Critics Aside, the Browns Have Improved

The first day of free agency in the NFL has come and gone and the Cleveland Browns made a big splash with three signings.

OLB Paul Kruger, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, was the first choice of the brown and orange. A pass rushing linebacker who had seven sacks a year ago, Kruger had an impressive post-season with the Ravens last season.

The Browns also signed DE Desmond Bryant, a huge man, and another OLB Quentin Groves, who played for defensive coordinator Ray Horton last season with the Cardinals.

GM Mike Lombardi and president Joe Banner felt the defense needed some help for 2013, with input from Horton, and the Browns went out and signed two likely starters at linebacker, a weak position for Cleveland in 2012, and the type of defensive end you need in the 3-4 defense.

Yet, there are still people upset that the Browns did not address the quarterback position as of yet, and haven’t signed a cornerback to go with Joe Haden either.

It just shows that there are some people who like to complain about everything.

In the NFL, where there are no guaranteed contracts, if you have the room under the salary cap, there isn’t a big penalty if the player doesn’t work out. And as everyone is very aware the Browns have a ton of money available under the cap.

That means that Lombardi and Banner basically picked up three players, all of whom are younger and appear to be talented, for nothing more than cash. They didn’t have to give up any draft picks or players. They just spent money.

How can anyone be upset with that?

This isn’t like baseball or basketball, where a bad contract can hamper an organization for many years, like the Indians with Travis Hafner’s deal. The organization had plenty of money to spend, and they did so.

They filled needs with the two linebackers and getting Bryant replaces Frostee Rucker, who was cut by the new regime since the end of the season.

And most football people felt the Browns had more needs on the defense. They still could use another cornerback and another safety, and they still have the college draft to address those positions.

An added bonus to signing Kruger is that he leaves the Ravens, a divisional foe. Improving your team while hurting a divisional rival is always a win-win.

None of these players are guys who are near the end of their careers either.

Kruger and Bryant are just 27 years old, and Groves is only 28. They have plenty of years left in the NFL lives and fit in perfectly with the rest of the young Browns. They will be able to grow with the young core of veterans with four years or less of experience. Players such as Alex Mack, Joe Haden, Taylor, Greg Little and Jabaal Sheard.

In fact, right now Cleveland has only three players with 10 or more years in the NFL on the roster: Sheldon Brown, Juqua Parker, and Phil Dawson. And it is doubtful that any of them will be back this season, although it would be great if Dawson is still the team’s kicker.

Also, with the expected departures via free agency of TE Benjamin Watson, TE Alex Smith, S Ray Ventrone, and the expected release of P Reggie Hodges, the Browns will not have a player over 30 years old on the roster.

That’s a young football team.

There is no question the Browns are a better team today than they were on Monday. That’s progress, no matter how people want to say differently.

Best Change For Browns Would be Winning

The Cleveland Browns announced yesterday that the venue that they play would now be known as First Energy Field.

Who cares?

Owner Jimmy Haslam also discussed uniform changes, cheerleaders, and the surface of the field during the press conference announcing the naming rights to the building formerly known as Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Again, who cares?

While some of these things are nice and add to the ambiance of the game experience, in the end they don’t matter.

All of those things are either about money or marketing. Let us remind you again, the best marketing plan in Cleveland, Ohio when it comes to sports is…WINNING!

Let’s hope Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner understand that, because if they do, the Browns will be the talk of the town, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Want proof? They pretty much are the subject of sports talk every day any way, and they’ve made one playoff appearance in 14 years. Imagine if they were a Super Bowl contender? Fans would be lining up at the stadium every day just to look at the edifice.

You couldn’t go anywhere in the area without bumping into someone wearing a Browns jersey or having someone barking at you. It would be that crazy.

For all of the shock and horror that would come with a change in the uniforms and/or helmet, if the Browns came out with chartreuse jerseys, ruby-red cleats, and a navy blue helmet and went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl, not one person would care.

The uniform change is all about money. It will give Haslam the right to make up for the billion dollars he spent to buy the franchise in merchandising. Many people who have Cleveland Browns’ paraphernalia will rush out to store to buy jerseys in the new style.

The uniforms have nothing to do with the performance on the field. That’s why it was a joke this season when fans complained about wearing white uniforms at home all the time. Heck, it wasn’t an issue in the 1960’s when the Browns were a perennial contender.

The only time we saw the brown shirts was when the team played in Dallas, St. Louis, and Los Angeles, because the Cowboys, Cardinals, and Rams also wore white at home.

As for going to field turf, which should be done for many reasons, but the end result will be added revenue for the Browns and Haslam.

The playing field at First Energy Stadium is a complete joke considering there are maybe 14 or 15 games played there every year. The severe weather conditions are a factor in late fall or early winter, but the grass looks chopped up even in September games.

Going to field turf would be beneficial to the primary tenant, because it would help speed players. However, it would also allow more games to be played at the stadium.

You could have more college games, some high-profile high school games, including state playoffs and at some point, even state title games with an artificial playing surface.

It would also make the stadium a site for concerts too, without the fear of damaging the playing surface.

Changes like these are fine, but they are like putting lipstick on a pig. None of these things will matter if the football team doesn’t win.

Here’s hoping the Haslam and Banner understand that.

Browns Pass, Pass, Pass Offense Returns in Loss to Redskins

The Cleveland Browns seemed to have everything going for themselves as today’s game against the Washington Redskins unfolded.

The contest was at home, where the Browns had won three straight games. The weather was a balmy 60 degrees, incredibly warm for this time of year in Cleveland. And Redskins’ QB Robert Griffin III was inactive for the game because of a knee injury.

However, Pat Shurmur’s squad looked at all their good fortune and smashed them with a sledgehammer.

Washington hammered the Browns 38-21 and ended whatever slim playoff hopes this football team had.

One can’t help but think coaching had everything to do with today’s debacle, starting with a total ignorance of the running game.

When the Browns scored the first touchdown of the game following a T. J. Ward interception on a 6-yard run by Trent Richardson, it gave the rookie 24 yards on four carries, with a long run of 14 yards.

After getting a three and out, the next time Cleveland had the football, they ran just once, with Montario Hardesty getting the carry. It was just a three play series for the Browns.

The next possession by Cleveland featured a one yard run on first down, followed by two passes, one a six yard loss to Richardson, the other incomplete.

The Redskins scored after 34 yard punt out-of-bounds by Reggie Hodges to tie the score.

The subsequent possession featured six plays, five passes and a one yard run by Richardson, who now had 6 carries for 26 yards, a 4.3 average per carry.

The Cleveland defense held, but the offense gave it right back on three straight passes, one of which was a nine yard completion to Mohammad Massaquoi.

Meanwhile, Dick Jauron stacked the defense to take away the Washington ground game, which leads the NFL in yardage. Alfred Morris didn’t have a lot of success, but still the Redskins kept giving him the ball to keep the Browns’ defense honest.

Washington took the lead on the next drive to put themselves in the lead at 10-7.

The Browns scored the next time they got the ball using nine plays to go 75 yards. Five of the nine plays were passes, with Josh Cribbs carrying once out of the “wildcat” formation. The last two plays were Richardson runs totally four yards. He now had 9 attempts for 29 yards. He carried just twice more for the rest of the game, and one of those was the first play of the second half.

Weeden threw a terrible interception to open the third quarter which wound up giving the ‘Skins a lead they would never relinquish, but the Browns were still only losing by 3 points.

Richardson’s last carry came with 13:08 left in the third quarter, and the Browns only attempted one other run the rest of the game, that by Hardesty.

Even after another short punt led to another Redskin touchdown, the Browns trailed 24-14, but there were still 22 minutes left in the contest!

After the game, Weeden talked about the problems that occur when the offense becomes one-dimensional, but it wasn’t the Redskin defense that forced that, it was the play calling of the Browns.

Washington averaged less yards per carry than Cleveland for the game (3.5 compared to 3.9), but they didn’t stop giving the ball to Morris. They kept mixing up the play calls.

Meanwhile, Shurmur allowed the Redskin defense to play pass exclusively. It was a weakness going into the game for Mike Shanahan’s team, but when you don’t have to play the run, it makes the job a little bit easier.

It was the same trap the Browns fell into in past games. In the three game winning streak, the attack was much more balanced.

For those begging for the current coaching staff to stay in 2013, today’s game was a cold slap back to reality. The Browns need more imagination on offense. For inspiration, they need only to look at their opponents today.

The Case for Keeping Heckert

There are many rumors about an upheaval in the Browns organization after the season ends, mostly because of the new ownership.

Jimmy Haslam brought in Joe Banner as the team’s CEO, and much speculation has abounded that the latter will want to bring in his own people to run the football operations.

Here’s hoping that Banner doesn’t make judgments on any people involved based on anything besides their current performance on their job.

Mostly, this concerns the future of GM Tom Heckert.

Whether or not Heckert and Banner were friendly when both were in Philadelphia should have nothing to do with the former keeping his job.

If Banner has made up his mind about jettisoning the current GM, then it is likely a decision made out of spite. Meaning he simply doesn’t get along with Heckert.

Although many people were glad to see Mike Holmgren leave the organization, you can’t argue that the Cleveland Browns are in better shape now than they were when The Big Show arrived.

And one of the reasons for that was the hiring of Heckert as general manager.

There are many people around football, both coaches and media members, who believe the Browns are finally putting together a pretty solid football team.

There is no doubt that Tom Heckert is a huge reason this is happening.

Has he hit on every single draft pick he has made over the last three years? No, but name a general manager who does.

The misses are magnified here because that’s how it is, but other teams miss on choices as well.

That said, look at the Heckert draft choices that are making significant contributions to this football team. Lower round choices like DT Billy Winn, CB Buster Skrine, and CB Trevon Wade are all getting regular playing time.

And before people complain about Skrine, he does a fine job covering slot receivers as the nickel back.

Think about free agents such as LB Craig Robertson, CB Johnson Bademosi, and S Tashaun Gipson, who are all very important players for this team, especially Robertson who has made several big plays this season.

And while critics bring up the Montario Hardesty pick in round two, and some are questioning the pick of Brandon Weeden, look at the guys Heckert selected in the first few rounds of the draft.

Joe Haden is the Browns’ best defensive player and the Browns are 3-3 with him playing and 0-5 without him on the field. That reflects the impact he has on this defense.

DT Phil Taylor has missed some time with a torn pectoral muscle, but he is back now and together with Ahytba Rubin and two other Heckert picks, John Hughes and Winn to make up a defensive tackle rotation that is quite formidable.

And Trent Richardson and Weeden were starters from the first game this season, and both have shown promise.

These players were all picked in the first round.

The second round picks under this regime were S T.J. Ward in 2010, DE Jabaal Sheard and WR Greg Little in 2011, and T Mitchell Schwartz this year.

Critics will point out Little’s inconsistency, but the other three players are at the least solid starters. Others will point out the lack of free agents signed, but successful organizations build through the draft, and the free agents Heckert did sign last off-season, Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker have been productive.

From here, it looks like Heckert has done a damn good job procuring talent and building the depth this franchises hasn’t seen since 1999.

Banner may have already made his decision, but keep this in mind. If he sends Heckert packing, he has to find somebody better to replace him. That won’t be easy based on the success he’s had in adding talent to the Browns.

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.

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.

Too Many Mistakes Kill Browns, Including on the Sidelines

Sometimes the obvious thing is the right thing to do.

That’s something coach Pat Shurmur needs to learn, but unfortunately, his learning experience cost his football team a game they should have won, as they lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 17-13, and dropped to 1-6 on the season.

The Colts came into the game not being able to stop the run, getting gashed each of the last two weeks. So, what did the Browns do?

The passed on 41 of their 58 plays from scrimmage, despite not trailing by more than one score for the entire game.

On the flip side, Indy came in to the contest not being able to run the football at all, but they ran it 37 times for 148 yards, an average of 4.0 yards per attempt.

Can’t run the ball, can’t stop the run. Where have we heard that before?

Pretty much every week since 1999. That’s the biggest reason the Cleveland Browns cannot win football games.

Otherwise, this was a game where mistake after mistake cost the Browns a victory in a game where they had numerous opportunities to claim their second straight victory. They showed today why they are a bad football team.

The most obvious mistake was the dropped touchdown pass by Josh Gordon late in the fourth quarter which would have given Cleveland a 20-17 lead. But another error followed on the next play.

If you are going to throw the ball deep on 3rd and 1 at that point in the game, the thought process has to be that you have another play to get the first down.

That would be the thought unless you are Shurmur and you decide to punt the ball away to the Colts.

You also have three special teams penalties that nullified good returns by Josh Cribbs and took away good field position.

You have an unnecessary roughness penalty on D”Qwell Jackson which gave Indianapolis three additional plays early in the fourth quarter.

You have a missed tackle on an obvious running play by CB Sheldon Brown, which led to a 26 yard run by the Colts’ RB Vick Ballard when they were basically trying to just run time off the clock.

You have a missed extra point on the Browns’ first touchdown because Reggie Hodges dropped the snap and hold.

That’s too many mistakes to make in a close game, even if that contest is against a team who had the first pick in the NFL draft a year ago.

However, the biggest problem was the lack of effort in trying to exploit the Colts’ inability to stop the run coming into the game. In the second half, Shurmur treated the game plan like the Browns were behind by three touchdowns, not eight points, running the ball just two times in the third quarter and just six times in the second half.

By the way, those six runs netted 21 yards.

Trent Richardson had eight carries for eight yards, and only caught two passes for 11 yards. He appeared tentative hitting the hole for the second straight week, but he did gain nine yards on his first catch on a pass to the flat, which the Browns didn’t use the rest of the game.

Montario Hardesty did hit the hole quick, and gained 28 yards on seven attempts, but the Browns biggest rushing play of the game was a scramble by Brandon Weeden of 13 yards.

Weeden did hit 25 of 41 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns, one of 14 yards to Greg Little, and the other a 33-yard strike to Gordon, his fourth TD reception in the last three games.

Defensively, Cleveland couldn’t stop the Colts in the first half, but Dick Jauron made adjustments in the second half and held Indy to just a field goal. Brown was picked on quite a bit, but did cause the only turnover of the game when he sacked Andrew Luck and recovered the resulting fumble.

It was a very disappointing loss for the Browns, because they came into the game probably with the better team. That won’t happen too much this season.

Once again, the propensity of this team to ignore the run killed the Browns. New team CEO Joe Banner has seen this movie before, in Philadelphia with Andy Reid as the pass happy coach.

Colts’ Game is Key to Improved Record

Now that they finally have a win under their belt, the Cleveland Browns have a critical game coming up this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

It’s not important in terms of playoffs or anything like that, that’s really far-fetched, but if Pat Shurmur wants to show improvement record wise over last year, then they could really use a win this weekend.

A victory would constitute a winning streak and raise the team’s record to 2-5, and there is no question this game can be won.

The Colts have perhaps the best quarterback to enter the league since Peyton Manning in Andrew Luck, and of course, we all know of his ties to Cleveland, with his father playing at St. Ignatius, but remember they got Luck because they had the worst record in the NFL last season.

They also have trouble stopping the run, which should mean a steady dose of Trent Richardson and now, we have to include Montario Hardesty based on Sunday’s win.

Being 2-5 and winning the last two would bode much better for the future than 1-6 with a loss to the Colts.

That’s because the rest of the schedule doesn’t seem as daunting as it once did.

We hate to play the schedule game before the season starts, but now that we have a gauge on teams are strong and which ones aren’t, we have a better perspective on what games can be one and which ones will be difficult to walk away with a victory.

Cleveland has games remaining with both the Raiders and Chiefs, two teams who have the same victory total as the Browns. When the various power rankings come out this week, don’t be surprised if Kansas City ranks 32nd.

The Browns also have already played the better teams in the NFC East, the Giants and Eagles, so they have Dallas and Washington remaining, with the Redskins at home.

The ‘Skins have the electrifying Robert Griffin III at quarterback, but remember they are another team that picked in the top ten in last spring’s draft.

The Cowboys are a mess, getting destroyed by the Bears two weeks ago, and then using horrible clock management to blow a potential win against Baltimore on Sunday.

Within the division, the Browns have three games left, two of them at home. The Steelers are struggling a bit right now, and the Ravens, who are 5-1, have all kinds of problems with injuries, particularly on defense.

And it’s not as though Baltimore dominated the Browns in their first meeting in the Charm City.

However, any positive momentum will develop with a victory this coming weekend at Indianapolis, which would put the Browns at 2-5.

Let’s say Cleveland can beat the Raiders and Chiefs, and pick up one more victory against Washington or Dallas. Mix in one more divisional win, and you wind up the season 6-10.

That’s a two game improvement from last season, a good step forward for Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert.

Another thing that bothers us is criticism of Heckert. Apparently, some fans think every draft pick should be an impact player, and hammer the GM for any pick that doesn’t work out, such as Greg Little and Hardesty.

However, look at guys like Billy Winn, Jason Pinkston, and even Buster Skrine and Trevin Wade. Those are all guys picked in the later round who can play in this league.

They may not be stars, but if they weren’t good enough to make the roster, then people would be all over Heckert for that. They are contributing, so you have to give him props for that.

It may be overly optimistic to project an improved record for the Browns after one win, but they games they have lost are all to teams .500 or better at this point, and they really haven’t been overmatched in any of them.

Still, a win on the road this weekend would go a long way in showing everyone that this isn’t the same old Browns.