Browns Need to Win Now

As expected by virtually everyone on the planet, the Cleveland Browns made it official this morning, firing coach Pat Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert.

The chief reason was the team’s poor record over the last two seasons, winning just nine games and losing 23, the same mark achieved in the two years under the previous head coach, Eric Mangini.

However, there is a major difference between the end of the Mangini era and the current group of Browns who finished the season with three straight losses after a three game winning streak prior.

There is certainly more talent here right now, mostly due to the efforts of Heckert, who should get credit for the talent he’s brought into the organization.

When Mangini was let go after the 2010 season, here are the players on the roster who still remained contributors in 2012: On offense, T Joe Thomas, TE Benjamin Watson, TE Alex Smith, C Alex Mack. On defense: NT Ahtyba Rubin, CB Joe Haden, CB Sheldon Brown, and S T. J. Ward.

Of that group, Haden and Ward were drafted by Heckert and Brown was brought in via a trade with Philadelphia engineered by the general manager. Watson was brought in as a free agent during the off-season as well.

That means only Thomas, Mack, and Rubin were here before Heckert arrived.

Most NFL people believe the Browns are close to being a playoff contender in the AFC. Their primary needs going into the draft next April are help in the secondary, a pass rusher, and another outside linebacker. That’s a far cry from several years ago, when Tony Grossi referred to the roster as a group of special team players.

What this means for whoever will be the new coach and head of player personnel (Joe Banner wants to run things, so the new guy will not be the GM) is there is no grace period. Immediate results will be expected, so a one or two game improvement will not be tolerated by a fan base that has watched more than its share of losing football since 1999.

That is why people are concerned with Banner, that and the unflattering personality traits people here about from his days in Philadelphia. He seems like a guy who wants things done his way, and to the Cleveland football fans, that sounds like starting over once again, something seen five times since ’99.

It is time to build on what is already here and enhance it, getting the Browns back to the post-season. Of the teams with the top four choices in last year’s draft, only the Browns are packing up their lockers today. The other three (Indianapolis, Washington, and Minnesota) are all preparing for the playoffs.

That kind of turn around needs to take place in Cleveland.

One of the things new owner Jimmy Haslam and Banner have to seek in a coach is the ability to make adjustments according to the talent at hand. No more guys with the attitude of this is what I run, so we will try to fit a square peg into a round hole. Let’s try putting Weeden in an offense where he is more comfortable, so he can just play.

Let’s try to utilize Trent Richardson better, and not just have him run up the middle continuously.

It has been said many times that based on the cash Haslam put up for the team, he should get to put his own people in place. That is absolutely true. However, the Cleveland Browns need to start winning in 2013. A 6-10 or 7-9 record is going to get himself and Banner off to a bad start along the shores of Lake Erie.

Winning Streak, but Offense Still Leaves Points On Field

The dates were September 26-29 of this year. That’s more than two months ago.

What is significant about those dates? It was the last time a Cleveland major league sports team won consecutive games, and it was the Indians.

However, right now, the Cleveland Browns have a two game winning streak, as they defeated the Oakland Raiders 20-17 on the road to raise their record to 4-8 for the season.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t any anxious moments along the way.

After taking a 13-3 lead with 9:51 remaining in the third quarter, and dominating the game, things took a turn when Phil Dawson had his attempt at a 30th straight made field goal blocked. Instead of taking a 16-3 advantage, the Browns had just a field goal lead after Carson Palmer hit Rod Streater for 64 yards a little over a minute later.

When the next Cleveland drive stalled, the Raiders were on the attack. Going without a huddle, Palmer started peppering the Browns’ secondary moving the ball down the field with ease.

Then the game turned back toward Pat Shurmur’s team when CB Sheldon Brown picked off a deep throw. It was the veteran second straight game with a pick.

Given new life, the offense moved in for the kill. QB Brandon Weeden hit his tight end often in moving the Browns 94 yards in 14 plays, chewing up over six minutes, climaxing with a Trent Richardson three yard run to put the game away.

Weeden hit Benjamin Watson with passes of 22 and 7 yards, and hit Jordan Cameron for 23 more yards on the drive.

And the Browns came home with their first road win since September of last season against the Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts.

Until that last drive though, it looked like the offense was going to have another week where their seeming affection for the field goal was going to do them in. And once again, even in victory, the Browns did not score 21 points.

This was the 60th game that Shurmur has been the offensive coordinator or head coach and his teams have scored over 2o points just seven times. His offense doesn’t score enough in today’s NFL.

The offense gained 475 yards and punted the ball away only twice. The Raiders came into the game giving up points by the bushel full, but Cleveland only scored 20 today.

The Browns averaged 9.5 yards per pass play and a little over four yards per run. They could have scored almost 30 points the way they moved the football, but they didn’t.

To be fair, if Dawson hadn’t had his field goal partially blocked, Cleveland would have scored 23 points today. And Weeden threw two interceptions, both deep in Oakland territory, which stopped drive which should have resulted in points.

Still, how many times have you seen the attack go ultra conservative when they get close. Even on the last touchdown, the last four plays were all runs.

Weeden did throw for 364 yards, his third game of the season over the 300 yard mark, and had a touchdown throw of 44 yards to fellow rookie Josh Gordon, who caught six tosses for 116 yards. He’s looking more and more like a #1 receiver.

Watson also had a productive day, catching six throws for 80 yards, and Greg Little had four receptions for 48 yards and had a crushing block on a 54 yard catch and run by Mohammad Massaquoi.

Richardson (20 carries for 72 yards) and Montario Hardesty (5 rushes for 39 yards) ran the ball well.

It was mistakes by the quarterback and the conservative nature of the coaching staff that allowed this game to be close at all.

Take the second drive by the Browns which resulted in a Dawson field goal. Cleveland had a third and four from the OAK 21, and called a flat pass to Richardson, on which he was tackled for a loss.

It’s no problem getting the ball to Richardson, but why not throw a five yard pattern to get the first down. It’s clear Shurmur doesn’t have confidence in Weeden’s ball security, especially after he throws an interception.

Now the Browns come home to take on the 2-10 Chiefs, who won an emotional game against Carolina today after the tragedy of yesterday. It will be another game where Cleveland will be favored.

It’s a chance to win three in a row, and also to surpass last year’s victory total. For once, progress could be shown in the win column.

This Week, The Dropped Pass Helps Browns

For the Cleveland Browns, it was die by the dropped pass last week, and live by the dropped pass today.

When you play a lot of close games, things like that can decide a football game.

Today, the Browns were the beneficiaries of San Diego WR Robert Meachem dropping a wide open throw from QB Philip Rivers early in the third quarter that would have given the Chargers a 10-7 lead. Since the Browns punted on every possession except their first, it likely would have put another one in the loss column for Cleveland.

Last week, of course, WR Josh Gordon dropped a perfect strike from Brandon Weeden that would have put Pat Shurmur’s crew up 20-17 in the fourth quarter. So, guess karma evened out today.

Besides the defense, which held San Diego to just two field goals on a truly miserable weather day, the star of the game was rookie RB Trent Richardson.

Many in the media implored the Browns to let the third overall pick in the draft sit out today and next week so he could heal his ribs through the bye week, and the coach kept telling everyone that T-Rich was getting better and better.

Score one in Shurmur’s column.

Richardson ran for a career high 122 yards in 24 carries, one of which resulted in the game’s only touchdown, a 26-yard jaunt in the first quarter. He also caught one pass for 12 more yards.

Besides the score, his fifth of the year, Richardson was featured in the key drive of the second half for the Browns, the one that changed the field position in the fourth quarter.

On a 3rd and 6 from the Cleveland 7, the rookie caught a pass in the flat for 12 yards allowing the Browns to have some breathing room and keep the football. After a pass to TE Benjamin Watson gained 14, three more carries for the former Alabama RB picked up 21 more yards.

That put the brown and orange at midfield, and when the Chargers finally stopped the Browns, it was Cleveland that was able to pin San Diego back to their own 15, making them go quite a way for a game winning field goal.

The Bolts’ moved to the Browns’ 44, but four straight incomplete passes later, Cleveland celebrated their second win of the year.

The game was very even statistically, with San Diego out gaining the Browns by 15 yards for the game. The Chargers committed the only turnover of the contest, but it didn’t figure in the scoring.

Again, the conditions on the field, steady rain and wind, made it difficult to generate a lot of offense, at least that’s what Shurmur said after the game, and we have no reason not to believe him.

A couple of other thought on the game…

One, why not throw the flat pass to Richardson more often? It seems to gain 10-12 yards every time is it used, and it gets T-Rich in the open field a little bit. That said, it was called at the perfect time today.

Second, Montario Hardesty showed why he can’t be counted on as he fumbled late in the fourth quarter after Richardson carried on three straight plays. You simply cannot lose the ball in that situation, and the coaching staff had to lose a little confidence in him going forward. This was the same problem he had during the pre-season.

And third, Josh Gordon looks like a #1 wide receiver in the making. He was held out of the end zone for the first time in four weeks, but caught three passes for 46 yards, including a big 26 yard catch and run in the second half.

Next week, another divisional game is on the docket with the Ravens visiting. They are coming off a bye week, a badly needed one after a hammering by the Texans and injuries to several key defenders.

The Browns continue to show improvement. Even at 2-6, they are getting better each and every week. That bodes well for rest of this season.