Understand Browns Process, But Still Have Questions

With the Cleveland Browns, you either trust the process or you are bitter about a 0-11 season.

There doesn’t seem to be any in between.

For us, it is more the former than the latter. Nothing else has worked for this franchise since they returned to the NFL in 1999.

They’ve tried signing free agents, they’ve tried trading down in the draft to accumulate more picks, they’ve drafted quarterbacks on the first round, they’ve tried signing experienced veteran passers.

Mostly, they’ve tried to be competitive every year. That may sound like a good thing, trying to win as many games as you can each season, but it doesn’t allow the organization to build a foundation of talent.

So, Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta decided to basically build from scratch, like an expansion team. Get rid of the older, declining veteran players, and replace them with young guys with a future and draft picks.

It seems logical, but it doesn’t make losing every week less painful. And although we get what the Browns are trying to accomplish, it doesn’t mean we don’t understand why fans of this team, with over 20 years of pretty much horrible football, are frustrated.

And even though we get and support what the front office is doing (why not try something new?), there are things that drive us crazy and make us shake our head.

The first is the offensive line. Clearly, the combination the Browns are using isn’t working. The running game isn’t working anymore, and our quarterbacks are resembling Evel Knievel.

Cleveland used a third round pick on Shon Coleman, an offensive tackle. Why not put him out there? Several football people have told us the line may improve by moving Austin Pasztor to guard, next to Joe Thomas, and put Coleman at right tackle.

Perhaps they would be able to run better behind Thomas and Pasztor and relieve some of the pressure off the passer.

And no, maybe we are crazy, but we aren’t ready to move on from Cam Erving just yet. Perhaps putting him between two veterans (Pasztor and John Greco) will help him.

The offense is sputtering, scoring no more than 10 points in any of the last three games. So, why not get the ball into the hands of the Browns’ best playmakers, Terrelle Pryor and Duke Johnson, more often.

We just witnessed the Steelers getting the ball to Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown as much as possible. Why not copy them.

We’d have Pryor getting hitch passes, slants, deep throws, and even running on end arounds or jet sweeps. Johnson has the ability to take a short throw and make something out of it.

Right now, they are under utilized.

We understand part of the problem may very well be the revolving door Hue Jackson has at quarterback. The team hasn’t been able to start the same guy more than three weeks in a row.

This week, it’s more of Josh McCown, who no doubt will make a critical error at some point in the game.

It is frustrating to watch the Browns week after week, and not get the payoff of seeing a victory. The front office wants and needs high draft picks.

Hopefully, Brown’s plan pays off and the rebuilding process has been accelerated. If not, we don’t know what the team can try next.

Browns’ “Groundhog Day” Continues

For awhile, we thought today’s Browns-Steelers game might have been the most lopsided 17-3 game in the history of the National Football League.

The Steelers had the ball for pretty much the entire game, and yet managed only a touchdown and three field goals, and the TD was the result of an untimed down prior to halftime.

Cleveland even crept to within eight points after a Josh McCown to Gary Barnidge touchdown throw early in the fourth quarter, but as Browns will be Browns, Cody Parkey missed the extra point, so it remained 17-9.

The defense forced a punt on Pittsburgh’s next possession, and after a special teams penalty (which is a weekly occurrence), McCown took a strip sack and the Steelers recovered in the end zone to put the game away.

Now, the final score showed the dominance the visitors showed virtually the entire contest.

Early in the season, someone said the NFL has become a 3rd and 2 league, and if you can convert on offense, you will win, and if you can stop your opponent, you will be successful.

Pittsburgh was 6 for 13 on third and fourth downs today, while the Browns were 4 of 15 on third down. And that might just describe the game, and actually most Cleveland games this season.

Positives. The defense held Ben Roethlisberger to just one touchdown on the day, despite the black and gold having the ball virtually all of the first three quarters of the game.

Terrelle Pryor once again was a force, catching five passes for 97 yards and returned to the game after a brutal shot to the ribs trying to catch a high throw from McCown.

Christian Kirksey had nine more tackles, and safety Ed Reynolds had the best hit of the day, driving Le’Veon Bell out of bounds after a short pass play.

That’s about it.

Negatives. Hue Jackson wanted to see Cody Kessler throw downfield more often, and the result may have been the rookie QB holding on to the ball forever.

Pittsburgh had eight sacks, many of those because Cleveland quarterbacks held on to the ball way too long.

It doesn’t help that the Browns refuse to make any changes on their offensive line, despite not being able to run the ball or protect the passer.

The Browns had just 33 yards on the ground, averaging just 2.5 per carry. Their leading rusher was McCown with 11 yards.

This brings up the old lament. Cleveland can’t win until they can run the ball, and can stop the run.

Watching the Steelers get the ball to Bell and Antonio Brown (44 combined plays), you wonder why Jackson doesn’t use Pryor more often. Get him the ball on bubble screen, slants, end arounds, etc.

He’s the team’s best offensive player. He should get the ball as much as possible. We understand teams are trying to take Pryor away, but that’s Jackson’s field of expertise.

We also get that Kessler isn’t a starting QB in the NFL for a good team, but we will again say there is no reason for McCown to get more time. Hopefully, Robert Griffin III can play next week, because frankly, we’d rather see him.

McCown got the Browns in the end zone, but he also made the key mistake, fumbling in the end zone, and had several other throws which either got a receiver drilled, or hit a defender that couldn’t hold on.

So, now it’s 0-11 and 14 straight defeats.

And although we understand the plan, it’s getting tougher and tougher to find something to pin hopes on for the future.

The Curious Decision Of Hue Jackson.

The Cleveland Browns can do one thing…they can make you scratch your head because they will consistently do something that makes absolutely no sense.

For example, they drafted a ton of wide receivers last April, yet continue to keep veteran Andrew Hawkins on the roster and play him more than the rookies.

However, tonight might just be the ultimate.

Cleveland was actually leading at halftime tonight, 7-6. They scored on a 25-yard pass from Cody Kessler to another rookie, TE Seth DeValve.

Kessler was dinking and dunking, as he normally does, but was efficient, hitting 11 of 18 passes for 91 yards, a passer rating of 92, and did not turn the ball over.

After the Browns got the second half kickoff and went three and out, and the Ravens scored a touchdown to take a 13-7 lead, Hue Jackson made perhaps the most puzzling decision of the year, replacing Kessler with mediocre veteran Josh McCown.

The choice of some fans and many in the media, because he’s a hard worker and good guy (read: good interview), McCown may have played the most dreadful half of football by any Browns’ quarterback in recent memory.

That’s saying a lot.

McCown’s first four series went interception, fumble (he recovered) and punt, interception, and a lost fumble.

He went 6 for 13 for 59 yards and the two picks.

Quite frankly, he should be released after the performance, because there is absolutely no need for him to take another snap for the Cleveland Browns.

The decision is more puzzling because Kessler was Jackson’s pick. Remember, “trust me on this one”.

We have said this before, but we don’t know if Kessler will ever lead this team or any team to the playoffs, and he probably will never be considered one of the better passers in the NFL.

So, we are certainly not one of those who think Kessler is some sort of franchise savior for the Cleveland Browns.

But it makes no sense at all, period, to play a 38 year old mediocre, mistake prone quarterback on a football team that is now 0-10 for the season.

As for the final score, yes, the defense gave up over 25 points again, for the tenth straight game. They got gassed after being on the field again for almost 40 minutes, particularly in the second half, when McCown produced more turnovers than any pastry chef you can name.

Watching the game, it appeared all of the life was sucked out of the Browns after McCown’s first interception.

And while Jackson yearns for his passer to throw deep, the veteran’s first deep throw was also picked off.

Kessler has turned the ball over once this season. McCown turned it over four times in a half.

Defensively, Jamie Collins was all over the field in the first half, with nine tackles and a sack. Demario Davis also had a sack.

Christian Kirksey played another strong game with 13 tackles, and Joe Haden and Breian Boddy-Calhoun both recorded interceptions.

The defense also held the Ravens to under four yards per carry (3.5).

However, the talk tomorrow will be about the curious quarterback decision. What does Jackson do going forward? Logic and the squad’s record say it should be Kessler, because he is a rookie.

On the other hand, Robert Griffin III was warming up on the field prior to the game. Does Jackson go back to him? Quite frankly, we wouldn’t mind that. Why not see if Griffin can play?

After all, he only had one game to show what he can do.

No matter what explanation Jackson makes, he cannot convince us that putting McCown in the game improved the Browns chances of winning.

We aren’t saying we’ve soured on the head coach, but it does make us wonder what the ultimate goal is. It should be developing the young players. Tonight, it wasn’t.

Browns Show Nothing To Grow On Today

At the beginning of this season, we said we would not measure this year’s edition of the Cleveland Browns by their win-loss record. We knew that wasn’t going to be good.

Rather, we said the season wouldn’t be a abject failure is the Browns showed progress from week to week, particularly the young players, of which there are a bunch.

We understand the Dallas Cowboys are one of the best teams in the NFL this year, and they have perhaps the best offensive line in the league, and a dominant running game, led by former Ohio State standout Ezekiel Elliott.

Expecting a win today would have been ludicrous. However, the Browns were overwhelmed in every phase of football today.

And we aren’t seeing progress.

Here is a short positive, lengthy negative review of today’s 35-10 loss, which dropped the Browns’ record to 0-9. And today’s referee was Jeff Tripplette, which pretty much speaks for itself.

Positives. Look, Cody Kessler may never make a Pro Bowl, heck, he might only be a starter for this season, but that doesn’t mean he can be considered a questionable draft pick anymore.

Kessler connected on 19 of his 27 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown, and generally moved the football very well, at least in the first half when it was kind of a game.

He connected with Isaiah Crowell for a 44 yard gain on the opening drive, which set the Browns up for a field goal.

Kessler should be the starter the rest of the way unless there is an injury, or the coaching staff wants to see what Robert Griffin III can do when he is healthy.

Terrelle Pryor caught the TD pass, and four other passes. He has become the guy that opposing defenses want to stop on the Browns.

Corey Coleman returned to the field and snagged three passes for 41 yards. He should give Kessler another weapon when the Browns have the football.

Negatives. The Cleveland defense continues to resemble a sieve. Dallas controlled the ball for 40 minutes, Ray Horton’s crew had no answer for the visitor’s attack.

However, there are things defensively that seem to be repeating from week to week, and that should concern Hue Jackson and the front office.

Tight ends continue to plague this team and have all season. We were critical last year that then defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil didn’t change anything, especially against the run. We have the same thought about Horton.

Three plays where the defense lined up in the neutral zone? Xavier Cooper should lose playing time for doing this twice in the same game. That’s a mental error.

The secondary is general continues to be horrendous. Opposing receivers are wide open way too often.

We understand you can’t play all rookies, but some of the veterans who do play simply aren’t getting it done.

We’ve talked ad nauseum about Tramon Williams, but it wouldn’t bother us if OL Alvin Bailey didn’t play anymore, as we fear for Kessler’s safety.

We have two problems with Jackson’s play calling today. First, he abandoned the run too early again. The Browns have to continue to try to run, if only to shorten games.

In the first half, with a 3rd and 2 deep in Dallas territory, Jackson went for the end zone and the pass to Pryor was incomplete. He then tried a field goal and Cody Parkey’s attempt hit the upright.

The pass to the end zone should have only been called if you were going to go for it on fourth down. Otherwise, the correct play is move the chains and keep the drive alive.

Now, the Browns have a short week, playing Baltimore on Thursday night.

For the first time this season, this young football team looked dejected, defeated. Jackson has to get that attitude adjusted in a couple of days.

Otherwise a nationwide audience will witness another butt kicking.

Well, At Least The Browns Had a Good First Half.

Today may have been the most overlooked game in the history of the Cleveland Browns. Even though they were honoring the 30th anniversary of the AFC Central Division champions, with the Indians playing for a championship tonight, it seems like the football game today was an afterthought.

Flying under the radar, Hue Jackson’s team started very well, leading 20-7 at the half, but the second half was all Jets, and Cleveland fell to 0-8 with a 31-28 loss.

It was a case of lack of complementary football in the second half, as the defense couldn’t stop New York while the offense couldn’t put together a significant drive to keep the defense off the field.

This should end any more talk to Josh McCown being the Browns best chance to win football games.

First, in his two starts, the Browns did virtually nothing offensively after halftime, and once again, he made a critical mistake to eliminate a possible comeback attempt.

Here are the positives, negatives, and officiating critique from another Browns loss.

Positives. Terrelle Pryor abused Jets’ CB Darrelle Revis in the first half. We understand Revis isn’t the same player he was two to three years ago, but Pryor had 101 yards on six catches before the intermission.

In the second half, New York gave Revis help and McCown couldn’t get the ball to the big wideout.

Duke Johnson had several big plays, catching six balls for 87 yards and rushing for 29 more on four carries.

ILB Christian Kirksey was in on 12 tackles, and continues to impress every week.

Rookie Carl Nassib got his hand on at least three Ryan Fitzpatrick throws.

The run defense did a good job on the Jets’ Matt Forte, holding him to 82 yards on 25 carries, an average of a little over three yards.

Demario Davis and Emmanuel Ogbah showed very well too.

Negatives. McCown is by all accounts a great guy, excellent teammate, exudes toughness, etc. However, he is not an average NFL quarterback by a long shot.

Yes, he will make some plays, and can play well in spurts, but he will make a critical mistake at a crucial time.

Today, there were two. After New York scored to close the gap to 20-14, the Browns did start to move the ball. But a backwards pass lost four yards on first down, and Cleveland couldn’t recover on that drive.

Later, in the fourth quarter, on a second and six from deep in Browns’ territory, McCown decided to force a deep throw into double coverage and was picked off.

We would rather see Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan, or even Robert Griffin III behind center the rest of this season. There is no reason to put McCown out there again.

While the defense played well against Forte, they couldn’t stop Bilal Powell, who ran for 76 yards on six carries including a 35 yard TD run.

Hue Jackson only tried 18 running plays. Yes, the Jets have one of the NFL’s best run defenses, but that’s woefully low, especially when they gained almost four yards a crack.

Safety play continues to be a huge problem for Cleveland as Quincy Enunwa caught a 57 yard throw from Fitzpatick. Jamal Taylor had pretty good coverage, but there was no safety within 15 yards of the play.

Taylor was lucky to make a touchdown saving tackle.

Officiating. No glaring poor calls, but referee Pete Morelli had problems calling out the correct number for infractions.

Next week, the Dallas Cowboys come to Cleveland, so Browns fans’ will get a look at a player they could’ve taken with the second overall pick, former Ohio State running back Ezequiel Elliott.

Hopefully, Kessler will be cleared to play next week, so it will be a battle of rookie signal callers.

Another Week, More Big Plays Killed The Browns

When the NFL season began this year, we talked about not judging the Cleveland Browns based on wins and losses, but rather, on the progress being shown weekly by the team.

One thing Hue Jackson’s crew is not improving on is giving up the big play on defense. Three of Cincinnati’s four touchdowns today came via this method in a 31-17 loss in the Queen City to drop Cleveland to 0-7 on the season.

Last week, Tennessee had four plays of forty yards or more, today the Bengals scored on plays of 44, 48, and 74 yards. If the Browns want to get in the win column at some point this season, Ray Horton’s defense has to prevent big plays.

To be fair, without Joe Haden out there (groin injury), there aren’t any solid experienced plays on that side of the ball. We can’t believe there is no one better than Tramon Williams on the waiver wire.

At least on offense, Jackson has Joe Thomas, John Greco, and Gary Barnidge on the field to help the youngsters.

And yes, we know we said we go young after last season.

So, here are the positives, negatives, and officiating gaffes from this week’s game.

Positives. The Browns have had problems the last two weeks running the ball, but they accumulated 180 yards on the ground today, led by an unlikely source.

Jackson must have found something in the Cincy defensive scheme showing they were susceptible to the read option, because the Browns unleashed reserve QB Kevin Hogan with it, and he ran for 104 yards on seven attempts, including a 28-yard touchdown run.

Isaiah Crowell also had a solid day with 63 yards on 12 carries.

Barnidge had a solid day as the outlet receiver, making 6 catches for 66 yards.

Before he left with a concussion, Cody Kessler played like we’ve come to expect him to play, hitting 9 of 11 throws for 82 yards.

On defense, Emmanuel Ogbah had his best game as a pro, recording two sacks. Christian Kirksey and Carl Nassib combined for a third sack of Andy Dalton.

The Browns were also penalized just five times today.

Negatives. Giving up 559 yards in an NFL game may be the biggest negative you can come up with. The defense gave up big play after big play.

Ibraheim Campbell took a horrific angle on Jeremy Hill’s 74 yard TD run, turning an 8 or 9 yard game into a touchdown.

And those two aren’t even the worst of it.

With 0:05 left on the clock in the first half, the Browns trailed 14-10 and were poised to get the second half kickoff.

That’s when Dalton hit A.J. Green for a 48 yard “Hail Mary” pass and suddenly the Browns were down 11.

There had to be five or six Browns around Green, yet no one could knock the pass down. Green tipped it to himself for the score.

Officiating. Ed Hochuli’s crew appeared to miss an offsides by Cincinnati with the play clock running down, calling a delay of game instead, when it appeared the Bengal defender was in the neutral zone when the play clock hit zero.

They also missed what appeared to be a helmet to helmet hit on Kessler on the play he suffered a concussion.

At least the schedule starts to see some home games for Jackson and his team, and it starts next week with a contest with the Jets, which should be a game the Browns can win.

But who will be the quarterback? Can Kessler recover enough to play next week? Or will it be Hogan in his first NFL start? Or will veteran Josh McCown go back out there?

It’s always a QB question in Cleveland.

Browns Lose Again, But Continue to Show Improvement.

Most Browns’ fans probably resigned themselves to a blowout today, having to watch Cody Kessler in his first start as an NFL quarterback.

The news didn’t get any better later in the week with injuries to CB Joe Haden and K Patrick Murray, more on the latter later.

Instead, the Browns took the Miami Dolphins to overtime, losing 30-24 to drop to 0-3, but also showing the improvement we wanted to see week to week.

We haven’t changed our tune about judging Hue Jackson’s team based on the improvement of the team week to week, so we can’t be too upset about the defeat.

Also, two more weaknesses have shown themselves that must be addressed, so we will see if Jackson and his staff take care of them before next Sunday’s game at Washington.

Positives. What more can you say about Terrelle Pryor? He is showing he can be a force on offense. He caught eight passes for 144 yards, ran for 21 more, and completed 3 of 5 passes for 35 yards.

And he wasn’t happy with the outcome of the game. You have to wonder what was stopping the previous coaching staff was looking at with this guy.

You would have to assume the Dolphins came into the game hoping Kessler would have to beat them, but the Browns ran the ball very well again, getting 169 yards on the ground, an average of 5.3 yards per carry. Isaiah Crowell had 79 yards and Duke Johnson pitched in with 69 more.

One of the rookie wide receivers emerged, but it was not Rashard Higgins, rather it was Ricardo Louis, who caught three throws for 40 yards.

And Kessler acquitted himself well too. He completed 21 of 33 for 244 yards, and appeared more comfortable as the game went on. He earned another start in our opinion.

Defensively, did anyone think Briean Boddy-Calhoun would contribute this season? The rookie out of Minnesota had a pick six to give Cleveland a 10-7 lead in the first half.

Jamar Taylor, a former Dolphin, also picked off Ryan Tannehill.

And Corey Lemonier, picked up on waivers from San Francisco after the last preseason game, almost won the contest for the Browns with a strip sack/fumble recovery with under a minute to go.

Christian Kirksey had nine tackles and Danny Shelton played well again too.

Miami had only 115 rushing yards on the day, a major improvement from what teams did to the Browns in 2016.

Negatives. The special teams continue not to be special, and eventually, doesn’t Chris Tabor have to answer for that. Corey Parkey missed three field goals, including a 46 yarder that could have won the game.

You miss three in one game? You will find your name on the waiver wire. Expect a new kicker next week.

And Britton Colquitt’s punt in overtime was right down the middle allowing a decent return. The ball had to be kicked away from Jarvis Landry.

Austin Pasztor should have shown the coaching staff that he is not a tackle. If he wasn’t being flagged for a false start, he was getting caught holding. Hard to think Spencer Drango or Shon Coleman can’t do a better job.

Kessler still needs to work on getting rid of the football. He turned it over in on the first possession because he held on to the pigskin too long, and did it a few more times as the game went on.

The last problem was choosing to kick off at the start of overtime. The defense did hold, but it resulted in poor field position after Miami punted.

Taking the ball would have given Cleveland the ball probably at their own 25.

Next time, take the ball coach.

Hopefully, Haden and Carl Nassib will be back in action next week against Washington. That would help the defense.

And the Browns need to keep running the football, that will help Kessler feel more comfortable.

Again, we saw this team getting better, and that’s what Jackson should be proud of. This team has some football players who may be able to contribute weekly. That’s also something positive.

Why Don’t People Understand Browns’ Plan?

It happens every fall. The national media and some of the local media reach for the lowest of the low hanging fruit in regards to the National Football League.

They take turns hitting the speed bag that is the Cleveland Browns.

Look, the Browns deserve it. Since they returned to the NFL in 1999, they have been a joke of a franchise. Two winning seasons, one playoff appearance. The teams slogan should be “At least 10 losses every year”.

They’ve changed coaches like people change underwear. They’ve gone through multiple front office executives, general managers, and directors of football operations.

In essence, they deserve exactly what they get.

So, now the Cleveland Browns are trying something else. They blew up their roster, getting rid of most of the veterans on last year’s team and we trying to build a winning team by getting a whole bunch of young players and letting them develop together.

That actually sound logical.

Will it work? Well, that remains to be seen, but nothing else they’ve tried has worked in the last 17 years, so really, why not try it?

Of course, many people in the media don’t know what to make of it, so they fall back on what has worked for them in the past, and that is, hammering what goes on in Berea.

In a way, it’s lazy reporting.

For example, based on Carson Wentz’ two very good starts (against the mediocre Browns and Chicago Bears), people are questioning the organization’s decision to go with Robert Griffin III at quarterback.

It’s not that complicated. They weren’t convinced that Wentz was a top tier starter and Griffin was an experienced alternative to playing the 37-year-old Josh McCown.

A national writer wondered why the Browns would bother to start the former Heisman Trophy winner when McCown is clearly better?

Really? You can’t figure that out? Griffin is 26-years-old. Maybe you can salvage something out of his career, maybe not. The Browns know McCown doesn’t have much left. If you know you aren’t contending for a playoff spot, why not see what a guy who is younger can do?

A local station is running through the statistics and reporting on what the players who the Browns have unloaded in recent years are doing. Did we miss something and the Browns were actually a playoff team the last four or five years?

You will never be able to convince us that getting rid of aging players from a 3-13 team is a bad idea. Players over 30 generally aren’t going to get better as they age. So, why Karlos Dansby can still play, he’s not a good fit for what the Browns are doing.

The point is many people still have the mistaken notion that the Browns want to go 6-10 this year and they should have kept and played veterans to achieve that record.

However, that’s kind of like being the 8th seed in the NBA playoffs. You aren’t going to get a high lottery pick, and you don’t have a chance at a title.

Again, whether it works or not, the Cleveland Browns are trying to build around a lot of young, drafted players who will grow together. They will draft their franchise QB at some point, perhaps next year, a player who they love.

In the meantime, the media shouldn’t look at this football team the same as they normally do. They can’t acknowledge trying something new.

Did Browns Improve From Week One? Yes

After last week, we told everyone you cannot evaluate the Cleveland Browns are wins and losses, but rather on how the team progresses throughout the season.

Based on that, we would give Hue Jackson and his team a passing grade for week 2, despite a 25-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at First Energy Stadium.

The Browns jumped out to a 20-0 first quarter lead, and the Josh McCown mafia was probably busy telling everyone who would listen, “I told you so”. But after that quarter, the brown and orange looked a lot like last week’s squad.

They couldn’t put up any more points, and continually shot themselves in the foot on both sides of the ball.

Positives. The running game improved, getting 145 yards, but 85 of those were on one play, Isaiah Crowell’s touchdown scamper in the first quarter.

The Ravens ran the ball more often (26-23) despite trailing for most of the game.

Corey Coleman played like a first round pick, scoring two touchdowns and making five catches for 104 yards.

Duke Johnson continues to show he needs the football more often, with four receptions for 44 yards. However, he carried just three times from scrimmage.

Defensively, Derrick Kindred continues to impress, and ILB Chris Kirksey played well too. He’s one of the guys we felt was minimized by the previous coaching staff.

Danny Shelton continued to show he is not a bust with two tackles and six assists. He’s a big reason why the defense once again held the opponents to under four yards per carry. Baltimore averaged just 3.1 per attempt.

And Joe Haden improved from a week ago with two interceptions. Haden still had plays where improvement is needed, but perhaps he is shaking some rust off.

Also, kudos to the front office. They traded Andy Lee for a fourth round pick, and then picked up a solid punter on the waiver wire. Britton Colquitt averaged 40.8 yards per punt, and put two inside the 20.

Negatives. McCown’s interception at the end of the first half is a reminder as to why he is a below average NFL quarterback despite the Cleveland media’s love for him.

It gave the Ravens three points they shouldn’t have scored. You cannot, repeat CANNOT turn the ball over in that spot.

We keep hearing about special teams’ coach Chris Tabor being one of the best in the league. Why?

A blocked extra point and a long return on first kickoff say maybe the Browns can do better.

Cleveland has had a lot of kicks blocked in the second half of last season and another one today. And it cost the team three points, meaning a field goal could’ve won it at the end.

Lastly (and it won’t be the last time this year we say this), the NFL officiating is horrific. The taunting penalty against Terrelle Pryor in the last minute, negating a play that would have put the Browns in a first and goal situation, ranks as one of the worst calls we’ve ever seen.

Pryor was simply flipping the ball to the official. He didn’t jam it into the defender’s face, he was giving it to the official, and Ladarius Webb just got in the way.

The NFL officials are THE WORST in professional sports. They make ridiculously bad calls every week.

Next week, it’s on to Miami to take on the Dolphins. Will McCown, who was banged up, be able to play?

Will the run defense continue to do its job? Will more special teams’ gaffes occur?

Stay tuned for how the Browns’ progress turned out next week.

Fans, Media Need New Way To Evaluate Browns

Not even the most optimistic fan of the Cleveland Browns is predicting a successful season.

Before the first game last Sunday, we think the highest win total we heard for the brown and orange was eight, and those folks must wake up every morning thinking today’s the day the pot of gold will appear at their doorstep.

If Hue Jackson’s crew went 3-13 or 4-12 in 2016, it wouldn’t be shocking.

That’s why we were surprised at the vitriol which followed the 29-10 loss on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener.

What exactly were fans and the media expecting?

On Monday, we actually heard people putting Jackson’s job in jeopardy and calling the Robert Griffin III experiment a failure. AFTER ONE GAME!

Perhaps it is the frustration of all the losing this franchise has endured since 1999, or maybe it was optimism that the Browns could win game one because they were facing a rookie quarterback, but it is difficult to see why fans and media alike were extremely hot and bothered by Cleveland losing its opener once again.

We wrote this before the season started and we certainly aren’t changing our mind after one regular season game.

We understand the Browns aren’t going to be very good this year, in fact, we would guess they aren’t going to win more than three games this season.

The difference is they will be doing it with a whole bunch of young players who figure to get better every week with the experience they gain during every contest.

If that’s not happening, then everybody needs to worry about Hue Jackson and his coaching staff.

The goal should be for this group of players to be better on January 1st against the Steelers than they were last Sunday.

It’s not that difficult to understand.

The Browns have a few players from the previous regime that they need to decide on, guys like Danny Shelton, Cam Erving, Nate Orchard, Xavier Cooper, and Ibraheim Campbell come to mind.

If they can get six solid starters, one or two being Pro Bowl players, out of this year’s draft class, then the 2016 can be considered a success. The best bets among those draftees are Corey Coleman, Carl Nassib, Emmanuel Ogbah, Derrick Kindred, and Joe Schobert.

Then since you have 14 picks in the 2017 draft, you get more six more solid starters at least. That would give you 12 starters, young starters, that you can build a foundation on.

And we are being conservative. You might wind up with 15 or 16 players with a solid future ahead of them.

Maybe it doesn’t work, but the Browns haven’t gone down this road before, and you cannot hold the sins of past regimes on Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Hue Jackson.

The great dynasties of the NFL were built through the draft. This isn’t to say every team who tries to build through the draft develops into a consistent Super Bowl threat, but the Steelers of the 70’s, the Cowboys of the 90’s came about by smart drafting.

Time will tell if Brown and Jackson have drafted the right people. However, we can tell you that one week isn’t enough time to make the decision that they didn’t.

In the meantime, the new management should be judged on how the young players progress throughout the season. Forget the wins and losses. We understand that is different from how we have all been trained, but if you don’t adopt this philosophy, you will have a very unhappy football season.

Also, stop putting Carson Wentz in Canton based on one game against a totally rebuilding team.

That is all.