total 118 yards on the ground, and Richardson added 49 more catching the ball.

Josh Gordon was productive again with five catches for 53 yards and Greg Little did well too, making three grabs.

Despite some predictions of Weeden having difficulty with the Cowboys pressure, he had plenty of time to throw for the most part, getting sacked just twice.

On the other side, Cleveland got to Romo seven times, with eight different players accounting for the plays. However, the absence of Haden once again hurt the Browns as WRs Dez Bryant and Miles Austin combined for 18 receptions and several pass interference or holding penalties.

It seems trite to say the Browns are the best 2-8 team in the NFL, mostly because there aren’t many teams with just two wins.

Still, it is disappointing that Pat Shurmur can’t put more games in the win column, especially because other teams with similar records last year and won more games.

For whatever reason, the play calling for the Browns gets very conservative when they get near the red zone. Why? That’s a question for the coaching staff.

Unfortunately, that lack of aggressiveness will likely cost the staff their jobs at the end of the season.

This season will likely be dubbed, “Close, but no wins”.

Cavs Defense Improvement Linked to Kyrie

Cavaliers’ coach Byron Scott is perplexed by his team’s defense. He talks about it to the media after every game, and you have to assume he addresses it in practice to his young team.

What has been a constant for the Cavs since Scott took over, is their lack of defending the three-point shot.

As more and more teams make this shot a part of their daily arsenal, the weakness in this area gets more and more glaring.

Last year, the wine and gold ranked 7th from the bottom in the NBA in stopping the long-range shot.

To be fair, a number of playoff teams ranked in the bottom ten, including the champion Heat. However, those teams had great success in defending the two point attempts.

The only teams with worse three-point defense than Cleveland and worse overall field goal percentage against were the Nets and the Bobcats, the league’s worst team.

The year before, Scott’s first year at the helm, his team was the worst in stopping the three pointer, allowing a whopping 41.1% of those shot to go in.

Granted, the Cavs were in transition after LeBron James left for Miami, but clearly the way Cleveland approached the long-range shot defensively wasn’t very effective.

This year, after eight games, the Cavaliers have improved their defense against the three-point shot, but it appears to be at the expense of defending any other field goal attempt.

Opponents are shooting over 50% for the season against the wine and gold, a shocking figure in today’s NBA.

Clearly, something is amiss and it needs to be fixed right away, starting with Saturday night’s game against the Mavericks.

The key to the defense rests with the team’s best player, Kyrie Irving. He simply has to stay in front of opposing point guards.

On the road, Irving played well offensively, but he struggled defending Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams. Allowing penetration breaks down any defensive concept Scott wants to put in place.

The other problem has been the lack of a shot blocker. Tristan Thompson simply has to do better in protecting the rim, that’s his responsibility.

Anderson Varejao is a good defensive player, but he’s not a shot blocker. Perhaps when Tyler Zeller gets back, he can be the big body this team needs to play interior defense.

Without that shot blocker behind you, it is incumbent on the smaller guys to contain their man, making sure they keep a body between the opponent and the basket. And that means everyone!

If one player breaks down and allows his man to get by, it breaks down the entire defensive philosophy.

That’s the problem Scott and his staff have right now.

And until it changes and everyone picks up the gauntlet and plays solid defense, the Cavs are going to have problems winning basketball games.

We understand that this is a young team, and they are still trying to learn to play acceptable defense.

That’s why the team’s best player, Irving, has to set the tone. If he can stop his man, the Cavs’ defense will get better immediately.

Tribe Doesn’t Need Rebuild.

The 2012 baseball season ended just two weeks ago, and already the Cleveland Indians are worrying us in terms of next year’s season.

Why? Because there are many indications that GM Chris Antonetti is prepared to do another total rebuild. The Indians will point to the success the Oakland A’s had this year in using that tactic, but really, how often does dealing for a bunch of prospect have an impact the very next season?

If it happened all the time, then everyone would do it.

This thought comes from the rumors that the Tribe is taking offers on SS Asdrubal Cabrera, OF Shin-Soo Choo, SP Justin Masterson, and closer Chris Perez.

Sounds again like the front office is giving up on 2013, much the same as they gave up on the 2010 season when they dealt Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee at the trading deadline.

Enough is enough.

While certainly the Indians should look at dealing a couple of those guys, most notably Perez, to try to fill some holes, trading all of them makes long time fans think of the 1970’s and 1980’s when the Indians routinely traded their best players.

That list is as long as your arm.

If Antonetti is going to go down that path, he has to get major league ready players, not guys who won’t be contributors in Cleveland until 2014 or 2015.

Also, Oakland’s rebuild was helped significantly by going out and signing Cuban free agent Yoenis Cespedes to a big contract. In a normal year, by that meaning no Mike Trout, Cespedes would have been the AL Rookie of the Year.

How many people think the Dolans will make a big financial commitment to anyone?

So far this winter, the Indians had a chance to get either Ervin Santana or Dan Haren from the Angels for basically a one-year contract. It would have been a lot of cash, but for one year, why not?

At the end of the season, most people agreed that the Indians had some solid young players, like Cabrera, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, and Jason Kipnis. Why not add to those guys and try to win now?

The desire to trade Choo is understandable. He will probably be looking for a four or five-year deal, and since the outfielder is 30 years old, that might be pushing it. A three-year deal would work for the Indians, but his agent Scott Boras is sure to want more.

Masterson has shown to be no better than a #3 starter, too inconsistent to be a staff ace. If you can fill one of your holes at LF or 1B by dealing him, it may be worth it.

And we’ve discussed the organizational depth in the bullpen as a reason for dealing Perez.

But trading all of them and include Cabrera as well seems like a total rebuild.

The Indians would then need a first baseman, shortstop, left fielder, right fielder, designated hitter, and three starting pitchers.

Would you buy tickets to watch that?

Instead, why not get 1B/3B/DH Kevin Youkilis for a two-year deal, sign Joe Blanton as a starting pitcher, and trade one of four rumored to be dealt for more pitching and/or a LF?

That way, you have a chance to win next year without being on the hook for a bunch of crazy contracts.

It’s not as though the Cleveland Indians have a lot of age on the roster. So why not build on the talent already there.

Cavs Thoughts: Waiters, Andy, and Lack of Bench

Before the NBA season started, we wondered about who would pick up the scoring load for the Cleveland Cavaliers. At least through the first six games, it looks like it will be rookie Dion Waiters.

And at this point, GM Chris Grant can tell all his critics “I told you so”.

As of today, Waiters is averaging 16.7 points in 29 minutes of action, shooting almost 49% from the floor and a crazy 53% from the three-point line.

Now, the shooting percentages will probably not last, but so far so good on the selection of the rook out of Syracuse. He’s been arguably the second best first year man in the league, after first overall pick Anthony Davis of New Orleans.

We understand though, that many rookies come into the league and set it on fire initially, only for the rest of the league to get a “book” on him and start taking away what the player likes to do. So, before fans send Waiters to Springfield, a little patience is needed.

We also expected last year’s rookie of the year, Kyrie Irving to improve a great deal in his second year, and so far he is doing just that. He’s elevated his scoring average to 23.3, a figure that if it continues will put him in the top ten in the NBA at the end of the season. He’s still passing out 6.5 assists per night while grabbing four rebounds.

We also have to mention the great play of Anderson Varejao, who is averaging 14 points and 14 rebounds per game.

When experts around the league talk about the Cavaliers void in talent when #6 of the Heat was playing here, they neglect to realize how good the Brazilian big man is.

Everyone talks about his all out style of play and his ability to take charges defensively, but the truth is Varejao is an excellent basketball player.

Not a jaw dropping player with out of this world athleticism who is going to wow people with flashy dunks and above the rim play, but as someone who knows how to play the game.

For proof, watch the game between the US Olympic team and Brazil this summer. You can make a very good case that Varejao was the second best player on the court that night, behind only LeBron James. He makes an impact on virtually game he plays. That’s why it is so important that he stays healthy.

Coach Byron Scott and Grant both understand how important the big man is to this franchise.

One problem that needs to be rectified is the play of the bench, which after six games has been horrible. If Scott can’t come up with at least decent production from the subs, the starters will not be able to stay fresh as the season goes on.

The best players from this group has been Daniel Gibson, who can play when healthy, but isn’t that often. He averaging 8.7 per night with his normal good shooting. Rookie Tyler Zeller has also done a good job with 7.5 points and 4.5 boards a game, but he’s missed the last two contests with a concussion.

C.J. Miles was supposed to the leader of the second unit, but he has struggled, shooting just 23% while scoring 4.5 points a game. Perhaps switching him with Alonzo Gee, a player who has been very effective as a sub would help.

That’s no slight to Gee, who is a very good defender and is scoring 10.7 ppg, and certainly his minutes (31 per contest) should be cut, but Scott needs to get Miles going.

All of these thoughts are based on just six games, so it isn’t time to panic, that is unless you are the Lakers and you put together a roster of players who don’t match with each other so you fire the coach.

There is still plenty of season to go. Even at 2-4, this is a team that should be better after the calendar turns a page to 2013 than it is right now.

Why Can’t Browns Win?

This week, The Sporting News took a poll of NFL players which revealed that the Cleveland Browns are looked upon as the worst organization in pro football.

Having only two winning seasons since 1999 and going through coaches and general managers like some people go through underwear will get you that ranking.

It also doesn’t help that the franchise seems to be spinning its wheels currently either.

What frustrates Browns fans is the lack of progress in the win/loss record.

Most people would agree that from a talent standpoint, the Browns are better than they were a couple of years ago. But why hasn’t it translated into more wins?

The Indianapolis Colts finished 2-14 a year ago and allowed several veterans to leave via free agency. They did have the first pick in the draft and selected their franchise quarterback, Andrew Luck.

Right now, the Colts are 5-3. The Browns are 2-7.

The Rams had the second pick in last year’s draft with a 2-14 record. They are now 3-5.

Minnesota was 3-13 in 2011. They currently sit at 5-4.

Tampa Bay had the same record as the Browns at 4-12. They are 4-4 halfway through this season.

The question is then why can’t the Browns show the same improvement record wise?

The organization will tell you about how they have so many players with less than one year or one year experience, and that the schedule they play is difficult, with six divisional games against the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals.

It is true that Cleveland is the third youngest team in the NFL. However, the Rams are the youngest. The Vikings are 4th and the Buccaneers are 6th.

So, it appears the age of the team doesn’t deter victories.

The Browns also can’t use the rookie quarterback excuse either, because of the Colts’ progress with Luck.

As for the scheduling issue, Indy has a win over the Green Bay Packers (6-2) and the Vikings. The Rams have beaten Seattle and handed the then unbeaten Cardinals their first loss.

Minnesota has a win over San Francisco (6-2) and also defeated a 2011 playoff team in Detroit. Tampa’s only quality win was against the Vikings, but they have won three of their last four.

So why don’t the Browns win more football games? It could be because those other teams show more aggressiveness, and that stems from the head coach.

Pat Shurmur may be a fine teacher and a great assistant coach, but he doesn’t appear to have what is takes to be a head coach in the NFL.

Here are a couple of things to ponder…

He spooked his own quarterback against the Ravens, talking about how he was afraid of Ed Reed. That made Weeden a dink and dunk passer for basically the whole game.

He had been very accurate on deep passes as of late, and his coach took that away from him.

Why not say that Reed is a future Hall of Famer, but you have to use good judgment in going after him?

And another thing, the Browns drafted Weeden because he had more arm strength than Colt McCoy. Why is the rookie’s average yards per attempt just slightly higher than McCoy’s was last year (6.2 vs. 5.9)?

You have to think the offensive scheme is the problem. Shurmur is making Weeden turn into McCoy.

You can understand the frustration of the fans with their football team. Teams make big turnarounds every season. This year, it’s the Colts, last year it was the 49ers.

Why can’t it be the Browns?

There is talent on this football team, so they can’t use that excuse anymore.

If Pat Shurmur can’t win games, then it’s time to bring in someone who can.

Tribe Trade Is A Good First Step

The Cleveland Indians made their first move of the off-season on Saturday, dealing reliever Esmil Rogers to Toronto for infielder Mike Aviles and C/INF Yan Gomes.

Although Rogers was pretty effective for the Tribe since coming over from Colorado on waivers during the season, and may have been a closer option should the team trade Chris Perez in the off-season, it was a good move for GM Chris Antonetti, and an aggressive move at that.

If the Indians have any depth in their organization it is in the bullpen where they have several young arms ready to move up to the major leagues.

We have said the Tribe needs to get better with every move they make this off-season, and they did so with this move.

The 2012 edition of the Indians did not have a legitimate utility infielder to give SS Asdrubal Cabrera or 2B Jason Kipnis a day off. This took its toll after the all-star break when both were running on fumes and were producing.

Aviles, who will be 32 at the beginning of next season, is a legitimate major leaguer with a .277 lifetime batting average. However, last year was his first year with over 500 at bats and his hitting suffered, with his average dipping to .250.

So it appears he would be solid in a reverse role. He can hit lefties, with a lifetime .295 batting average and 797 OPS.

If the plan is to trade Cabrera and use Aviles everyday at short as a stop-gap until Francisco Lindor is ready, then it is not a good plan.

Aviles is not regarding as a good defensive shortstop and has a lower range factor than Cabrera did in 2012.

Still, the veteran is a better stick than Jack Hannahan and Brent Lillibridge, so the Indians are better after the deal than they were before, and that’s exactly what the front office needs to do.

Gomes is another right-handed hitter, which means perhaps the organization has come off the all left-handed hitter theory they embraced last season. He’s a corner infield guy who can also catch, meaning he’s a good bench player. And he has some pop in his bat, hitting four home runs in 111 big league at bats.

He hit .328 at Las Vegas last season, but the Pacific Coast League is a notorious hitters circuit and Vegas is one of the chief reasons for that reputation. From his minor league numbers, he looks like a free swinger. So he will likely open the season at Columbus and provide organizational depth.

After a slow hot stove season last winter, the Indians took a step toward addressing one of their weaknesses very quickly after the 2012 season ended. They should get kudos for doing that and for the move they made here.

Hopefully, this is the first move in a busy winter for Antonetti. And we also hope he is working very closely with Terry Francona to assemble a roster that the manager wants.

It feels like in recent years that the manager and front office weren’t on the same page when it came to who should be on the roster and get playing time.

Building some roster depth was needed, but the Tribe still needs a 1B, LF, and a DH or a catcher if Carlos Santana is moved to fill one of those other needs, as well as a couple of starting pitchers.

It may be that Francona has brought the sense of urgency that has been lacking since the Ubaldo Jimenez trade in July 2011.

That might be the new skipper’s biggest impact of all.

Shurmur’s Low Scoring Offense Makes Fans’ Shake Their Heads

The Cleveland Browns certainly are a creative bunch, aren’t they? They keep finding new and better ways to lose every week.

Today, they brought field goals to a touchdown fight, which is never a good idea.

They scored five times to the Baltimore Ravens four, but because they couldn’t get into the end zone, they lost once again, 25-15 heading into their bye week.

After a first quarter where the Ravens totally dominated the game and led 14-0, the Browns returned the favor in the next two and a half quarters, totally shutting down Baltimore and taking a 15-14 lead with 8:48 to go in the contest.

From there, Baltimore took over the game, aided by a questionable roughing the passer penalty on S T.J. Ward and marching 81 yards in nine plays to take back the lead at 22-15.

Then, Browns coach Pat Shurmur topped off a curious play calling game by going for it on 4th and 2 on their own 28 with almost four minutes to go. They called a slant pass which wasn’t close, giving Baltimore the ball back in point-blank range.

A worse play/pattern occured on third down and 4 when WR Greg Little for some reason ran a two yard out pattern which left Cleveland still short on fourth down. Little simply has to get past the sticks on that play.

Shurmur did do a good job in not going pass happy down 14-0 heading into the second quarter. He stayed with the ground game as was rewarded with another 100 yard game by Trent Richardson, his third of the season and second straight.

However, the play calling had a very conservative nature to it, with very few downfield throws. It was back to the dink and dunk attack showed by the Browns a year ago, particularly when Cleveland got inside the Raven 30-yard line.

New owner Jimmy Haslam had to be sitting there shaking his head like the fans of his new football team.

The question for Shurmur has to be why get timid? First of all, you are 2-6 and a win over the Ravens could have been the turnaround your football team needed.

Secondly, you have some decent skill players now. Why not give them the ball in space.

Lastly, on the biggest play of the game, the aforementioned 4th and 2, why did you go empty backfield and have Richardon split out as a wide receiver?

Those are things that make us all confused, including the new boss.

Cleveland outgained Baltimore 272 to 146 after the first quarter, yet only outscored the Ravens 15-11 in that time frame. How does anyone answer that?

Brandon Weeden was 20 for 37 on the game for only 176 yards and threw two interceptions, one of which after the game was already decided.

The problem is Shurmur’s offense which doesn’t product points.

Yes, they have scored 21 or more points three times this season, but that only means in 2/3 of the team’s contests this year they have been under that total. And now in 25 games coached by Shurmur, they have scored more than 21 points just four times.

In today’s NFL, you have to put points on the board. In today’s early games, every victorious squad scored at least that many points.

The Browns had five scoring opportunities on the game and did not penetrate the end zone once.

And it is not as though Phil Dawson, and once again, how great is he?, was banging out 50 yard kicks. His longest make was 41 yards.

Outside of the penalty on Little for illegal formation which nullified a TD throw to Josh Gordon, Cleveland never threw the ball into the end zone despite being in the red zone before every one of Dawson’s kicks.

It was almost as though the coaching staff was screaming “don’t turn it over” into Weeden’s helmet during the play.

One other bone to pick today. The officiating crew was awful today, with the worst call being a personal foul called on Gordon on a block on Ed Reed in the third quarter. If the NFL would like to explain how that was a penalty, let alone why a guy 30 yards away from the play called it, we are all ears.

It sounds odd to say, but there is no question that watching this football team play, they are better. However, their record says they are 2-7, and that’s all that matters.